Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
MAYM vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MAYM returned +4.7% to SPY's +13.6%, and SPY charges 0.09% to MAYM's 0.85%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $39m for FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - May and $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.76 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.9 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $39m.
| Measure | MAYM | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +4.7% | +13.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 4.3% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 2.7% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | S&P 500 Index |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 4.2% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 100.0% of 100.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 205 | |
| Period ends | May 21, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $39m | $814.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Risk and return
May 30, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 73 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: MAYM against SPY, May 30, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPY returned more: +31.1% to +7.8%. MAYM swung less: 1.8% to 11.6%. MAYM fell less at its worst: −1.1% to −8.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | MAYM | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +7.8% | +31.1% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +5.5% | +21.3% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +7.8% | +28.9% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.8% | 11.6% | MAYM | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 1.0% | 6.7% | MAYM | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −1.1% | −8.4% | MAYM | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 12.3% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 10.9% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.14 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.83 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.83 | 1.39 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.39 | 2.41 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.105 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 4.82 | 2.53 | MAYM | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SPY | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.8% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.23 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.0% to +0.5% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −1.46 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 10.0% | 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, 73 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
MAYM and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
MAYM and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. MAYM follows SPY and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 MAYM returned +4.7% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.9 points.
- Cost. MAYM charges 0.85% of assets a year and SPY 0.09%, a gap of 0.76 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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MAYM
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 4.2% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 2.7% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 4.3% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 100.0% of the 100.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 205 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On May 21, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
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
- Are MAYM and SPY in the same category?
- MAYM is a buffer ETF and SPY 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, MAYM or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MAYM returned +4.7% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, MAYM or SPY?
- SPY 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.
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ETFIQ, MAYM against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/maym-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). MAYM against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/maym-vs-spy
[MAYM against SPY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/maym-vs-spy)
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