ETF Evaluator: State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF (SPY) Follow This ETF

State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Overview

State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF (SPY) is a passively managed U.S. Equity Large Blend exchange-traded fund (ETF). State Street Investment Management launched the ETF in 1993.

The investment seeks to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P 500® Index. The trust seeks to achieve its investment objective by holding a portfolio of the common stocks that are included in the index (the “Portfolio”), with the weight of each stock in the Portfolio substantially corresponding to the weight of such stock in the index.

About State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF (SPY)

There are 1 members of the management team with an average tenure of 33.46 years: Management Team (1993). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 1 primary benchmark: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100%. State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF has 505 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 36.3% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF has 0.5% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 99.3% There is 0.5% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF has 0.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $781 billion in total assets, which is above the $13 billion average for the Large Blend category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

SPY Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF expense ratio is low compared to funds in the Large Blend category. State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF has an expense ratio of 0.09%, which is 77% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 3%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.3 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 162% for the Large Blend category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF returned -1.0%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Large Blend category had an average return of -0.0%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF has a trailing yield of 1.01%, which is below the 1.12% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 10.2%, 0.2 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 22.2% over the past year (grade of C), 20.5% over the past three years (grade of B) and 13.3% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 15.4% per year over the past 10 years (grade of B).

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