Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
SPY vs XJUL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, SPY returned +14.8% to XJUL's +9.1%, and SPY charges 0.09% to XJUL's 0.85%.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about SPY and XJUL
Net assets on Nov 3, 2026: $804.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and $42m for FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - July.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.76 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.7 points; SPY is far larger, $804.8bn against $42m.
| Measure | SPY | XJUL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +14.8% | +9.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 3.1% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 3.6% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 Index | SPY |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 7.5% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 15.0% of 15.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 254 | |
| Period ends | Jul 16, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.85% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $804.8bn | $42m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 37.3% | |
Risk and return
Aug 4, 2023 to Oct 30, 2026 · 169 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 30, 2026; XJUL against SPY, Aug 4, 2023 to Oct 30, 2026.
From Aug 2023 to Oct 2026, SPY returned more: +76.0% to +36.2%. XJUL swung less: 6.3% to 14.1%. XJUL fell less at its worst: −7.8% to −16.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPY | XJUL | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +76.0% | +36.2% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +19.0% | +10.0% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +69.1% | +36.2% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 14.1% | 6.3% | XJUL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 9.1% | 4.2% | XJUL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −16.9% | −7.8% | XJUL | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.8% | 30.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.0% | 38.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.41 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.84 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.98 | 0.83 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.52 | 1.22 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.132 | 0.127 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 1.13 | 1.28 | XJUL | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VOO | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | −0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.52 | −0.34 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.3% to +0.1% | −3.2% to +2.3% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.15 | −1.00 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 8.7% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 169 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
SPY and XJUL on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
Client brief:
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 Nov 4, 2026 it returned +14.8% with distributions reinvested, against +14.8% 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 Nov 3, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 37.3%.
XJUL
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 7.5% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 3.6% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 3.1% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 15.0% of the 15.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 254 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Jul 16, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
Questions people ask
- Are SPY and XJUL in the same category?
- SPY is a stock ETF and XJUL is a buffer ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, SPY or XJUL?
- In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +14.8% and XJUL +9.1%.
- Which is cheaper, SPY or XJUL?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.76 percentage points a year. That is about $76 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, SPY against XJUL, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-xjul
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). SPY against XJUL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-xjul
[SPY against XJUL (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-xjul)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.