Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IWB vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWB returned +13.1% to SPY's +13.6%; 92% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $49.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Russell 1000 ETF, and $814.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.5 points; SPY is 16.6 times larger.
| Measure | IWB | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.1% | +13.6% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Russell 1000 Index | S&P 500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $48.7bn | $810.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 92% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 35.3% | 38.1% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 26, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,378 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IWB against VONE, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
IWB and SPY returned about the same: +788.0% and +779.5%. IWB and SPY swung about the same: 17.7% and 17.5%. IWB and SPY fell about the same at their worst: −54.8% and −54.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IWB | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +788.0% | +779.5% | Tie | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +8.6% | +8.6% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +473.1% | +450.7% | IWB (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.7% | 17.5% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.5% | 12.4% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −54.8% | −54.6% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 100.1% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.1% | 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 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.46 | 0.46 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.64 | 0.64 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.130 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.16 | 0.16 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VONE | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.09 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.5% to +0.5% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.03 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.0% | 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, 1,378 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IWB and SPY hold 92% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
92% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IWB and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IWB and SPY are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. IWB follows Russell 1000 Index and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- Size. IWB has $48.7bn in net assets and SPY $810.0bn (net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026); SPY is 16.6 times larger.
- Holdings in common (similar). 92% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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IWB
IWB tracks the Russell 1000. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.2% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,025 positions, with the top ten at 35.3%.
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, IWB or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWB returned +13.1% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, IWB or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 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, IWB against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwb-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IWB against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwb-vs-spy
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