Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
MOAT vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MOAT returned +10.3% to SPY's +13.6%; 16% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $11.6bn for VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF and $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.3 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $11.6bn.
| Measure | MOAT | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +10.3% | +13.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.7%, high on Aug 27, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index | S&P 500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.46% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $11.6bn | $814.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 16% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 26.5% | 38.1% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 4, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 755 weekly returns · each against VOOSPY returned slightly more: +613.3% to +559.2%. SPY swung slightly less: 15.7% to 17.1%. MOAT fell slightly less at its worst: −30.8% to −31.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | MOAT | SPY | VOO | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +559.2% | +613.3% | SPY (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +13.9% | +14.5% | SPY (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +453.0% | +454.7% | Tie | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 17.1% | 15.7% | SPY (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 11.6% | 10.8% | SPY (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −30.8% | −31.8% | MOAT (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 98.2% | 99.7% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.98 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Tie | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.81 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.74 | 0.83 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.10 | 1.21 | SPY (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.130 | 0.130 | 0.131 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.45 | 0.46 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | VOO | VOO | VOO | 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 | −0.06 | −0.63 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −4.0% to +3.8% | −0.2% to +0.1% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.05 | −0.19 | MOAT | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.6% | 0.3% | 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, 755 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, MOAT and SPY hold 16% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
16% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
MOAT and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
MOAT and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. MOAT follows Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- Holdings in common. 16% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 MOAT returned +10.3% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.3 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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MOAT
MOAT tracks the Morningstar Wide Moat. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.3% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.46% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 54 positions, with the top ten at 26.5%. It sat 3.7% below its high of Aug 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
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
- Which returned more over the last year, MOAT or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MOAT returned +10.3% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, MOAT or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.37 percentage points a year. That is about $37 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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.
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ETFIQ, MOAT against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/moat-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). MOAT against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/moat-vs-spy
[MOAT against SPY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/moat-vs-spy)
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