Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PMAU vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PMAU returned +5.8% to SPY's +13.6%, and SPY charges 0.09% to PMAU's 0.50%.
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Net assets: $6.5m on Oct 28, 2026 for PGIM S&P 500 Max Buffer ETF - August, and $814.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.41 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.8 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $6.5m.
| Measure | PMAU | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +5.8% | +13.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 3.3% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 1.8% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | S&P 500 Index |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 6.0% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 100.0% of 100.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 276 | |
| Period ends | Jul 31, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.50% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $6.5m | $814.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Risk and return
Aug 8, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 63 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: PMAU against SPY, Aug 8, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPY returned more: +20.9% to +7.7%. PMAU swung less: 2.1% to 11.5%. PMAU fell less at its worst: −1.5% to −8.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PMAU | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +7.7% | +20.9% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +6.3% | +16.9% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +7.7% | +19.3% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 2.1% | 11.5% | PMAU | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 1.2% | 6.8% | PMAU | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −1.5% | −8.4% | PMAU | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 15.8% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 12.7% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.17 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.85 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 1.12 | 1.09 | PMAU (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.96 | 1.84 | PMAU (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.139 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 4.29 | 2.02 | PMAU | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SPY | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.2% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.32 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.2% to +1.7% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −1.06 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 9.6% | 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, 63 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
PMAU and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PMAU and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. PMAU follows SPY and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 PMAU returned +5.8% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.8 points.
- Cost. PMAU charges 0.50% of assets a year and SPY 0.09%, a gap of 0.41 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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PMAU
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 6.0% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.8% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 3.3% 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. 276 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Jul 31, 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 PMAU and SPY in the same category?
- PMAU 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, PMAU or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PMAU returned +5.8% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, PMAU or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, PMAU against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pmau-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PMAU against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pmau-vs-spy
[PMAU against SPY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pmau-vs-spy)
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