At a glance
SPY and SPYI hold almost the same stocks in almost the same amounts: 99.2% of their holdings overlap by weight. SPYI sells options on its holdings to raise income; SPY does not. SPY is a unit investment trust and SPYI an ordinary open-end ETF. SPY costs less: 0.0945% a year against 0.68% for SPYI, or $95 against $680 on every $100,000. SPY has $781.19B in assets and SPYI $10.41B; over the past 12 months SPY paid out 1.01% of its price and SPYI 11.85%. Over the past year SPY returned +11.5% and SPYI +13.4% with distributions reinvested; over three years, +21.9% and +19.3% a year.
Key differences
| SPY | SPYI | |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF |
| Issuer | SPDR (State Street) | NEOS |
| Structure | Unit investment trust | Open-end ETF |
| Type | S&P 500 | Option income |
| Launched | Jan 22, 1993 | Aug 30, 2022 |
| Expense ratio | 0.0945% | 0.68% |
| Cost a year on $100,000 | $95 | $680 |
| Net assets | $781.19B | $10.41B |
| Holdings | 503 | 507 |
| Ten largest positions | 36.4% | 36.4% |
| Yield (12 months) | 1.01% | 11.85% |
| Pays | quarterly | monthly |
| Portfolio turnover | — | 1% a year |
| Price data from | Oct 28, 1996 | Aug 31, 2022 |
Structure and tax notes
- SPY: Organized as a unit investment trust: it cannot lend out its securities or reinvest dividends between payouts, which can create a small drag versus similar open-end ETFs.
- SPYI: Generates much of its income from selling options (directly or through notes). That income is usually taxed as ordinary income rather than as qualified dividends, and the strategy gives up some upside in strong markets.
Holdings and overlap
Overlap adds up, for every security both funds own, the smaller of its two weights: 100% would mean identical portfolios.
Largest holdings
| Holding | SPY | SPYI |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA Corp | 7.52% | 7.54% |
| Apple Inc | 6.59% | 6.56% |
| Microsoft Corp | 4.30% | 4.30% |
| Amazon.com Inc | 3.62% | 3.63% |
| Alphabet Inc | 3.25% | 3.27% |
| Broadcom Inc | 2.77% | 2.78% |
| Alphabet Inc | 2.59% | 2.60% |
| Micron Technology Inc | 2.02% | 1.98% |
| Meta Platforms Inc | 1.92% | 1.91% |
| Tesla Inc | 1.84% | 1.84% |
No large holding differs by as much as half a percentage point between the two.
By sector
| Sector | SPY | SPYI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technology | 35.2% | 34.9% | SPY +0.3 |
| Financials | 10.8% | 10.8% | — |
| Communication services | 9.3% | 9.3% | — |
| Consumer discretionary | 9.1% | 9.1% | — |
| Health care | 7.1% | 7.1% | — |
| Industrials | 6.8% | 6.8% | — |
| Consumer staples | 4.4% | 4.4% | — |
| Energy | 2.7% | 2.7% | — |
| Utilities | 1.9% | 1.9% | — |
| Materials | 1.3% | 1.3% | — |
| Real estate | 1.3% | 1.2% | SPY +0.1 |
Returns
$10,000 put into SPY on Aug 31, 2022 was worth $20,228 on Oct 27, 2026, and in SPYI $18,025 (+18.4% and +15.2% a year). That is as far back as the price data for both goes.
| 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPY price data to Nov 2, 2026 | +11.5% | +21.9% | +11.7% | +15.4% |
| SPY official prospectus | +17.73% | — | +14.28% | +14.66% |
| SPYI price data to Oct 27, 2026 | +13.4% | +19.3% | — | — |
| SPYI official prospectus, to Dec 31, 2025 | +16.60% | — | — | — |
Calendar years
| Year | SPY | SPYI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | +11.2% * | +12.0% * | SPYI +0.8 |
| 2025 | +17.7% | +16.7% | SPY +1.0 |
| 2024 | +24.9% | +19.1% | SPY +5.8 |
| 2023 | +26.2% | +18.2% | SPY +8.0 |
| 2022 | -18.2% | — | |
| 2021 | +28.8% | — | |
| 2020 | +18.4% | — | |
| 2019 | +31.2% | — | |
| 2018 | -4.5% | — | |
| 2017 | +21.7% | — |
Downturns and recovery
| SPY | SPYI | |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | −55.2% at the worst; back at its high 41 months after the low | Before it launched |
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | −33.7% at the worst; back at its high 5 months after the low | Before it launched |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | −24.5% at the worst; back at its high 14 months after the low | Before it launched |
| Worst fall in the price data | −55.2% (Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009) | −16.5% (Feb 19, 2025 – Apr 8, 2025) |
Income
| Year | SPY | SPYI |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $124 | $1,210 |
| 2024 | $149 | $1,272 |
| 2023 | $174 | $1,260 |
Costs
SPY charges 0.0945% a year and SPYI 0.68%: on $100,000 that is $586 a year less with SPY ($2,928 on $500,000). The fee comes out of each fund's assets, so it is already in the returns above.
| Cost of $10,000 (SEC example) | 1 yr | 3 yrs | 5 yrs | 10 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPY | — | — | — | — |
| SPYI | $69 | $218 | $379 | $847 |