Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SPYM vs XLG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPYM returned +13.7% to XLG's +6.4%; 63% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $185.0bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF and $11.9bn for Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPYM costs 0.18 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.3 points; SPYM is 15.5 times larger.
| Measure | SPYM | XLG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.7% | +6.4% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 Index | S&P 500 Top 50 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.02% | 0.20% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $185.0bn | $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
Nov 25, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,091 weekly returns · each against IVVXLG returned slightly more: +843.7% to +793.5%. SPYM and XLG swung about the same: 17.2% and 17.1%. XLG fell slightly less at its worst: −51.7% to −53.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPYM | XLG | IVV | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +793.5% | +843.7% | XLG (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +11.0% | +11.3% | XLG (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +516.4% | +548.9% | XLG (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 17.2% | 17.1% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 12.1% | 11.9% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −53.9% | −51.7% | XLG (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 94.1% | 98.3% | 100.0% | XLG (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 96.9% | 98.6% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.96 | 0.95 | 1.00 | Tie | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.95 | 0.95 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.59 | 0.61 | XLG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.84 | 0.87 | XLG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.106 | 0.109 | 0.102 | XLG (slight) | 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 | IVV | IVV | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.4% a year | +0.7% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.53 | 0.86 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −1.2% to +2.0% | −0.9% to +2.3% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.00 | 0.06 | XLG | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.8% | 3.8% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,091 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SPYM 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
SPYM and XLG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SPYM and XLG are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. SPYM 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 SPYM returned +13.7% and XLG +6.4% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.3 points.
- Number of holdings. SPYM holds 506 positions and XLG holds 53.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SPYM
SPYM tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.02% 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 506 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, SPYM or XLG?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPYM returned +13.7% and XLG +6.4%.
- Which is cheaper, SPYM or XLG?
- SPYM is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 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, SPYM against XLG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spym-vs-xlg
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