Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
MAXJ vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MAXJ returned +6.1% to VOO's +13.7%, and VOO charges 0.03% to MAXJ's 0.50%.
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Net assets: $164m on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Large Cap Max Buffer Jun ETF, and $1.0tn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.
Pair scorecard
VOO costs 0.47 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.6 points; VOO is far larger, $1.0tn against $164m.
| Measure | MAXJ | VOO |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +6.1% | +13.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 3.6% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 2.3% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | IVV | S&P 500 Index |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 6.1% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 99.5% of 99.5% | |
| Days left in the period | 246 | |
| Period ends | Jun 30, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.50% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $164m | $1.0tn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 39.1% | |
Risk and return
Jul 12, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 119 weekly returns · each against IVVVOO returned more: +39.5% to +18.9%. MAXJ swung less: 5.1% to 14.9%. MAXJ fell less at its worst: −6.1% to −16.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | MAXJ | VOO | IVV | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +18.9% | +39.5% | VOO | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +7.8% | +15.7% | VOO | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +16.7% | +35.8% | VOO | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 5.1% | 14.9% | MAXJ | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 3.2% | 9.8% | MAXJ | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −6.1% | −16.7% | MAXJ | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 22.7% | 99.0% | 100.0% | VOO | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 29.5% | 99.3% | 100.0% | MAXJ | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.30 | 0.99 | 1.00 | MAXJ lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.78 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.70 | 0.77 | VOO (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.11 | 1.18 | VOO (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.119 | 0.117 | 0.115 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.28 | 0.94 | MAXJ | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | IVV | IVV | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.1% a year | +0.1% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.07 | 0.44 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −3.0% to +3.2% | −0.5% to +0.7% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.74 | −0.02 | VOO | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 10.9% | 0.5% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 119 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
MAXJ and VOO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
MAXJ and VOO do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. MAXJ follows IVV and VOO follows S&P 500 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 MAXJ returned +6.1% and VOO +13.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.6 points.
- Cost. MAXJ charges 0.50% of assets a year and VOO 0.03%, a gap of 0.47 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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MAXJ
From its price on Oct 27, 2026, the fund can gain about 6.1% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 2.3% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, IVV can fall 3.6% 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. 246 days remained on Oct 27, 2026. On Jun 30, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
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 MAXJ and VOO in the same category?
- MAXJ is a buffer 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, MAXJ or VOO?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MAXJ returned +6.1% and VOO +13.7%.
- Which is cheaper, MAXJ or VOO?
- VOO 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, MAXJ against VOO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/maxj-vs-voo
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). MAXJ against VOO. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/maxj-vs-voo
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