Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GSEP vs IVV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GSEP returned +10.0% to IVV's +13.7%, and IVV charges 0.03% to GSEP's 0.85%.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about GSEP and IVV
Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $369m for FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - September and $885.1bn for iShares Core S&P 500 ETF.
Pair scorecard
IVV costs 0.82 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.7 points; IVV is far larger, $885.1bn against $369m.
| Measure | GSEP | IVV |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +10.0% | +13.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 1.4% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 1.8% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | S&P 500 |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 12.2% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 15.0% of 15.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 324 | |
| Period ends | Sep 17, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $369m | $885.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Risk and return
Sep 29, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 160 weekly returns · each against SPYIVV returned more: +84.7% to +42.4%. GSEP swung less: 6.6% to 14.3%. GSEP fell less at its worst: −8.8% to −16.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GSEP | IVV | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +42.4% | +84.7% | IVV | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +12.2% | +22.1% | IVV | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +42.4% | +77.7% | IVV | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 6.6% | 14.3% | GSEP | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 4.3% | 9.1% | GSEP | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −8.8% | −16.9% | GSEP | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 35.5% | 100.7% | 100.0% | IVV | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 45.6% | 100.4% | 100.0% | GSEP | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.44 | 1.00 | 1.00 | GSEP lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.88 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 1.10 | 1.16 | IVV (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.68 | 1.81 | IVV (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.166 | 0.164 | 0.164 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.38 | 1.31 | GSEP (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | 0.0% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.04 | 0.02 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.5% to +2.6% | −0.4% to +0.4% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −1.11 | 0.23 | IVV | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 8.3% | 0.3% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 160 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
GSEP and IVV on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
GSEP and IVV do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. GSEP follows SPY and IVV follows S&P 500.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GSEP returned +10.0% and IVV +13.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.7 points.
- Cost. GSEP charges 0.85% of assets a year and IVV 0.03%, a gap of 0.82 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
GSEP
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 12.2% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.8% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 1.4% 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. 324 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Sep 17, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
IVV
IVV tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 505 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.
Questions people ask
- Are GSEP and IVV in the same category?
- GSEP is a buffer ETF and IVV 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, GSEP or IVV?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GSEP returned +10.0% and IVV +13.7%.
- Which is cheaper, GSEP or IVV?
- IVV 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.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, GSEP against IVV, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gsep-vs-ivv
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). GSEP against IVV. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gsep-vs-ivv
[GSEP against IVV (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gsep-vs-ivv)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.