Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
FTGS vs SPTM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FTGS returned +5.6% to SPTM's +13.7%; 14% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.3bn for First Trust Growth Strength ETF and $14.2bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 1500 Composite Stock Market ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPTM costs 0.57 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.1 points; SPTM is 10.9 times larger.
| Measure | FTGS | SPTM |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +5.6% | +13.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.1%, high on Aug 13, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Growth Strength Index | S&P Composite 1500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.60% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $1.3bn | $14.2bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 14% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 21.4% | 35.2% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 4, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026 · 207 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: FTGS against VOO, Nov 4, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026; SPTM against IVV, Oct 20, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPTM returned more: +108.3% to +90.1%. SPTM swung less: 14.1% to 16.0%. SPTM fell slightly less at its worst: −16.9% to −18.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FTGS | SPTM | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +90.1% | +108.3% | SPTM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +17.5% | +20.2% | SPTM | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +87.3% | +97.3% | SPTM | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.0% | 14.1% | SPTM | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.2% | 9.1% | SPTM | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −18.7% | −16.9% | SPTM (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 98.4% | 96.5% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 105.3% | 97.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.05 | 0.94 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.85 | 0.88 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.80 | 1.05 | SPTM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.26 | 1.63 | SPTM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.123 | 0.089 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.94 | 1.20 | SPTM | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VOO | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −3.3% a year | +0.8% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.06 | 0.68 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −9.5% to +2.9% | −1.5% to +3.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.42 | 0.05 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 6.2% | 6.2% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 207 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FTGS and SPTM hold 14% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
14% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
FTGS and SPTM on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
FTGS and SPTM are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. FTGS follows Growth Strength Index and SPTM follows S&P Composite 1500 Index.
- Holdings in common. 14% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FTGS returned +5.6% and SPTM +13.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.1 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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FTGS
FTGS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +5.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.60% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 50 positions, with the top ten at 21.4%. It sat 4.1% below its high of Aug 13, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
SPTM
SPTM tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,512 positions, with the top ten at 35.2%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, FTGS or SPTM?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTGS returned +5.6% and SPTM +13.7%.
- Which is cheaper, FTGS or SPTM?
- SPTM is cheaper, by 0.57 percentage points a year. That is about $57 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, FTGS against SPTM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftgs-vs-sptm
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). FTGS against SPTM. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftgs-vs-sptm
[FTGS against SPTM (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftgs-vs-sptm)
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