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Data as of Sep 19, 2026.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

SPY vs XTR: how they differ

Over the year SPY returned more, +16.6% to XTR's +12.0%, and SPY charges 0.09% to XTR's 0.25%.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and Global X S&P 500 Tail Risk ETF.

SPY and XTR on the fields both publish, as of Sep 19, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SPY
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
XTR
Global X S&P 500 Tail Risk ETF
Where it sitsCore fundAlternatives ETF
IssuerState StreetGlobal X
What it isTracks the S&P 500Hedged equity
Total return, 1 year+16.6%+12.0%
S&P 500 over the same days+16.6%+16.6%
Gap to the S&P 5000.0 pts−4.6 pts
Expense ratio0.09%0.25%
Holdings505not filed
Net assets$785.0bn$5m

SPY in plain words

SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026 it returned +16.6% with distributions reinvested, against +16.6% for the S&P 500 and +21.8% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Sep 18, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 505 positions, with the top ten at 38.5%.

XTR in plain words

XTR is a hedged equity fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.99 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.90, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.90% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 22 of those 52 weeks, by 1.24% on average. In the same weeks XTR fell 1.20% on average, a down-week capture of 96.7%. Over the same 52 weeks XTR returned +11.4% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 7.8 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SPY or XTR?
In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +16.6% and XTR returned +12.0%, so SPY returned more.
Which is cheaper, SPY or XTR?
SPY charges 0.09% a year and XTR charges 0.25%, so SPY is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are SPY and XTR the same kind of fund?
No. SPY is an index ETF and XTR is an alternatives ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

SPY against XTR, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 19, 2026. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, SPY against XTR, data as of Sep 19, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-xtr Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources