Are MKTN and SPY the same kind of fund?

MKTN is an alternatives ETF and SPY is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each holds.

Which returned more over the last year, MKTN or SPY?

In the year to Oct 1, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MKTN returned +12.5% and SPY +15.7%.

Which is cheaper, MKTN or SPY?

SPY is cheaper, by 1.85 percentage points a year. On $10,000 held for a year that difference is about $185. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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MKTN vs SPY: how they differ

Over the year MKTN returned +12.5% to SPY's +15.7%, and SPY charges 0.09% to MKTN's 1.94%. Federated Hermes MDT Market Neutral ETF and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

+12.5%

MKTN total return, 1 year

+15.7%

SPY total return, 1 year

1.94%

MKTN expense ratio

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

On the same fields

MKTN

Federated Hermes MDT Market Neutral ETF

SPY

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

Where it sits Alternatives ETF Core fund

Issuer Federated Hermes State Street

What it is Market neutral Tracks the S&P 500

Total return, 1 year +12.5% +15.7%

S&P 500 over the same days +15.7% +15.7%

Gap to the S&P 500 −3.2 pts 0.0 pts

Expense ratio 1.94% 0.09%

Holdings not filed 505

Net assets $107m $809.2bn

MKTN and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 1, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

MKTN in plain words

MKTN is a market neutral fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Sep 30, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of −0.01 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of 0.00, so on average it did not move with the index at all. The S&P 500 fell in 25 of those 52 weeks, by 1.15% on average. In the same weeks MKTN rose 0.40% on average, a down-week capture of −35.0%. Over the same 52 weeks MKTN returned +13.9% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 10.2 percentage points ahead of cash.

SPY in plain words

SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Sep 30, 2026 it returned +15.7% with distributions reinvested, against +15.7% for the S&P 500 and +23.8% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Sep 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 505 positions, with the top ten at 38.7%.

Questions people ask

Are MKTN and SPY the same kind of fund?: MKTN is an alternatives ETF and SPY is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each holds.
Which returned more over the last year, MKTN or SPY?: In the year to Oct 1, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MKTN returned +12.5% and SPY +15.7%.
Which is cheaper, MKTN or SPY?: SPY is cheaper, by 1.85 percentage points a year. On $10,000 held for a year that difference is about $185. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

MKTN vs QQQ MKTN vs VOO AGG vs MKTN BND vs MKTN SPY vs UFEB SPY vs UJAN SPY vs UJUL SPY vs UJUN

BIL, the T-bill fund these are measured against →MKTN on its own →SPY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

MKTN filings on SEC EDGAR ↗MKTN prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Federated Hermes website ↗State Street website ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page

ETFIQ, MKTN against SPY, data as of Oct 1, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mktn-vs-spy

Open data

Free to use with attribution. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology.