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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and SPY +13.6%.

Which is cheaper, SLV or SPY?

SPY is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SLV vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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SLV is a commodity fund and SPY an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SLV returned +14.9% against +13.6%.

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Net assets: $26.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Silver Trust, and $814.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

SLV on its own →SPY on its own →

At a glance

+14.9%

SLV total return, 1 year

+13.6%

SPY total return, 1 year

0.50%

SLV expense ratio

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPY costs 0.41 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.3 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $26.5bn.

SLV vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	SPY
Return
Measure	SLV	SPY
Total return, 1 year	+14.9%	+13.6%
Drawdown
Measure	SLV	SPY
Below its high	53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SLV	SPY
What it tracks	Silver	S&P 500 Index
Cost and size
Measure	SLV	SPY
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$26.5bn	$814.8bn
Holdings
Measure	SLV	SPY
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		38.1%

Method

Side by side

SLV iShares Silver Trust SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Holds silver Tracks the S&P 500

Total return, 1 year +14.9% +13.6%

Its benchmark over the same days +15.0% (SIVR) +13.7% (VOO)

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs SIVR −0.1 pts vs VOO

Expense ratio 0.50% 0.09%

Holdings not counted 504

Net assets, SLV as of Oct 28, 2026 and SPY as of Oct 27, 2026 $26.9bn $814.8bn

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

Alert

About each fund

SLV

Its expense ratio is 0.50% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

SLV holds silver. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.9% with distributions reinvested, against +15.0% for its benchmark, the price of silver. It sat 53.5% below its high of Jan 28, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

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, SLV or SPY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and SPY +13.6%.
Which is cheaper, SLV or SPY?: SPY is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IVV vs SLV SLV vs VTI SLV vs VOO SLV vs SPYM GLDM vs SPY GLD vs SPY BWET vs SPY IAU vs SPY

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for SLV ↗

SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

State Street website ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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