Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
SPY vs XSEP: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, SPY returned +14.8% to XSEP's +9.3%, and SPY charges 0.09% to XSEP's 0.85%.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about SPY and XSEP
Net assets on Nov 3, 2026: $804.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and $99m for FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - September.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.76 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.5 points; SPY is far larger, $804.8bn against $99m.
| Measure | SPY | XSEP |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +14.8% | +9.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 0.6% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 1.7% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 Index | SPY |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 9.4% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 15.0% of 15.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 317 | |
| Period ends | Sep 17, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.85% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $804.8bn | $99m |
| 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
Sep 30, 2022 to Oct 30, 2026 · 213 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 30, 2026; XSEP against SPY, Sep 30, 2022 to Oct 30, 2026.
From Sep 2022 to Oct 2026, SPY returned more: +122.9% to +53.9%. XSEP swung less: 5.9% to 14.4%. XSEP fell less at its worst: −7.8% to −16.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPY | XSEP | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +122.9% | +53.9% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +21.6% | +11.1% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +111.6% | +53.9% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 14.4% | 5.9% | XSEP | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 9.1% | 3.8% | XSEP | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −16.9% | −7.8% | XSEP | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.8% | 27.9% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.0% | 34.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.37 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.81 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 1.12 | 1.03 | SPY (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.76 | 1.59 | SPY (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.132 | 0.164 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 1.28 | 1.42 | XSEP (slight) | 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 | +0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.52 | 0.11 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.3% to +0.1% | −2.4% to +2.7% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.15 | −1.06 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 9.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 213 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
SPY and XSEP 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%.
XSEP
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 9.4% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.7% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.6% 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. 317 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Sep 17, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
Questions people ask
- Are SPY and XSEP in the same category?
- SPY is a stock ETF and XSEP 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 XSEP?
- In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +14.8% and XSEP +9.3%.
- Which is cheaper, SPY or XSEP?
- 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 XSEP, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-xsep
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). SPY against XSEP. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-xsep
[SPY against XSEP (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-xsep)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.