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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and SPY +13.6%.

Which is cheaper, SDY or SPY?

SPY is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do SDY and SPY overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 84% of SDY and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SDY vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SDY returned +16.5% to SPY's +13.6%; 15% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $21.9bn for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF and $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

SDY on its own →SPY on its own →

At a glance

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

+13.6%

SPY total return, 1 year

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPY costs 0.26 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.9 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $21.9bn.

SDY vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SDY	SPY
Return
Measure	SDY	SPY
Total return, 1 year	+16.5%	+13.6%
Benchmark
Measure	SDY	SPY
What it tracks	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index	S&P 500 Index
Cost and size
Measure	SDY	SPY
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$21.9bn	$814.8bn
Holdings
Measure	SDY	SPY
Holdings in common	15%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	20.4%	38.1%

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

Risk and return

Nov 25, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,091 weekly returns

SDY SPY

Return

Total return edge SPY +506.8% +777.9%

Annualized edge SPY +9.0% +10.9%

Price return edge SPY +188.8% +497.8%

Risk

Volatility edge Tie 17.5% 17.7%

Max drawdown edge Tie −54.4% −54.6%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SPY 0.48 0.57

Sortino edge SPY 0.68 0.81

Calmar edge SPY 0.16 0.20

Reading

SPY returned more: +777.9% to +506.8%. SDY and SPY swung about the same: 17.5% and 17.7%. SDY and SPY fell about the same at their worst: −54.4% and −54.6%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: SDY vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SDY	SPY	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+506.8%	+777.9%	SPY	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+9.0%	+10.9%	SPY	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+188.8%	+497.8%	SPY	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.5%	17.7%	Tie	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	12.3%	12.5%	Tie	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−54.4%	−54.6%	Tie	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.48	0.57	SPY	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.68	0.81	SPY	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.16	0.20	SPY	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,091 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

15%

By the books each fund has filed, SDY and SPY hold 15% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

15% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SDY SPY

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 1.49% 1.11%

JOHNSON + JOHNSON 0.94% 0.97%

ABBVIE INC 1.32% 0.76%

CHEVRON CORP 2.15% 0.68%

MICROSOFT CORP 0.56% 5.93%

PROCTER + GAMBLE CO 1.34% 0.56%

COCA COLA CO 1.23% 0.53%

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC 0.85% 0.42%

WALMART INC 0.40% 0.80%

INTL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP 1.24% 0.35%

LINDE PLC 0.52% 0.35%

ANALOG DEVICES INC 0.52% 0.31%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in SDY

LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS 0.57%

CARLISLE COS INC 0.55%

RPM INTERNATIONAL INC 0.54%

ESSENTIAL UTILITIES INC 0.49%

ROYAL GOLD INC 0.48%

EQUITY LIFESTYLE PROPERTIES 0.47%

GRACO INC 0.47%

AMERICAN FINANCIAL GROUP INC 0.43%

Only in SPY

NVIDIA CORP 7.92%

APPLE INC 7.61%

AMAZON.COM INC 3.73%

ALPHABET INC CL A 2.83%

BROADCOM INC 2.45%

ALPHABET INC CL C 2.26%

META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A 2.06%

TESLA INC 1.73%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street State Street

What it is Tracks the S&P Dividend Tracks the S&P 500

Total return, 1 year +16.5% +13.6%

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

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.1 pts vs VOO

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.09%

Already in the S&P 500 84.4% 99.8%

Holdings 156 504

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $21.9bn $814.8bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-6D4E39C3DA

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

What each follows. SDY follows S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
Holdings in common. 15% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SDY returned +16.5% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.9 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

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%.

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

Which returned more over the last year, SDY or SPY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and SPY +13.6%.
Which is cheaper, SDY or SPY?: SPY is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do SDY and SPY overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 84% of SDY and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IVV vs SDY SDY vs VTI SDY vs VOO SDY vs SPYM SPY vs VOE DVY vs SPY COWZ vs SPY NOBL vs SPY

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

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