Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
JNK vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, JNK returned +1.7% to SPY's +13.6%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $5.9bn for State Street SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF and $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.31 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.9 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $5.9bn.
| Measure | JNK | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.7% | +13.6% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index | S&P 500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.40% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $5.9bn | $814.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 14, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 984 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: JNK against AGG, Dec 14, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPY returned more: +631.1% to +141.3%. JNK swung less: 12.7% to 18.2%. JNK fell less at its worst: −38.4% to −52.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | JNK | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +141.3% | +631.1% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.8% | +11.1% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −35.6% | +416.4% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 12.7% | 18.2% | JNK | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 9.4% | 12.9% | JNK | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −38.4% | −52.4% | JNK | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 54.4% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 35.8% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.16 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.24 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.32 | 0.59 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.43 | 0.84 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.035 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.12 | 0.21 | SPY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.4% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.94 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.6% to +7.4% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.24 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 11.1% | 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, 984 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, JNK 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
JNK and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
JNK and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. JNK follows Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index 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 JNK returned +1.7% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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JNK
JNK tracks the Bloomberg High Yield Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.40% a year.
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, JNK or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, JNK returned +1.7% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, JNK or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.31 percentage points a year. That is about $31 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, JNK against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/jnk-vs-spy
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