Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
HYG vs SPYG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, HYG returned +1.3% to SPYG's +12.2%; 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 $55.9bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPYG costs 0.45 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.9 points; SPYG is 3.2 times larger.
| Measure | HYG | SPYG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.3% | +12.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.1%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index | S&P 500 Growth Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.04% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $17.5bn | $55.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 59.6% | |
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; SPYG against IVW, Oct 13, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPYG returned more: +958.3% to +148.8%. HYG swung less: 11.1% to 19.3%. HYG fell less at its worst: −33.0% to −51.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | HYG | SPYG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +148.8% | +958.3% | SPYG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.8% | +12.8% | SPYG | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −26.2% | +738.2% | SPYG | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 11.1% | 19.3% | HYG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 8.1% | 13.3% | HYG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −33.0% | −51.0% | HYG | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 62.1% | 104.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 48.4% | 103.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.05 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.31 | 0.92 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.34 | 0.64 | SPYG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.46 | 0.93 | SPYG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.019 | 0.074 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.14 | 0.25 | SPYG | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IUSB | IVW | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.9% a year | −1.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.87 | −1.00 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.4% to +6.1% | −3.2% to +1.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.25 | −0.11 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.6% | 5.6% | 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 SPYG 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 SPYG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
HYG and SPYG do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. HYG follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index and SPYG follows S&P 500 Growth 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 SPYG +12.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 10.9 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.
SPYG
SPYG tracks the S&P 500 Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +12.1% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% 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 152 positions, with the top ten at 59.6%. It sat 4.1% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, HYG or SPYG?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HYG returned +1.3% and SPYG +12.2%.
- Which is cheaper, HYG or SPYG?
- SPYG is cheaper, by 0.45 percentage points a year. That is about $45 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 SPYG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-spyg
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