{"url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spym-vs-zmay","section":"compare","title":"SPYM vs ZMAY: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees | ETFIQ","description":"SPYM vs ZMAY to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +13.7% against +5.1%, expense ratio 0.02% against 0.79%. One stock ETF and one buffer ETF.","as_of":"Oct 28, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Are SPYM and ZMAY in the same category?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"SPYM is a stock ETF and ZMAY is a buffer ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which returned more over the last year, SPYM or ZMAY?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPYM returned +13.7% and ZMAY +5.1%."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which is cheaper, SPYM or ZMAY?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"SPYM is cheaper, by 0.77 percentage points a year. That is about $77 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Compare ETFs","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"SPYM vs ZMAY","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spym-vs-zmay"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"SPYM vs ZMAY: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees","description":"SPYM vs ZMAY to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +13.7% against +5.1%, expense ratio 0.02% against 0.79%. One stock ETF and one buffer ETF.","url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spym-vs-zmay","dateModified":"2026-10-28","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".verdict",".lede",".faq"]},"isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"}},{"@type":"Dataset","name":"ETFIQ comparison of SPYM and ZMAY","description":"SPYM vs ZMAY to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +13.7% against +5.1%, expense ratio 0.02% against 0.79%. One stock ETF and one buffer ETF.","dateModified":"2026-10-28","creator":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","isAccessibleForFree":true,"url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spym-vs-zmay","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"inLanguage":"en","creativeWorkStatus":"Published","distribution":[{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/alternatives.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/core.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/crypto.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/funds.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/income.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/leverage.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/thematic.json"}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Compare ETFs","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"SPYM vs ZMAY","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spym-vs-zmay"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"SPYM vs ZMAY: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees","description":"SPYM vs ZMAY to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +13.7% against +5.1%, expense ratio 0.02% against 0.79%. One stock ETF and one buffer ETF.","url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spym-vs-zmay","dateModified":"2026-10-28","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".verdict",".lede",".faq"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":4286,"truncated":true,"content":"ETFIQ / Compare ETFs / SPYM vs ZMAY \n \n Data as of Oct 28, 2026.\n ETFIQ etfiq.com \u00b7 independent ETF data \n SPYM vs ZMAY: Differences, Returns & Fees\n Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPYM returned +13.7% to ZMAY's +5.1%, and SPYM charges 0.02% to ZMAY's 0.79%.\n Copy this for sharing \n SPYM costs 0.77 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.6 points; SPYM is far larger, $185.0bn against $83m.\n SPYM and ZMAY at a glance. As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. SPYM ZMAY \n Expense ratio 0.02% 0.79% \n Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $185.0bn $83m \n Total return, 1 year +13.7% +5.1% \n What i","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, SPYM against ZMAY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spym-vs-zmay","a":{"ticker":"SPYM","name":"State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF","issuer":"State Street","desk":"core","as_of":"2026-10-28","verdict":"SPYM tracks the S&P 500 and returned +13.7% over the past year.","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/spym","key_facts":[{"label":"Total return, 1 year","value":"+13.7%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Expense ratio","value":"0.02%","as_of":"2025-10-24","source":"485BPOS XBRL, Oct 24, 2025"},{"label":"Holdings","value":"506","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"the issuer\u2019s daily holdings file"},{"label":"Below its high","value":"\u22120.9%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"ETFIQ"},{"label":"12-month yield, capital gains included, on its starting price","value":"1.1%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and distributions"},{"label":"Last payment (paid quarterly), ex-date Sep 11, 2026","value":"$0.2391","as_of":"2026-09-11","source":"Tiingo end-of-day distributions"},{"label":"Net assets","value":"$185.0bn","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"the issuer\u2019s own daily fund list, as of Oct 27, 2026"}]},"b":{"ticker":"ZMAY","name":"Innovator Equity Defined Protection ETF - 1 Yr May","issuer":"Innovator","desk":"buffer","as_of":"2026-10-28","verdict":"Since Apr 30, 2026, ZMAY returned 2.8%, against SPY's 7.4% price return. It can gain 4.0% more before its cap.","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/zmay","key_facts":[{"label":"Can still gain from today\u2019s fund price","value":"4.0%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":null},{"label":"Fall before the buffer from today\u2019s fund price","value":"3.1%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":null},{"label":"Protection left, index points","value":"100.0%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":null},{"label":"Days to reset","value":"184","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":null},{"label":"Net assets","value":"$64m","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"issuer page, as of Oct 28, 2026"},{"label":"Expense ratio","value":"0.79%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"issuer page, Oct 28, 2026"}]},"overlap_pct":null,"overlap_note":"ETFIQ does not publish a holdings overlap for this pair. Either the funds are not compared on holdings, or one book is incomplete.","full_text_at":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spym-vs-zmay"}