At a glance
SPY and VOO hold almost the same stocks in almost the same amounts: 99.7% of their holdings overlap by weight. SPY is a unit investment trust and VOO a share class of Vanguard 500 Index Fund, which also sells mutual fund shares. VOO costs less: 0.03% a year against 0.0945% for SPY, or $30 against $95 on every $100,000. SPY has $781.19B in assets and VOO $1.67T (all share classes); over the past 12 months SPY paid out 1.01% of its price and VOO 1.07%, both quarterly. Over the past year SPY returned +11.5% and VOO +12.4% with distributions reinvested; over five years, +11.7% and +12.0% a year. In the 2022 bear market SPY fell 24.5% at its worst and VOO 24.5%; both were back at their earlier highs 14 months after the low.
Key differences
| SPY | VOO | |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF |
| Issuer | SPDR (State Street) | Vanguard |
| Structure | Unit investment trust | ETF share class |
| Type | S&P 500 | S&P 500 |
| Launched | Jan 22, 1993 | Sep 7, 2010 |
| Expense ratio | 0.0945% | 0.03% |
| Cost a year on $100,000 | $95 | $30 |
| Net assets | $781.19B | $1.67T * |
| Holdings | 503 | 506 |
| Ten largest positions | 36.4% | 36.4% |
| Yield (12 months) | 1.01% | 1.07% |
| Pays | quarterly | quarterly |
| Portfolio turnover | — | 2% a year |
| Price data from | Oct 28, 1996 | Jun 2, 2020 |
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.
- VOO: An exchange-traded share class of Vanguard 500 Index Fund, which also sells mutual fund shares; its net assets count every share class.
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 | VOO |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA Corp | 7.52% | 7.51% |
| Apple Inc | 6.59% | 6.59% |
| Microsoft Corp | 4.30% | 4.30% |
| Amazon.com Inc | 3.62% | 3.62% |
| Alphabet Inc | 3.25% | 3.25% |
| Broadcom Inc | 2.77% | 2.77% |
| Alphabet Inc | 2.59% | 2.59% |
| Micron Technology Inc | 2.02% | 2.02% |
| Meta Platforms Inc | 1.92% | 1.92% |
| 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 | VOO | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technology | 35.2% | 35.2% | — |
| Financials | 10.8% | 10.6% | SPY +0.2 |
| 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% | 1.3% | — |
Returns
$10,000 put into SPY on Jun 30, 2020 was worth $26,688 on Oct 30, 2026, and in VOO $26,780 (+16.8% and +16.8% 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% |
| VOO price data to Oct 30, 2026 | +12.4% | +23.6% | +12.0% | — |
| VOO official prospectus, to Dec 31, 2025 | +17.84% | — | +14.38% | +14.78% |
Calendar years
| Year | SPY | VOO | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | +11.2% * | +11.8% * | VOO +0.6 |
| 2025 | +17.7% | +17.8% | VOO +0.1 |
| 2024 | +24.9% | +25.0% | VOO +0.1 |
| 2023 | +26.2% | +26.3% | VOO +0.1 |
| 2022 | -18.2% | -18.2% | — |
| 2021 | +28.8% | +28.8% | — |
| 2020 | +18.4% | +18.35% † | |
| 2019 | +31.2% | +31.46% † | |
| 2018 | -4.5% | -4.42% † | |
| 2017 | +21.7% | — |
Downturns and recovery
| SPY | VOO | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Not in the price data (starts Jun 2, 2020) |
| 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 | −24.5% at the worst; back at its high 14 months after the low |
| Worst fall in the price data | −55.2% (Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009) | −24.5% (Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022) |
Income
| Year | SPY | VOO |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $124 | $131 |
| 2024 | $149 | $153 |
| 2023 | $174 | $181 |
| 2022 | $133 | $136 |
| 2021 | $153 | $158 |
Costs
VOO charges 0.03% a year and SPY 0.0945%: on $100,000 that is $65 a year less with VOO ($323 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 | — | — | — | — |
| VOO | $3 | $10 | $17 | $39 |