Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
RSP vs RSSE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, RSP returned +16.0% to RSSE's +12.7%, and RSP charges 0.20% to RSSE's 0.85%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $99.8bn for Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF and $33m for FT Vest U.S. Equity Equal Weight Buffer ETF - September.
Pair scorecard
RSP costs 0.65 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.3 points; RSP is far larger, $99.8bn against $33m.
| Measure | RSP | RSSE |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +16.0% | +12.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 2.4% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 2.3% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 Equal Weight Index | RSP |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 13.9% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 10.0% of 10.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 324 | |
| Period ends | Sep 17, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.20% | 0.85% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $99.8bn | $33m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 2.7% | |
Risk and return
Oct 4, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 107 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: RSP against IVV, May 9, 2003 to Oct 23, 2026; RSSE against RSP, Oct 4, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026.
RSP returned more: +25.3% to +19.2%. RSSE swung less: 8.7% to 13.3%. RSSE fell less at its worst: −9.8% to −15.5%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | RSP | RSSE | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +25.3% | +19.2% | RSP | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +11.6% | +8.9% | RSP | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +21.3% | +19.2% | RSP (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 13.3% | 8.7% | RSSE | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 9.4% | 6.3% | RSSE | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −15.5% | −9.8% | RSSE | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 104.7% | 55.5% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 102.9% | 67.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.07 | 0.64 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.92 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.59 | 0.56 | RSP (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.83 | 0.78 | RSP (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.098 | 0.077 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.74 | 0.91 | RSSE | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IVV | RSP | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.6% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.57 | −0.05 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.8% to +1.5% | −2.9% to +2.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.02 | −0.55 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 5.4% | 5.2% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 107 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
RSP and RSSE on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
RSP and RSSE do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. RSP follows S&P 500 Equal Weight Index and RSSE follows RSP.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 RSP returned +16.0% and RSSE +12.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.3 points.
- Cost. RSP charges 0.20% of assets a year and RSSE 0.85%, a gap of 0.65 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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RSP
RSP tracks the S&P 500 equal weight. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% 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 508 positions, with the top ten at 2.7%.
RSSE
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 13.9% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 2.3% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, RSP can fall 2.4% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 10.0% of the 10.0% buffer still sits below today's RSP level. 324 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Sep 17, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
Questions people ask
- Are RSP and RSSE in the same category?
- RSP is a stock ETF and RSSE is a buffer ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, RSP or RSSE?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, RSP returned +16.0% and RSSE +12.7%.
- Which is cheaper, RSP or RSSE?
- RSP is cheaper, by 0.65 percentage points a year. That is about $65 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, RSP against RSSE, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/rsp-vs-rsse
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). RSP against RSSE. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/rsp-vs-rsse
[RSP against RSSE (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/rsp-vs-rsse)
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