Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SHY vs SPYM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SHY returned +1.6% to SPYM's +13.7%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $27.4bn for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF and $185.0bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPYM costs 0.13 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 12.1 points; SPYM is 6.8 times larger.
| Measure | SHY | SPYM |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.6% | +13.7% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index | S&P 500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.02% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $27.4bn | $185.0bn |
| 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 Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 25, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,091 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SHY against BBSB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; SPYM against IVV, Nov 25, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPYM returned more: +793.5% to +50.7%. SHY swung less: 1.4% to 17.2%. SHY fell less at its worst: −5.6% to −53.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SHY | SPYM | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +50.7% | +793.5% | SPYM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.0% | +11.0% | SPYM | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +1.3% | +516.4% | SPYM | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.4% | 17.2% | SHY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 0.9% | 12.1% | SHY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −5.6% | −53.9% | SHY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.9% | 94.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.8% | 96.9% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.98 | 0.96 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.98 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.14 | 0.59 | SPYM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.21 | 0.84 | SPYM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.012 | 0.106 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.35 | 0.20 | SHY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | BBSB | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | +0.4% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.96 | 0.53 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.1% | −1.2% to +2.0% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.43 | 0.00 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.2% | 3.8% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
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
By the books each fund has filed, SHY and SPYM hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SHY and SPYM on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SHY and SPYM do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SHY follows ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index and SPYM follows S&P 500 Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SHY returned +1.6% and SPYM +13.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 12.1 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SHY
SHY tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.6% with distributions reinvested, against +1.7% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year.
SPYM
SPYM tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.02% 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 506 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SHY or SPYM?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SHY returned +1.6% and SPYM +13.7%.
- Which is cheaper, SHY or SPYM?
- SPYM is cheaper, by 0.13 percentage points a year. That is about $13 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, SHY against SPYM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-spym
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SHY against SPYM. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-spym
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