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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, RDVY returned +17.6% and SDY +16.5%.

Which is cheaper, RDVY or SDY?

SDY 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 RDVY and SDY overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 94% of RDVY and 84% of SDY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

RDVY vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, RDVY returned +17.6% to SDY's +16.5%; 9% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $25.4bn for First Trust Rising Dividend Achievers ETF and $21.9bn for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF.

RDVY on its own →SDY on its own →

At a glance

+17.6%

RDVY total return, 1 year

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

0.47%

RDVY expense ratio

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SDY costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.1 points; RDVY is 1.2 times larger.

RDVY vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	RDVY	SDY
Return
Measure	RDVY	SDY
Total return, 1 year	+17.6%	+16.5%
Drawdown
Measure	RDVY	SDY
Below its high	5.3%, high on Aug 13, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	RDVY	SDY
What it tracks	Nasdaq US Rising Dividend Achievers Index	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index
Cost and size
Measure	RDVY	SDY
Expense ratio	0.47%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$25.4bn	$21.9bn
Holdings
Measure	RDVY	SDY
Holdings in common	9%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	22.1%	20.4%

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

Risk and return

Jan 17, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026 · 666 weekly returns

RDVY SDY

Return

Total return edge RDVY +388.8% +236.6%

Annualized edge RDVY +13.2% +9.9%

Price return edge RDVY +292.1% +119.6%

Risk

Volatility edge SDY 19.4% 15.5%

Max drawdown edge SDY −39.0% −32.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge RDVY 0.63 0.56

Sortino edge RDVY 0.93 0.80

Calmar edge RDVY (slight) 0.34 0.31

Reading

RDVY returned more: +388.8% to +236.6%. SDY swung less: 15.5% to 19.4%. SDY fell less at its worst: −32.4% to −39.0%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: RDVY vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	RDVY	SDY	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+388.8%	+236.6%	RDVY	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+13.2%	+9.9%	RDVY	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+292.1%	+119.6%	RDVY	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	19.4%	15.5%	SDY	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	13.3%	10.9%	SDY	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−39.0%	−32.4%	SDY	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.63	0.56	RDVY	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.93	0.80	RDVY	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.34	0.31	RDVY (slight)	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 666 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, RDVY 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 RDVY SDY

Accenture plc 2.19% 3.73%

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. 2.32% 1.55%

Cincinnati Financial Corporation 2.11% 0.87%

Aflac Incorporated 1.58% 0.87%

The Travelers Companies, Inc. 2.42% 0.69%

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. 1.41% 0.59%

Microsoft Corporation 2.22% 0.56%

QUALCOMM Incorporated 0.56% 0.89%

Chubb Limited 2.12% 0.53%

Dover Corporation 0.49% 0.38%

Abbott Laboratories 0.35% 1.21%

Costco Wholesale Corporation 1.99% 0.28%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in RDVY

Visa Inc. (Class A) 2.26%

The Allstate Corporation 2.17%

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation 2.14%

Expedia Group, Inc. 2.13%

NVIDIA Corporation 2.13%

GE Vernova Inc. 2.10%

Ross Stores, Inc. 2.10%

Veralto Corporation 2.10%

Only in SDY

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%

KENVUE INC 1.55%

KIMBERLY CLARK CORP 1.51%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

RDVY First Trust Rising Dividend Achievers ETF SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust State Street

What it is Tracks an index of Rising Dividend Achievers Tracks the S&P Dividend

Total return, 1 year +17.6% +16.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.7% (VOO) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +3.9 pts vs VOO not measured

Expense ratio 0.47% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 94.3% 84.4%

Holdings 72 156

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $25.4bn $21.9bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-7FA24DE385

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

What each follows. RDVY follows Nasdaq US Rising Dividend Achievers 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).
Cost. RDVY charges 0.47% of assets a year and SDY 0.35%, a gap of 0.12 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

RDVY

RDVY tracks an index of Rising Dividend Achievers. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.47% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 72 positions, with the top ten at 22.1%. It sat 5.3% below its high of Aug 13, 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, RDVY or SDY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, RDVY returned +17.6% and SDY +16.5%.
Which is cheaper, RDVY or SDY?: SDY 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 RDVY and SDY overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 94% of RDVY and 84% of SDY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

RDVY vs RSP DVY vs RDVY COWZ vs RDVY RDVY vs VOE CGGR vs SDY SDY vs XLG SDY vs SPYM SDY vs VTI

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

RDVY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

RDVY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for RDVY ↗

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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

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