Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SMAX vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SMAX returned +7.2% to SPY's +13.6%, and SPY charges 0.09% to SMAX's 0.50%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $125m for iShares Large Cap Max Buffer Sep ETF and $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.41 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.4 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $125m.
| Measure | SMAX | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +7.2% | +13.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 1.5% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 1.3% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | IVV | S&P 500 Index |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 8.4% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 99.5% of 99.5% | |
| Days left in the period | 338 | |
| Period ends | Sep 30, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.50% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $125m | $814.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Risk and return
Oct 11, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 106 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SMAX against IVV, Oct 11, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPY returned more: +34.1% to +15.3%. SMAX swung less: 3.1% to 14.9%. SMAX fell less at its worst: −3.3% to −16.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SMAX | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +15.3% | +34.1% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +7.2% | +15.5% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +13.9% | +31.1% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 3.1% | 14.9% | SMAX | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 2.0% | 9.8% | SMAX | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −3.3% | −16.9% | SMAX | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 17.0% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 18.8% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.19 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.86 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.96 | 0.77 | SMAX | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.52 | 1.17 | SMAX | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.156 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 2.16 | 0.92 | SMAX | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IVV | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.8% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.92 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.9% to +2.4% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.70 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 12.2% | 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, 106 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
SMAX and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SMAX and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SMAX follows IVV and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SMAX returned +7.2% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 6.4 points.
- Cost. SMAX charges 0.50% of assets a year and SPY 0.09%, a gap of 0.41 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SMAX
From its price on Oct 27, 2026, the fund can gain about 8.4% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.3% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, IVV can fall 1.5% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 99.5% of the 99.5% buffer still sits below today's IVV level. 338 days remained on Oct 27, 2026. On Sep 30, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
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 SMAX and SPY in the same category?
- SMAX is a buffer 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, SMAX or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SMAX returned +7.2% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, SMAX 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 prospectus.
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ETFIQ, SMAX against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/smax-vs-spy
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