Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
HYG vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, HYG returned +1.3% to SPY's +13.6%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $17.5bn for iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF and $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.40 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 12.3 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $17.5bn.
| Measure | HYG | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.3% | +13.6% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index | S&P 500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $17.5bn | $814.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 20, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,018 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: HYG against IUSB, Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPY returned more: +630.5% to +148.8%. HYG swung less: 11.1% to 18.1%. HYG fell less at its worst: −33.0% to −54.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | HYG | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +148.8% | +630.5% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.8% | +10.7% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −26.2% | +411.4% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 11.1% | 18.1% | HYG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 8.1% | 12.8% | HYG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −33.0% | −54.6% | HYG | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 62.1% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 48.4% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.31 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.34 | 0.57 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.46 | 0.80 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.019 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.14 | 0.20 | SPY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IUSB | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.9% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.87 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.4% to +6.1% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.25 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.6% | 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, 1,018 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, HYG and SPY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
HYG and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
HYG and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. HYG follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 HYG returned +1.3% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 12.3 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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HYG
HYG tracks an index of US high yield bonds. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.3% with distributions reinvested, against −1.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.49% a year.
SPY
SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% 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 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, HYG or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HYG returned +1.3% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, HYG or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.40 percentage points a year. That is about $40 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.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, HYG against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). HYG against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-spy
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