Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SPY vs VGSH: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPY returned +13.6% to VGSH's +1.7%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about SPY and VGSH
Net assets: $814.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, and $35.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF.
Pair scorecard
VGSH costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.9 points; SPY is far larger, $809.2bn against $35.1bn.
| Measure | SPY | VGSH |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.6% | +1.7% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 Index | Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $809.2bn | $35.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 4, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026 · 881 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; VGSH against SCHO, Aug 13, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPY returned more: +825.3% to +26.7%. VGSH swung less: 1.3% to 16.0%. VGSH fell less at its worst: −5.5% to −31.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPY | VGSH | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +825.3% | +26.7% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +14.0% | +1.4% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +584.6% | −3.7% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.0% | 1.3% | VGSH | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.0% | 0.9% | VGSH | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.8% | −5.5% | VGSH | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.8% | 97.7% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.0% | 96.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.98 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.94 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.81 | −0.09 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.17 | −0.14 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.133 | −0.002 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.44 | 0.26 | SPY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VOO | SCHO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.51 | 0.22 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.3% to +0.1% | −0.1% to +0.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.15 | 0.07 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 0.3% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 881 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SPY and VGSH hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SPY and VGSH on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SPY and VGSH do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SPY follows S&P 500 Index and VGSH follows Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% 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 SPY returned +13.6% and VGSH +1.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
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%.
VGSH
VGSH tracks an index of Short-Term Treasury. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against +1.8% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SPY or VGSH?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and VGSH +1.7%.
- Which is cheaper, SPY or VGSH?
- VGSH 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.
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 VGSH, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-vgsh
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SPY against VGSH. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-vgsh
[SPY against VGSH (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-vgsh)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.