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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and USMV +10.8%.

Which is cheaper, SPY or USMV?

SPY is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do SPY and USMV overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 100% of SPY and 93% of USMV by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SPY vs USMV: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPY returned +13.6% to USMV's +10.8%; 37% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and $24.1bn for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF.

SPY on its own →USMV on its own →

At a glance

+13.6%

SPY total return, 1 year

+10.8%

USMV total return, 1 year

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

0.15%

USMV expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPY costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.8 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $24.1bn.

SPY vs USMV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SPY	USMV
Return
Measure	SPY	USMV
Total return, 1 year	+13.6%	+10.8%
Benchmark
Measure	SPY	USMV
What it tracks	S&P 500 Index	MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index
Cost and size
Measure	SPY	USMV
Expense ratio	0.09%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$814.8bn	$24.1bn
Holdings
Measure	SPY	USMV
Holdings in common	37%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	38.1%	14.8%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Oct 28, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 782 weekly returns

SPY USMV

Return

Total return edge SPY +668.0% +423.5%

Annualized edge SPY +14.5% +11.6%

Price return edge SPY +491.0% +295.7%

Risk

Volatility edge USMV 15.7% 13.4%

Max drawdown edge USMV (slight) −31.8% −30.6%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SPY (slight) 0.83 0.76

Sortino edge SPY 1.21 1.09

Calmar edge SPY 0.46 0.38

Reading

SPY returned more: +668.0% to +423.5%. USMV swung less: 13.4% to 15.7%. USMV fell slightly less at its worst: −30.6% to −31.8%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: SPY vs USMV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SPY	USMV	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+668.0%	+423.5%	SPY	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+14.5%	+11.6%	SPY	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+491.0%	+295.7%	SPY	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	15.7%	13.4%	USMV	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	10.8%	9.3%	USMV	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−31.8%	−30.6%	USMV (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.83	0.76	SPY (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	1.21	1.09	SPY	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.46	0.38	SPY	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 782 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

37%

By the books each fund has filed, SPY and USMV hold 37% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

37% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SPY USMV

MICROSOFT CORP 5.93% 1.61%

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CL B 1.52% 1.50%

NVIDIA CORP 7.92% 1.47%

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 1.11% 1.54%

VISA INC CLASS A SHARES 1.03% 1.05%

JOHNSON + JOHNSON 0.97% 1.44%

APPLE INC 7.61% 0.96%

BROADCOM INC 2.45% 0.86%

ELI LILLY + CO 1.54% 0.84%

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 1.37% 0.77%

ABBVIE INC 0.76% 0.78%

MASTERCARD INC A 0.74% 1.28%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in SPY

ALPHABET INC CL A 2.83%

TESLA INC 1.73%

JPMORGAN CHASE + CO 1.34%

INTEL CORP 0.70%

BANK OF AMERICA CORP 0.49%

CATERPILLAR INC 0.49%

GENERAL ELECTRIC 0.46%

GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC 0.40%

Only in USMV

WASTE CONNECTIONS 1.30%

SNOWFLAKE 0.56%

CLOUDFLARE CLASS A 0.55%

FIRST CITIZENS BANCSHARES CLASS A 0.51%

ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS 0.50%

LIBERTY MEDIA SERIES C 0.44%

UNITED THERAPEUTICS 0.44%

NEUROCRINE BIOSCIENCES 0.41%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust USMV iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street iShares

What it is Tracks the S&P 500 Tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor

Total return, 1 year +13.6% +10.8%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.7% (VOO) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs VOO not measured

Expense ratio 0.09% 0.15%

Already in the S&P 500 99.8% 93.0%

Holdings 504 176

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $814.8bn $24.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-09CDFCFD12

SPY and USMV are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

What each follows. SPY follows S&P 500 Index and USMV follows MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index.
Holdings in common. 37% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SPY returned +13.6% and USMV +10.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.8 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

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%.

USMV

USMV tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 176 positions, with the top ten at 14.8%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SPY or USMV?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and USMV +10.8%.
Which is cheaper, SPY or USMV?: SPY is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do SPY and USMV overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 100% of SPY and 93% of USMV by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

CGGR vs SPY DFUS vs SPY IWV vs SPY ESGU vs SPY IVV vs USMV USMV vs VTI USMV vs VOO SPYM vs USMV

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

State Street website ↗

USMV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

USMV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for USMV ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.