Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PMJL vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PMJL returned +5.5% to SPY's +13.6%, and SPY charges 0.09% to PMJL's 0.50%.
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Net assets: $7.0m on Oct 28, 2026 for PGIM S&P 500 Max Buffer ETF - July, 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 8.1 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $7.0m.
| Measure | PMJL | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +5.5% | +13.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 3.3% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 2.1% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | S&P 500 Index |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 5.7% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 100.0% of 100.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 245 | |
| Period ends | Jun 30, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.50% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $7.0m | $814.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Risk and return
Jul 11, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 67 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: PMJL against SPY, Jul 11, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPY returned more: +23.5% to +7.7%. PMJL swung less: 1.9% to 11.6%. PMJL fell less at its worst: −1.3% to −8.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PMJL | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +7.7% | +23.5% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +5.9% | +17.8% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +7.7% | +21.9% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.9% | 11.6% | PMJL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 1.1% | 7.0% | PMJL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −1.3% | −8.4% | PMJL | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 14.6% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 12.8% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.15 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.80 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.98 | 1.14 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.72 | 1.90 | SPY (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.128 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 4.64 | 2.12 | PMJL | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SPY | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.09 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.6% to +1.5% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −1.14 | −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, 67 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
PMJL and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PMJL and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. PMJL follows SPY and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 PMJL returned +5.5% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.1 points.
- Cost. PMJL 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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PMJL
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 5.7% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 2.1% 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. 245 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Jun 30, 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 PMJL and SPY in the same category?
- PMJL 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, PMJL or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PMJL returned +5.5% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, PMJL 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, PMJL against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pmjl-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PMJL against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pmjl-vs-spy
[PMJL against SPY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pmjl-vs-spy)
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