Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SPSM vs VTWO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPSM returned +17.6% to VTWO's +14.3%; 46% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $16.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 600 Small Cap ETF, and $16.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPSM costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.3 points; VTWO is 1.1 times larger.
| Measure | SPSM | VTWO |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +17.6% | +14.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.7%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | 7.5%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P SmallCap 600 Index | Russell 2000 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.06% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $15.7bn | $16.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 46% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 5.3% | 5.4% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 19, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 692 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SPSM against IJR, Jul 19, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026; VTWO against IWM, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPSM returned slightly more: +222.7% to +217.3%. SPSM and VTWO swung about the same: 21.2% and 21.2%. VTWO fell slightly less at its worst: −40.2% to −41.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPSM | VTWO | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +222.7% | +217.3% | SPSM (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.2% | +9.1% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +158.2% | +166.6% | VTWO (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.2% | 21.2% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.6% | 14.6% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −41.9% | −40.2% | VTWO (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.1% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.3% | 99.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.99 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.99 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.43 | 0.43 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.63 | 0.62 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.091 | 0.108 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.22 | 0.23 | VTWO (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IJR | IWM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.5% a year | +0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.73 | 0.46 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.8% to +0.8% | −0.4% to +0.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.20 | 0.02 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 2.4% | 1.0% | 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, SPSM and VTWO hold 46% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
46% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SPSM and VTWO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SPSM and VTWO are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. SPSM follows S&P SmallCap 600 Index and VTWO follows Russell 2000 Index.
- Holdings in common. 46% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SPSM returned +17.6% and VTWO +14.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.3 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
VTWO
VTWO tracks the Russell 2000. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.3% with distributions reinvested, against +14.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,002 positions, with the top ten at 5.4%. It sat 7.5% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SPSM or VTWO?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPSM returned +17.6% and VTWO +14.3%.
- Which is cheaper, SPSM or VTWO?
- SPSM is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 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, SPSM against VTWO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spsm-vs-vtwo
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SPSM against VTWO. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spsm-vs-vtwo
[SPSM against VTWO (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spsm-vs-vtwo)
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