State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY)
$155.06+0.71%close of Oct 16, 2026
State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by SPDR (State Street). This fund owns US companies that have raised their dividends every year for at least 20 years in a row. It charges 0.35% a year. From November 2005 to October 2026 it returned about 8.9% a year, and its worst drop was −54.8%.
Written by the Tactfolio research team. Fund facts checked October 17, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.
- Yearly fee
- 0.35%
- about $35 on $10,000
- 1-year return
- 15.0%
- to Oct 16, 2026
- Return per year
- 8.9%
- since November 2005
- Worst drop
- −54.8%
- since 2005
- Below its high
- −2.0%
- now
- Volatility
- 18.9%
- yearly swings
- Issuer
- SPDR (State Street)
- Tracks
- S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index
- Started trading
- November 8, 2005
- Type
- US stocks, ETF
- Holdings
- 155 holdings as of October 15, 2026
- Expense ratio
- 0.35% a year
How has SDY done since 2005?#
From November 2005 to October 2026, SDY returned about 8.9% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 11.1% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $60,067 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.
| Period | SDY | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 month | 2.7% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | 0.1% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | 6.2% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | 13.5% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | 15.0% | 16.8% |
| 3 years per year | 13.5% | 22.0% |
| 5 years per year | 7.7% | 12.8% |
| 10 years per year | 9.7% | 15.4% |
| Since 2005 per year | 8.9% | 11.1% |
Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.
SDY returns by month and year#
SDY rose in 165 of its 252 months (65%). Its best month was April 2009, at 13.6%. Its worst was March 2020, at −15.3%.
| Year | Total | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 13.5% | 6.9 | 4.8 | −5.8 | 2.8 | −0.5 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 0.8 | −5.7 | 5.9 | ||
| 2025 | 8.2% | 1.9 | 2.8 | −1.3 | −3.4 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 3.2 | −0.3 | −2.0 | 2.6 | −0.4 |
| 2024 | 8.5% | −1.1 | 1.7 | 5.0 | −3.0 | 2.3 | −1.6 | 6.0 | 3.8 | 2.1 | −2.7 | 4.2 | −7.5 |
| 2023 | 2.6% | 3.5 | −2.8 | −1.1 | 1.0 | −6.1 | 5.2 | 3.5 | −3.6 | −5.3 | −2.7 | 6.9 | 5.3 |
| 2022 | −0.5% | −2.2 | −1.0 | 3.1 | −3.2 | 2.4 | −5.9 | 6.6 | −2.3 | −9.3 | 10.3 | 6.8 | −4.0 |
| 2021 | 24.6% | −0.6 | 5.3 | 7.3 | 4.0 | 2.2 | −2.5 | 0.7 | 1.3 | −5.1 | 4.8 | −2.0 | 7.8 |
| 2020 | 1.7% | −2.9 | −8.9 | −15.3 | 10.1 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 3.0 | −3.4 | 0.1 | 12.3 | 3.0 |
| 2019 | 23.3% | 6.3 | 4.3 | 0.8 | 2.1 | −5.6 | 5.9 | 0.9 | −2.4 | 3.9 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
| 2018 | −2.7% | 2.0 | −4.9 | 0.1 | −0.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 0.3 | −4.8 | 4.9 | −7.8 |
| 2017 | 15.8% | 0.7 | 3.0 | −0.2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.1 | −0.9 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 4.2 | 1.2 |
| 2016 | 20.3% | −1.9 | 3.0 | 8.1 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 2.8 | −0.7 | −0.9 | −3.5 | 4.6 | 2.0 |
| 2015 | −0.8% | −2.4 | 3.1 | −0.8 | −0.7 | 1.0 | −2.2 | 1.7 | −5.0 | −1.4 | 7.8 | 0.2 | −1.5 |
| 2014 | 13.8% | −3.0 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 2.1 | −3.6 | 4.3 | −2.0 | 4.9 | 2.9 | 0.5 |
| 2013 | 30.1% | 6.4 | 2.2 | 4.9 | 1.9 | 0.4 | −1.1 | 5.8 | −4.6 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 1.0 | 1.8 |
| 2012 | 11.6% | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | −3.7 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 2.5 | −0.3 | 0.9 | 0.5 |
| 2011 | 7.1% | 0.4 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 2.4 | −0.2 | −1.6 | −3.5 | −0.7 | −5.5 | 9.4 | 1.3 | 1.1 |
| 2010 | 16.4% | −2.4 | 4.0 | 5.9 | 2.1 | −6.8 | −2.9 | 7.4 | −4.3 | 9.1 | 1.8 | −0.8 | 3.6 |
| 2009 | 19.2% | −13.4 | −13.3 | 12.1 | 13.6 | 0.6 | −0.3 | 9.7 | 3.8 | 3.0 | −1.4 | 4.7 | 2.5 |
| 2008 | −22.8% | 0.2 | −6.7 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 0.0 | −15.0 | 5.4 | 3.7 | 4.0 | −11.5 | −6.4 | −0.6 |
| 2007 | −6.7% | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.9 | 2.2 | −3.9 | −5.0 | 2.8 | −0.6 | −0.8 | −3.0 | −2.5 |
| 2006 | 17.7% | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.0 | −1.8 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 2.0 |
| 2005 | 1.1% | 1.1 | 0.0 |
Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.
