Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SPY vs VTWO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPY returned +13.6% to VTWO's +14.3%; 0% 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 $16.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF.
Pair scorecard
VTWO costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.7 points; SPY is far larger, $809.2bn against $16.6bn.
| Measure | SPY | VTWO |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.6% | +14.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.5%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 Index | Russell 2000 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.06% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $809.2bn | $16.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | 5.4% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026 · 838 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; VTWO against IWM, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPY returned more: +778.8% to +409.2%. SPY swung less: 15.9% to 21.0%. SPY fell less at its worst: −31.8% to −40.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPY | VTWO | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +778.8% | +409.2% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +14.4% | +10.6% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +563.1% | +315.9% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 15.9% | 21.0% | SPY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.9% | 14.5% | SPY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.8% | −40.2% | SPY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.8% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.0% | 99.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.99 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.83 | 0.51 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.21 | 0.74 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.133 | 0.108 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.45 | 0.26 | SPY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VOO | IWM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | +0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.51 | 0.46 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.3% to +0.1% | −0.4% to +0.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.15 | 0.02 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 1.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 838 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SPY and VTWO 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 VTWO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SPY and VTWO do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SPY follows S&P 500 Index and VTWO follows Russell 2000 Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- Number of holdings. SPY holds 504 positions and VTWO holds 2002.
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%.
VTWO
VTWO tracks the Russell 2000. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.3% with distributions reinvested, against +14.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,002 positions, with the top ten at 5.4%. It sat 7.5% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SPY or VTWO?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and VTWO +14.3%.
- Which is cheaper, SPY or VTWO?
- VTWO 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 VTWO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-vtwo
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