Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SLYG vs SPSM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SLYG returned +15.6% to SPSM's +17.6%; 62% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $4.7bn for State Street SPDR S & P 600 Small Cap Growth ETF and $16.0bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 600 Small Cap ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPSM costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.0 points; SPSM is 3.4 times larger.
| Measure | SLYG | SPSM |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +15.6% | +17.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 8.2%, high on Aug 4, 2026 | 6.7%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P SmallCap 600 Growth Index | S&P SmallCap 600 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $4.7bn | $16.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 62% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 9.7% | 5.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 19, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 692 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SLYG against IJT, Oct 13, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026; SPSM against IJR, Jul 19, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
SLYG returned more: +255.6% to +222.7%. SLYG swung slightly less: 20.7% to 21.2%. SLYG and SPSM fell about the same at their worst: −41.3% and −41.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SLYG | SPSM | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +255.6% | +222.7% | SLYG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +10.0% | +9.2% | SLYG (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +176.0% | +158.2% | SLYG | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 20.7% | 21.2% | SLYG (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.2% | 14.6% | SLYG (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −41.3% | −41.9% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.9% | 99.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 101.5% | 100.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.01 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.92 | 0.99 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.47 | 0.43 | SLYG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.69 | 0.63 | SLYG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.082 | 0.091 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.24 | 0.22 | SLYG (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IJT | IJR | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −1.3% a year | −0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.04 | −0.73 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −3.9% to +1.2% | −1.8% to +0.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.19 | −0.20 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 6.6% | 2.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 692 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SLYG and SPSM hold 62% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
62% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SLYG and SPSM on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SLYG and SPSM are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. SLYG follows S&P SmallCap 600 Growth Index and SPSM follows S&P SmallCap 600 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SLYG returned +15.6% and SPSM +17.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.0 points.
- Cost. SLYG charges 0.15% of assets a year and SPSM 0.03%, a gap of 0.12 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SLYG
SLYG tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.6% with distributions reinvested, against +15.4% for its benchmark, the S&P SmallCap 600 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 350 positions, with the top ten at 9.7%. It sat 8.2% below its high of Aug 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
SPSM
SPSM tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for its benchmark, the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 609 positions, with the top ten at 5.3%. It sat 6.7% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SLYG or SPSM?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLYG returned +15.6% and SPSM +17.6%.
- Which is cheaper, SLYG or SPSM?
- SPSM is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 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, SLYG against SPSM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/slyg-vs-spsm
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