Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
RYLD vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, RYLD returned +12.1% to SPY's +13.6%, and SPY charges 0.09% to RYLD's 0.60%.
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Net assets: $1.3bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF, and $814.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.51 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.5 points; SPY is far larger, $821.1bn against $1.3bn.
| Measure | RYLD | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.1% | +13.6% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 0.6% | rose 12.4% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 11.5% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 100% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Benchmark: Russell 2000, measured through IWM | S&P 500 Index |
| Against its benchmark, same days | behind by 2.0 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.60% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026 | $1.3bn | $821.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 3, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026 · 390 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: RYLD against IWM, May 3, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPY returned more: +188.5% to +45.4%. RYLD swung less: 15.4% to 18.3%. SPY fell less at its worst: −31.8% to −38.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | RYLD | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +45.4% | +188.5% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +5.1% | +15.2% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −40.0% | +158.5% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 15.4% | 18.3% | RYLD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.6% | 12.5% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −38.1% | −31.8% | SPY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 33.1% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 62.8% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.54 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.73 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.22 | 0.71 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.27 | 1.03 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.063 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.13 | 0.48 | SPY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWM | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −1.3% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.43 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −7.0% to +4.5% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.38 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 13.9% | 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, 390 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, RYLD and SPY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
RYLD and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
RYLD and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. RYLD is measured against Russell 2000 through IWM and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026).
- Cost. RYLD charges 0.60% of assets a year and SPY 0.09%, a gap of 0.51 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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RYLD
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, RYLD paid 12.1% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 0.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +12.1%. Russell 2000 (IWM) returned +14.1% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 2.0 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 11.5%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
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 RYLD and SPY in the same category?
- RYLD is an option-income 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, RYLD or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, RYLD returned +12.1% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, RYLD or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.51 percentage points a year. That is about $51 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, RYLD against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ryld-vs-spy
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