Which returned more over the last year, MDY or SDY?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MDY returned +12.8% and SDY +16.5%.

Which is cheaper, MDY or SDY?

MDY is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do MDY and SDY overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of MDY and 84% of SDY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

MDY vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MDY returned +12.8% to SDY's +16.5%; 9% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $25.9bn for SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust and $21.9bn for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF.

MDY on its own →SDY on its own →

At a glance

+12.8%

MDY total return, 1 year

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

0.23%

MDY expense ratio

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

MDY costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.7 points; MDY is 1.2 times larger.

MDY vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	MDY	SDY
Return
Measure	MDY	SDY
Total return, 1 year	+12.8%	+16.5%
Drawdown
Measure	MDY	SDY
Below its high	6.5%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	MDY	SDY
What it tracks	S&P MidCap 400 Index	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index
Cost and size
Measure	MDY	SDY
Expense ratio	0.23%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$25.9bn	$21.9bn
Holdings
Measure	MDY	SDY
Holdings in common	9%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	7.5%	20.4%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Nov 25, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,091 weekly returns

MDY SDY

Return

Total return edge MDY (slight) +531.7% +506.8%

Annualized edge MDY (slight) +9.2% +9.0%

Price return edge MDY +386.5% +188.8%

Risk

Volatility edge SDY 21.1% 17.5%

Max drawdown edge Tie −54.9% −54.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SDY (slight) 0.44 0.48

Sortino edge SDY (slight) 0.62 0.68

Calmar edge Tie 0.17 0.16

Reading

MDY returned slightly more: +531.7% to +506.8%. SDY swung less: 17.5% to 21.1%. MDY and SDY fell about the same at their worst: −54.9% and −54.4%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: MDY vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	MDY	SDY	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+531.7%	+506.8%	MDY (slight)	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+9.2%	+9.0%	MDY (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+386.5%	+188.8%	MDY	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	21.1%	17.5%	SDY	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	14.9%	12.3%	SDY	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−54.9%	−54.4%	Tie	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.44	0.48	SDY (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.62	0.68	SDY (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.17	0.16	Tie	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,091 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, MDY and SDY hold 9% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

9% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first MDY SDY

Royal Gold Inc. 0.59% 0.48%

Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. 0.45% 0.57%

Carlisle Companies Incorporated 0.40% 0.55%

RPM International Inc. 0.36% 0.54%

Essential Utilities Inc. 0.35% 0.49%

RB Global Inc. 0.46% 0.35%

Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. 0.33% 0.47%

Graco Inc. 0.31% 0.47%

SEI Investments Company 0.31% 0.35%

Ryder System Inc. 0.31% 0.43%

American Financial Group Inc. 0.30% 0.43%

Toro Company 0.29% 0.43%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in MDY

Okta Inc. Class A 1.09%

U.S. Dollar 0.96%

TechnipFMC plc 0.81%

United Therapeutics Corporation 0.73%

Entegris Inc. 0.66%

ATI Inc 0.66%

US Foods Holding Corp. 0.64%

Reliance Inc. 0.64%

Only in SDY

ACCENTURE PLC CL A 3.73%

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC 2.81%

CHEVRON CORP 2.15%

REALTY INCOME CORP 1.94%

PEPSICO INC 1.82%

MEDTRONIC PLC 1.79%

TARGET CORP 1.59%

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING 1.55%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

MDY SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street State Street

What it is Tracks the S&P MidCap 400 Tracks the S&P Dividend

Total return, 1 year +12.8% +16.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.2% (IJH) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.4 pts vs IJH not measured

Expense ratio 0.23% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 84.4%

Holdings 401 156

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $25.9bn $21.9bn

MDY and SDY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-BC553C92A4

MDY and SDY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. MDY follows S&P MidCap 400 Index and SDY follows S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index.
Holdings in common. 9% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 MDY returned +12.8% and SDY +16.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.7 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

MDY

MDY tracks the S&P MidCap 400. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.2% for its benchmark, the S&P MidCap 400 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.23% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 401 positions, with the top ten at 7.5%. It sat 6.5% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

SDY

SDY tracks the S&P Dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 156 positions, with the top ten at 20.4%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, MDY or SDY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MDY returned +12.8% and SDY +16.5%.
Which is cheaper, MDY or SDY?: MDY is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do MDY and SDY overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of MDY and 84% of SDY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

MDY vs RSP MDY vs NOBL MDY vs VOE COWZ vs MDY SDY vs VXF SDY vs VFLO SDY vs VO MOAT vs SDY

Where to next

MDY on its own →SDY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →MDY dividend history →MDY holdings →SDY dividend history →SDY holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

MDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

State Street website ↗

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, MDY against SDY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mdy-vs-sdy

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