Which returned more over the last year, HYG or SPY?

In the year to Sep 13, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HYG returned +2.9% and SPY returned +17.5%, so SPY returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.

Which is cheaper, HYG or SPY?

HYG charges 0.49% a year and SPY charges 0.09%, so SPY is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Sep 13, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

HYG vs SPY: how they differ

HYG and SPY hold 0% of their weight in the same names, and SPY returned more over the year.

iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, HYG and SPY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Largest positions each one holds and the other does not
Only in HYG	Only in SPY
BLK CSH FND TREASURY SL AGENCY 0.68%	NVIDIA CORP 8.08%
1261229 BC LTD 144A 0.56%	APPLE INC 7.33%
MERIDIAN ARC HOLDCO LLC 144A 0.47%	MICROSOFT CORP 5.59%
PR RNO PROPERTY OWNER 1 LLC 144A 0.35%	AMAZON.COM INC 3.77%
WULF COMPUTE LLC 144A 0.29%	ALPHABET INC CL A 2.98%
GALAXY HELIOS DATA CENTERS II LLC 144A 0.28%	BROADCOM INC 2.61%
PANTHER ESCROW ISSUER LLC 144A 0.28%	ALPHABET INC CL C 2.39%
SV RNO PROPERTY OWNER 1 LLC 144A 0.28%	META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A 2.16%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Sep 10, 2026.

HYG and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Sep 13, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	HYG iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
Where it sits	Core index fund	Core index fund
Issuer	iShares	State Street
What it is	US high yield bonds	S&P 500
Total return, 1 year	+2.9%	+17.5%
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	+17.5%
Gap to the S&P 500	−14.6 pts	0.0 pts
Expense ratio	0.49%	0.09%
Holdings	1326	505

HYG in plain words

HYG is a bond fund tracking the US high yield bonds. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +2.9% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.49% a year.

SPY in plain words

SPY is an index equity fund tracking the S&P 500. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +17.5% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for Sep 10, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 505 positions, with the top ten at 38.2%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, HYG or SPY?: In the year to Sep 13, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HYG returned +2.9% and SPY returned +17.5%, so SPY returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
Which is cheaper, HYG or SPY?: HYG charges 0.49% a year and SPY charges 0.09%, so SPY is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

HYG against SPY, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 13, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, HYG against SPY, data as of Sep 13, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-spy Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources