Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SPY vs XLG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPY returned +13.6% to XLG's +6.4%; 63% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and $11.9bn for Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.2 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $11.9bn.
| Measure | SPY | XLG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.6% | +6.4% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 Index | S&P 500 Top 50 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.20% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $814.8bn | $11.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 63% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | 60.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 20, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,118 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; XLG against IVV, May 20, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
XLG returned slightly more: +882.5% to +844.7%. XLG swung slightly less: 17.0% to 17.5%. XLG fell slightly less at its worst: −51.7% to −54.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPY | XLG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +844.7% | +882.5% | XLG (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +11.0% | +11.2% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +538.0% | +572.4% | XLG (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.5% | 17.0% | XLG (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.4% | 11.8% | XLG (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −54.6% | −51.7% | XLG (slight) | 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% | 98.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.95 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.58 | 0.61 | XLG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.82 | 0.87 | XLG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.133 | 0.108 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.20 | 0.22 | XLG (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VOO | IVV | 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 | −0.51 | 0.68 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.3% to +0.1% | −1.0% to +2.1% | 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% | 3.8% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,118 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SPY and XLG hold 63% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
63% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SPY and XLG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SPY and XLG are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. SPY follows S&P 500 Index and XLG follows S&P 500 Top 50 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SPY returned +13.6% and XLG +6.4% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.2 points.
- Number of holdings. SPY holds 504 positions and XLG holds 53.
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%.
XLG
XLG tracks the S&P 500 top 50. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +6.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 98% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 53 positions, with the top ten at 60.3%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SPY or XLG?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and XLG +6.4%.
- Which is cheaper, SPY or XLG?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 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 XLG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-xlg
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SPY against XLG. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-xlg
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