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FTGS vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees

FTGS and SPY hold 18% of their weight in the same names, and SPY returned +17.3% over the year. Net assets: $1.3bn on Oct 9, 2026 for First Trust Growth Strength ETF, and $817.2bn on Oct 8, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

SPY costs 0.51 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.3 points; SPY is far larger, $817.2bn against $1.3bn.

FTGS vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
FTGSSPY
Expense ratio0.60%0.09%
Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026$1.3bn$817.2bn
Total return, 1 year+7.0%+17.3%
What it tracksGrowth Strength IndexS&P 500 Index
Holdings in common18%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund24.9%39.1%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 8, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

+7.0%
FTGS total return, 1 year
+17.3%
SPY total return, 1 year
0.60%
FTGS expense ratio
0.09%
SPY expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, FTGS and SPY hold 18% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Oct 8, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

half

18% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding FTGS SPY
Microsoft Corporation 2.62% 5.80%
NVIDIA Corporation 2.18% 8.34%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) 2.15% 2.38%
Broadcom Inc. 1.88% 2.56%
Eli Lilly and Company 1.93% 1.40%
Mastercard Incorporated 2.09% 0.69%
Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) 3.05% 0.68%
Costco Wholesale Corporation 1.94% 0.63%
Netflix, Inc. 1.97% 0.45%
Marvell Technology, Inc. 2.82% 0.36%
Arista Networks, Inc. 2.48% 0.33%
Amphenol Corporation 2.23% 0.32%
Only in FTGS
United Therapeutics Corporation 1.98%
Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. 1.61%
Only in SPY
APPLE INC 7.42%
AMAZON.COM INC 3.73%
ALPHABET INC CL A 3.06%
ALPHABET INC CL C 2.45%
MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC 1.75%
TESLA INC 1.58%
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 1.51%
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CL B 1.42%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

FTGS
First Trust Growth Strength ETF
SPY
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
Issuer First Trust State Street
What it is Tracks an index Tracks the S&P 500
Total return, 1 year +7.0% +17.3%
Its benchmark over the same days not published +17.3% (VOO)
Gap to its benchmark not available −0.1 pts vs VOO
Expense ratio 0.60% 0.09%
Already in the S&P 500 93.8% 99.8%
Holdings 50 504
Net assets, FTGS as of Oct 9, 2026 and SPY as of Oct 8, 2026 $1.3bn $817.2bn

FTGS and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About FTGS

FTGS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +7.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.60% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 50 positions, with the top ten at 24.9%.

About SPY

SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.3% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FTGS or SPY?
In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTGS returned +7.0% and SPY +17.3%.
Which is cheaper, FTGS or SPY?
SPY is cheaper, by 0.51 percentage points a year. That is about $51 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FTGS and SPY overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 94% of FTGS and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
FTGS vs IVVFTGS vs VTIFTGS vs VOOFTGS vs SPYMSPY vs VOTEQUS vs SPYIYZ vs SPYMODL vs SPY
FTGS on its own →SPY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →
Where these figures came from
FTGS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗FTGS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗First Trust page for FTGS ↗SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗State Street website ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, FTGS against SPY, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftgs-vs-spy

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.