Are HOLD and SPY in the same category?

HOLD is an alternatives ETF and SPY 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, HOLD or SPY?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HOLD returned +0.8% and SPY +14.8%.

Which is cheaper, HOLD or SPY?

SPY is cheaper, by 0.61 percentage points a year. That is about $61 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

HOLD vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, HOLD returned +0.8% to SPY's +14.8%, and SPY charges 0.09% to HOLD's 0.70%.

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Net assets: $3.9m on Nov 4, 2026 for Harbor Alpha Layering ETF, and $804.8bn on Nov 3, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

HOLD on its own →SPY on its own →

At a glance

+0.8%

HOLD total return, 1 year

+14.8%

SPY total return, 1 year

0.70%

HOLD expense ratio

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPY costs 0.61 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 14.0 points; SPY is far larger, $804.8bn against $3.9m.

HOLD vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	HOLD	SPY
Return
Measure	HOLD	SPY
Total return, 1 year	+0.8%	+14.8%
Total return, 52 weeks	+0.3%
Against its benchmark
Measure	HOLD	SPY
What it tracks	not published	S&P 500 Index
Treasury bills, 52 weeks	+3.7%
Against cash	3.3 points behind
Cost and size
Measure	HOLD	SPY
Expense ratio	0.70%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026	$3.9m	$804.8bn
Holdings
Measure	HOLD	SPY
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		37.3%
Risk
Measure	HOLD	SPY
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns	+0.66
Beta to the S&P 500	+0.81: about 0.81% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell	fell 1.29%
Down-week capture	120.5%
Weeks the S&P 500 fell	26 of 52, by 1.07% on average

Method

Side by side

HOLD Harbor Alpha Layering ETF SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

Where it sits Alternatives ETF Stock ETF

Issuer Harbor State Street

What it is Managed futures Tracks the S&P 500

Total return, 1 year +0.8% +14.8%

Its benchmark over the same days +14.8% (VOO) +14.8% (VOO)

Gap to its benchmark −14.0 pts vs VOO 0.0 pts vs VOO

Expense ratio 0.70% 0.09%

Holdings not read by ETFIQ 504

Net assets, HOLD as of Nov 4, 2026 and SPY as of Nov 3, 2026 $3.9m $804.8bn

HOLD and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

HOLD

HOLD is a managed futures fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.66 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.81, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.81% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks HOLD fell 1.29% on average, a down-week capture of 120.5%. Over the same 52 weeks HOLD returned +0.3% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 3.3 percentage points behind cash.

SPY

SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 it returned +14.8% with distributions reinvested, against +14.8% 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 Nov 3, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 37.3%.

Questions people ask

Are HOLD and SPY in the same category?: HOLD is an alternatives ETF and SPY 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, HOLD or SPY?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HOLD returned +0.8% and SPY +14.8%.
Which is cheaper, HOLD or SPY?: SPY is cheaper, by 0.61 percentage points a year. That is about $61 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

HOLD vs IVV HOLD vs VOO HOLD vs QQQ AGG vs HOLD RSBT vs SPY SPY vs TFPN SPY vs WTMF IMF vs SPY

Where to next

BIL, the T-bill fund these are measured against →HOLD on its own →SPY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →HOLD dividend history →SPY dividend history →SPY holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

HOLD filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

HOLD prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Harbor page for HOLD ↗

SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

State Street website ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, HOLD against SPY, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hold-vs-spy

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