Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

vsCompare their flowsaskIQ about these two fundsAsk the committee about these two funds
Across categories

LJAN vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share
Share on XDownload as PDF

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, LJAN returned +5.1% to VOO's +13.7%, and VOO charges 0.03% to LJAN's 0.79%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about LJAN and VOO

Net assets: $12m on Oct 28, 2026 for Innovator Premium Income 15 Buffer ETF - January, and $1.0tn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.

At a glance
+5.1%
LJAN total return, 1 year
+13.7%
VOO total return, 1 year
0.79%
LJAN expense ratio
0.03%
VOO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VOO costs 0.76 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.6 points.

LJAN vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureLJANVOO
Return
Total return, 1 year+5.1%+13.7%
Price change, 1 yearrose 0.0%rose 12.4%
Latest payout, annualized4.8%
Return of capital, issuer estimate43% of the Oct 2, 2026 payment
Benchmark
What it tracksBenchmark: Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, measured through VOOS&P 500 Index
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.79%0.03%
Net assets, LJAN as of Oct 28, 2026 and VOO as of Sep 30, 2026$12m$1.0tn
Holdings
Holdings in common0%
In the S&P 500, by weight100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund39.1%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Jan 12, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 145 weekly returns
LJAN VOO
Return
Total return edge VOO +15.9% +65.0%
Annualized edge VOO +5.4% +19.7%
Price return edge VOO +0.5% +59.5%
Risk
Volatility edge LJAN 2.8% 14.1%
Max drawdown edge LJAN −3.7% −16.7%
Downside capture 10.1% 99.9%
Beta 0.16 1.00
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe edge VOO 0.34 1.04
Sortino edge VOO 0.43 1.60
Treynor 0.061 0.134
Calmar edge LJAN 1.46 1.18
Against the benchmark
Alpha −1.3% a year 0.0% a year
Alpha t-stat −1.20 0.51
Information ratio −1.13 0.02
Tracking error 12.0% 0.4%

Each against its own benchmark: LJAN against VOO, Jan 12, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026; VOO against IVV, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

VOO returned more: +65.0% to +15.9%. LJAN swung less: 2.8% to 14.1%. LJAN fell less at its worst: −3.7% to −16.7%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured
Open ↓
Risk and return: LJAN vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureLJANVOOEdgeHow it is measured
Return
Total return+15.9%+65.0%VOOPrice change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized+5.4%+19.7%VOOTotal return as a yearly rate.
Price return+0.5%+59.5%VOOPrice change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility2.8%14.1%LJANSpread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation2.2%9.2%LJANLike volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown−3.7%−16.7%LJANDeepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture10.8%99.8%Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture10.1%99.9%Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta0.161.00Not an edgeHow far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared0.601.00Not an edgeShare of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe0.341.04VOOReturn above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino0.431.60VOOReturn above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor0.0610.134Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar1.461.18LJANAnnualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
BenchmarkVOOIVVThe ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha−1.3% a year0.0% a yearNot significantYearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat−1.200.51Not an edgeHow sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range−3.5% to +0.9%−0.1% to +0.2%Includes zeroThe 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio−1.130.02Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error12.0%0.4%Not an edgeHow far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 145 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

0%

By the books each fund has filed, LJAN and VOO hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first LJAN VOO
Only in one fund ↓
Only in LJAN
Only in VOO
NVIDIA Corp 8.40%
Apple Inc 7.39%
Microsoft Corp 5.79%
Amazon.com Inc 3.72%
Alphabet Inc 3.07%
Broadcom Inc 2.54%
Alphabet Inc 2.46%
Meta Platforms Inc 2.43%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

LJAN Innovator Premium Income 15 Buffer ETF - January VOO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
Where it sits Income ETF Stock ETF
What it is buffer with income, vs VOO Tracks the S&P 500
Total return, 1 year +5.1% +13.7%
Its benchmark over the same days +13.7% (VOO) +13.7% (IVV)
Gap to its benchmark −8.6 pts vs VOO 0.0 pts vs IVV
Cash paid, 1 year 4.9% not an income fund
Expense ratio 0.79% 0.03%
Holdings not read by ETFIQ 507
Net assets, LJAN as of Oct 28, 2026 and VOO as of Sep 30, 2026 $12m $1.0tn

LJAN and VOO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-B9C0640542

LJAN and VOO do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

  1. What each follows. LJAN is measured against Vanguard S&P 500 ETF through VOO and VOO follows S&P 500 Index.
  2. Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
  3. One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 LJAN returned +5.1% and VOO +13.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.6 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.

Your saved page · Privacy.

Alert

LJAN flows, by email on Sundays.

One-click unsubscribe. See Privacy.

About each fund
LJAN

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, LJAN paid 4.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 0.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +5.1%. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) returned +13.7% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 8.6 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 4.8%, paid monthly. Innovator estimates that 43% of the distribution paid Oct 2, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.

VOO

VOO tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 507 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%.

Questions people ask

Are LJAN and VOO in the same category?
LJAN is an option-income ETF and VOO is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, LJAN or VOO?
In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, LJAN returned +5.1% and VOO +13.7%.
Which is cheaper, LJAN or VOO?
VOO is cheaper, by 0.76 percentage points a year. That is about $76 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, LJAN against VOO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ljan-vs-voo

Open data →

Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.