Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IVV vs SMAX: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IVV returned +13.7% to SMAX's +7.2%, and IVV charges 0.03% to SMAX's 0.50%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $885.1bn for iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and $125m for iShares Large Cap Max Buffer Sep ETF.
Pair scorecard
IVV costs 0.47 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.5 points; IVV is far larger, $885.1bn against $125m.
| Measure | IVV | SMAX |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.7% | +7.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 1.5% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 1.3% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 | IVV |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 8.4% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 99.5% of 99.5% | |
| Days left in the period | 338 | |
| Period ends | Sep 30, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.50% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $885.1bn | $125m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Risk and return
Oct 11, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 106 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IVV against SPY, May 26, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026; SMAX against IVV, Oct 11, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026.
IVV returned more: +34.3% to +15.3%. SMAX swung less: 3.1% to 15.0%. SMAX fell less at its worst: −3.3% to −16.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IVV | SMAX | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +34.3% | +15.3% | IVV | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +15.6% | +7.2% | IVV | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +31.1% | +13.9% | IVV | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 15.0% | 3.1% | SMAX | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 9.8% | 2.0% | SMAX | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −16.9% | −3.3% | SMAX | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.3% | 17.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.7% | 18.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.99 | 0.19 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.86 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.77 | 0.96 | SMAX | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.18 | 1.52 | SMAX | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.081 | 0.156 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.92 | 2.16 | SMAX | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SPY | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.1% a year | +0.8% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.33 | 0.92 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.5% | −0.9% to +2.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.00 | −0.70 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.2% | 12.2% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 106 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
IVV and SMAX on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IVV and SMAX do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IVV follows S&P 500 and SMAX follows IVV.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IVV returned +13.7% and SMAX +7.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 6.5 points.
- Cost. IVV charges 0.03% of assets a year and SMAX 0.50%, a gap of 0.47 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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IVV
IVV tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% 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 505 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.
SMAX
From its price on Oct 27, 2026, the fund can gain about 8.4% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.3% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, IVV can fall 1.5% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 99.5% of the 99.5% buffer still sits below today's IVV level. 338 days remained on Oct 27, 2026. On Sep 30, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
Questions people ask
- Are IVV and SMAX in the same category?
- IVV is a stock ETF and SMAX is a buffer ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, IVV or SMAX?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IVV returned +13.7% and SMAX +7.2%.
- Which is cheaper, IVV or SMAX?
- IVV is cheaper, by 0.47 percentage points a year. That is about $47 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, IVV against SMAX, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ivv-vs-smax
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[IVV against SMAX (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ivv-vs-smax)
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