Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IJR vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IJR returned +17.5% to SPY's +13.6%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $104.6bn for iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF and $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
IJR costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.9 points; SPY is 7.8 times larger.
| Measure | IJR | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +17.5% | +13.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.8%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P SmallCap 600 | S&P 500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.06% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $104.6bn | $814.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 5.3% | 38.1% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jun 2, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,377 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IJR against SPSM, Jul 19, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
IJR returned more: +998.5% to +721.0%. SPY swung less: 17.4% to 21.9%. SPY fell slightly less at its worst: −54.6% to −57.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IJR | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +998.5% | +721.0% | IJR | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.5% | +8.3% | IJR | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +692.1% | +414.0% | IJR | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.9% | 17.4% | SPY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 15.2% | 12.4% | SPY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −57.3% | −54.6% | SPY (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 98.7% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 98.9% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.99 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.99 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.44 | 0.44 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.64 | 0.62 | IJR (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.097 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.17 | 0.15 | IJR (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SPSM | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.6% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.91 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.7% to +1.9% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.20 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 2.4% | 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, 1,377 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IJR 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
IJR and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IJR and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IJR follows S&P SmallCap 600 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 IJR returned +17.5% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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IJR
IJR tracks the S&P SmallCap 600. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.5% with distributions reinvested, against +17.6% for its benchmark, the S&P SmallCap 600. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 642 positions, with the top ten at 5.3%. It sat 6.8% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
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, IJR or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IJR returned +17.5% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, IJR or SPY?
- IJR is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 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, IJR against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ijr-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IJR against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ijr-vs-spy
[IJR against SPY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ijr-vs-spy)
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