Are SPY and TOAK in the same category?

SPY is a stock ETF and TOAK is an alternatives ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.

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

In the year to Oct 27, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.5% and TOAK +3.6%.

Which is cheaper, SPY or TOAK?

SPY is cheaper, by 0.17 percentage points a year. That is about $17 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 27, 2026.

Across categories

SPY vs TOAK: Differences, Returns & Fees

Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, SPY returned +13.5% to TOAK's +3.6%, and SPY charges 0.09% to TOAK's 0.26%.

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Net assets: $810.0bn on Oct 26, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, and $90m on May 31, 2026 for Manager Directed Portfolios Twin Oak Short Horizon Absolute Return ETF.

SPY on its own →TOAK on its own →

At a glance

+13.5%

SPY total return, 1 year

+3.6%

TOAK total return, 1 year

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

0.26%

TOAK expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPY costs 0.17 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.9 points.

SPY vs TOAK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SPY	TOAK
Return
Measure	SPY	TOAK
Total return, 1 year	+13.5%	+3.6%
Total return, 52 weeks		+3.6%
Against its benchmark
Measure	SPY	TOAK
What it tracks	S&P 500 Index	not published
Treasury bills, 52 weeks		+3.7%
Against cash		0.1 points behind
Cost and size
Measure	SPY	TOAK
Expense ratio	0.09%	0.26%
Net assets, SPY as of Oct 26, 2026 and TOAK as of May 31, 2026	$810.0bn	$90m
Holdings
Measure	SPY	TOAK
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight	100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	37.9%
Risk
Measure	SPY	TOAK
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns		+0.17
Beta to the S&P 500		+0.04: about 0.04% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell		fell 0.02%
Down-week capture		1.9%
Weeks the S&P 500 fell		25 of 52, by 1.10% on average

Method

Side by side

SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust TOAK Manager Directed Portfolios Twin Oak Short Horizon Absolute Return ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Alternatives ETF

Issuer State Street Manager Directed Portfolios

What it is Tracks the S&P 500 Hedged equity

Total return, 1 year +13.5% +3.6%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.6% (VOO) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs VOO not measured

Expense ratio 0.09% 0.26%

Holdings 504 not read by ETFIQ

Net assets, SPY as of Oct 26, 2026 and TOAK as of May 31, 2026 $810.0bn $90m

SPY and TOAK on the fields both publish, as of Oct 27, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

SPY

SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 27, 2026 it returned +13.5% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% 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 26, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 37.9%.

TOAK

TOAK is a hedged equity fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.17 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.04, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.04% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 25 of those 52 weeks, by 1.10% on average. In the same weeks TOAK fell 0.02% on average, a down-week capture of 1.9%. Over the same 52 weeks TOAK returned +3.6% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 0.1 percentage points behind cash.

Questions people ask

Are SPY and TOAK in the same category?: SPY is a stock ETF and TOAK is an alternatives ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, SPY or TOAK?: In the year to Oct 27, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.5% and TOAK +3.6%.
Which is cheaper, SPY or TOAK?: SPY is cheaper, by 0.17 percentage points a year. That is about $17 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

SPY vs TAIL SPY vs THEQ HOLA vs SPY HEQT vs SPY TOAK vs VOO IVV vs TOAK QQQ vs TOAK AGG vs TOAK

Where to next

BIL, the T-bill fund these are measured against →SPY on its own →TOAK on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →SPY dividend history →SPY holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

State Street website ↗

TOAK filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

TOAK prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, SPY against TOAK, data as of Oct 27, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-toak

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