How risky is SDY compared with the S&P 500?#
Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.
- Beta 0.59. When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, SDY tended to move about 0.59%.
- Correlation 0.73. SDY moved with the S&P 500 some of the time.
- Up and down months. In months the S&P 500 rose, SDY rose 74% as much on average. In months it fell, SDY fell 81% as much.
| Measure | SDY | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| Return per year | 7.8% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 14.0% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −15.2% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.61 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 0.88 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.51 | 0.52 |
Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.
Is SDY above its 200-day average?#
SDY closed 3.9% above its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds SDY only above that average would hold it today.
- vs 200-day average
- +3.9%
- above it
- 50-day vs 200-day
- +2.4%
- trend rising
- vs 52-week high
- −2.0%
- high of $158.21
A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as the 10-month moving average strategy hold a fund only while it is above one. You can build that rule for SDY and backtest it in a minute.
What was SDY’s worst drop?#
A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. SDY’s worst fall was −54.8%, from June 1, 2007 to March 9, 2009. It got back to that high on April 28, 2011. On October 16, 2026 it was 2.0% below its highest close.
| Drop | From the high | To the bottom | Back to the high |
|---|---|---|---|
| −54.8% | Jun 1, 2007 | Mar 9, 200921 months | Apr 28, 20112.1 years |
| −36.7% | Feb 14, 2020 | Mar 23, 202038 days | Nov 24, 20208 months |
| −16.1% | Jul 7, 2011 | Aug 8, 201132 days | Dec 27, 20115 months |
| −15.2% | Aug 16, 2022 | Sep 30, 20221 months | Dec 2, 20222 months |
| −15.0% | Feb 2, 2023 | Oct 27, 20239 months | Mar 12, 20245 months |
Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.
What does SDY hold?#
This fund owns US companies that have raised their dividends every year for at least 20 years in a row. It gives more weight to the ones that pay the most. Its value still rises and falls with the stock market.
It tracks the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index. It had 155 holdings as of October 15, 2026, according to SPDR (State Street).
What is the SDY expense ratio?#
SDY charges 0.35% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.35% fee comes to about $35 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 19% charge more.
You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.
Which Tactfolio strategies hold SDY?#
No classic strategy holds SDY yet. You can add it to your own rules in the builder and see how they would have done.
How does SDY compare with similar ETFs?#
Funds that can stand in for SDY:
- VYM: Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF, 0.04% a year
- SCHD: Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF, 0.06% a year
- SPYD: State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF, 0.07% a year
- HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF, 0.08% a year
See all 8 SDY alternatives, compared on the same dates as SDY.
Test SDY in your own rules#
Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the builder, add SDY, and see how a rule such as “hold it only above its 200-day average” would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.
The details#
Prices come from Tactfolio’s stored daily prices for SDY and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.
Fund facts come from SPDR (State Street). We checked them on October 17, 2026. Read what a backtest simulates and how to read drawdown and CAGR for more on these measures.
Common questions#
What is the expense ratio of SDY?#
SDY charges 0.35% a year, according to SPDR (State Street) as of October 17, 2026. That is about $35 a year for every $10,000 you hold.
When did SDY start trading?#
SDY started trading on November 8, 2005. It is run by SPDR (State Street).
What does SDY track?#
SDY tracks the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index. This fund owns US companies that have raised their dividends every year for at least 20 years in a row.
How much has SDY returned per year?#
From November 2005 to October 2026, SDY returned about 8.9% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −54.8%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.
Is SDY above its 200-day moving average?#
On October 16, 2026, SDY closed 3.9% above its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.
Which strategies use SDY?#
None of Tactfolio’s classic strategies hold SDY yet. You can test it in your own rules in the builder.