Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GDEC vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GDEC returned +10.8% to VOO's +13.7%, and VOO charges 0.03% to GDEC's 0.85%.
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Net assets: $429m on Oct 27, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - December, and $1.0tn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.
Pair scorecard
VOO costs 0.82 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.9 points.
| Measure | GDEC | VOO |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +10.8% | +13.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 11.9% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 9.2% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | S&P 500 Index |
| The outcome period | ||
| Buffer left, in index points | 15.0% of 15.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 51 | |
| Period ends | Dec 18, 2026 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, GDEC as of Oct 27, 2026 and VOO as of Sep 30, 2026 | $429m | $1.0tn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 39.1% | |
Risk and return
Dec 29, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 147 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: GDEC against SPY, Dec 29, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; VOO against IVV, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
VOO returned more: +65.5% to +35.0%. GDEC swung less: 6.7% to 14.1%. GDEC fell less at its worst: −9.5% to −16.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GDEC | VOO | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +35.0% | +65.5% | VOO | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +11.2% | +19.5% | VOO | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +35.0% | +59.9% | VOO | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 6.7% | 14.1% | GDEC | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 4.5% | 9.1% | GDEC | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −9.5% | −16.7% | GDEC | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 35.1% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 44.7% | 99.9% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.44 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.89 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.97 | 1.03 | VOO (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.44 | 1.58 | VOO (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.146 | 0.134 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 1.18 | 1.17 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SPY | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.1% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.06 | 0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.6% to +2.8% | −0.1% to +0.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.97 | 0.02 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 8.2% | 0.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 147 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
GDEC and VOO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
GDEC and VOO do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. GDEC follows SPY and VOO follows S&P 500 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GDEC returned +10.8% and VOO +13.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.9 points.
- Cost. GDEC charges 0.85% of assets a year and VOO 0.03%, a gap of 0.82 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +12.1% for the period on Oct 28, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 1.9% as the period runs out.
The fund's price can fall 9.2% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 11.9% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 15.0% of the 15.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 51 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Dec 18, 2026 the period ends and a new cap is set.
VOO
VOO tracks the S&P 500. 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 as of Sep 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 507 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%.
Questions people ask
- Are GDEC and VOO in the same category?
- GDEC is a buffer ETF and VOO is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, GDEC or VOO?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GDEC returned +10.8% and VOO +13.7%.
- Which is cheaper, GDEC or VOO?
- VOO is cheaper, by 0.82 percentage points a year. That is about $82 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, GDEC against VOO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gdec-vs-voo
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). GDEC against VOO. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gdec-vs-voo
[GDEC against VOO (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gdec-vs-voo)
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