Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SPY vs VT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPY returned +13.6% to VT's +13.5%; 56% 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 $81.8bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Total World Stock Index ETF.
Pair scorecard
VT costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.1 points; SPY is 9.9 times larger.
| Measure | SPY | VT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.6% | +13.5% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 Index | FTSE Global All Cap Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.06% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $809.2bn | $81.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 56% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | 22.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 3, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026 · 955 weekly returnsSPY returned more: +739.1% to +371.6%. SPY and VT swung about the same: 18.2% and 18.3%. SPY fell slightly less at its worst: −46.3% to −48.3%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPY | VT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +739.1% | +371.6% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +12.3% | +8.8% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +501.7% | +221.4% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 18.2% | 18.3% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.8% | 13.1% | SPY (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −46.3% | −48.3% | SPY (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.65 | 0.48 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.93 | 0.66 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.27 | 0.18 | SPY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 955 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SPY and VT hold 56% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
56% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SPY and VT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SPY and VT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SPY follows S&P 500 Index and VT follows FTSE Global All Cap Index.
- Number of holdings. SPY holds 504 positions and VT holds 10194.
- Size. SPY has $809.2bn in net assets and VT $81.8bn (net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026); SPY is 9.9 times larger.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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%.
VT
VT tracks an index of Total World Stock. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 55% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 10,194 positions, with the top ten at 22.5%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SPY or VT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and VT +13.5%.
- Which is cheaper, SPY or VT?
- VT 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, SPY against VT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-vt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SPY against VT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-vt
[SPY against VT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-vt)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.