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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and VPU −3.3%.

Which is cheaper, SPY or VPU?

Neither: SPY and VPU both charge 0.09% a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 100% of SPY and 90% of VPU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SPY vs VPU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPY returned +13.6% to VPU's −3.3%; 2% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $814.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, and $7.7bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Utilities ETF.

SPY on its own →VPU on its own →

At a glance

+13.6%

SPY total return, 1 year

−3.3%

VPU total return, 1 year

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

0.09%

VPU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

Both cost 0.09% a year; their one-year returns differ by 16.9 points; SPY is far larger, $809.2bn against $7.7bn.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

SPY vs VPU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SPY	VPU
Return
Measure	SPY	VPU
Total return, 1 year	+13.6%	−3.3%
Drawdown
Measure	SPY	VPU
Below its high		8.9%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SPY	VPU
What it tracks	S&P 500 Index	MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50
Cost and size
Measure	SPY	VPU
Expense ratio	0.09%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$809.2bn	$7.7bn
Holdings
Measure	SPY	VPU
Holdings in common	2%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	38.1%	52.3%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, SPY and VPU hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

2% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SPY VPU

NEXTERA ENERGY INC 0.26% 11.39%

SOUTHERN CO 0.16% 6.74%

DUKE ENERGY CORP 0.15% 6.41%

CONSTELLATION ENERGY 0.13% 5.72%

AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER 0.11% 4.66%

DOMINION ENERGY INC 0.09% 3.84%

SEMPRA 0.08% 3.68%

ENTERGY CORP 0.08% 3.34%

XCEL ENERGY INC 0.07% 3.17%

EXELON CORP 0.07% 2.98%

VISTRA CORP 0.07% 3.37%

CONSOLIDATED EDISON INC 0.06% 2.72%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in SPY

NVIDIA CORP 7.92%

APPLE INC 7.61%

MICROSOFT CORP 5.93%

AMAZON.COM INC 3.73%

ALPHABET INC CL A 2.83%

BROADCOM INC 2.45%

ALPHABET INC CL C 2.26%

META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A 2.06%

Only in VPU

Talen Energy Corp 0.92%

Essential Utilities Inc 0.76%

OGE Energy Corp 0.68%

UGI Corp 0.55%

IDACORP Inc 0.52%

National Fuel Gas Co 0.49%

SLBBH1142 0.42%

TXNM Energy Inc 0.42%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust VPU Vanguard Utilities ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

What it is Tracks the S&P 500 Tracks an index of Utilities

Total return, 1 year +13.6% −3.3%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.7% (VOO) −3.3% (FUTY)

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs VOO 0.0 pts vs FUTY

Expense ratio 0.09% 0.09%

Already in the S&P 500 99.8% 89.7%

Holdings 504 70

Net assets, SPY as of Oct 27, 2026 and VPU as of Sep 30, 2026 $814.8bn $7.7bn

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

Alert

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%.

VPU

VPU tracks an index of Utilities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.3% with distributions reinvested, against −3.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 90% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 70 positions, with the top ten at 52.3%. It sat 8.9% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SPY or VPU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and VPU −3.3%.
Which is cheaper, SPY or VPU?: Neither: SPY and VPU both charge 0.09% a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do SPY and VPU overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 100% of SPY and 90% of VPU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

SPY vs XLU SPY vs VOX SPY vs VHT SPY vs VNQ IVV vs VPU VPU vs VTI VOO vs VPU SPYM vs VPU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

State Street website ↗

VPU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VPU prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VPU ↗

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 VPU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-vpu

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