State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY)

ETF · US stocks · SPDR (State Street)

$763.25−1.11%close of Oct 16, 2026

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by SPDR (State Street). This fund owns the 500 or so large US companies in the S&P 500. It charges 0.0945% a year. From January 1993 to October 2026 it returned about 10.8% a year, and its worst drop was −55.2%.

Written by the Tactfolio research team. Fund facts checked October 16, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.

Yearly fee
0.0945%
about $9.45 on $10,000
1-year return
16.8%
to Oct 16, 2026
Return per year
10.8%
since January 1993
Worst drop
−55.2%
since 1993
Below its high
−2.0%
now
Volatility
18.5%
yearly swings
Issuer
SPDR (State Street)
Tracks
S&P 500 Index
Started trading
January 22, 1993
Type
US stocks, ETF
Holdings
504 holdings as of October 15, 2026
Expense ratio
0.0945% a year

How has SPY done since 1993?#

$10k$20k$50k$100k$200k1994199920042009201420192024
SPYGrowth of $10,000, log scale, with dividends reinvested. Past results do not tell you what happens next.

From January 1993 to October 2026, SPY returned about 10.8% a year. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $317,313 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.

PeriodSPYUS stock market (VTI)
1 month1.5%1.0%
3 months1.9%1.2%
6 months9.3%8.7%
Year to date12.8%12.5%
1 year16.8%16.1%
3 years per year22.0%21.6%
5 years per year12.8%11.7%
10 years per year15.4%14.9%
Since 1993 per year10.8%n/a

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.

SPY returns by month and year#

SPY rose in 264 of its 405 months (65%). Its best month was April 2020, at 12.7%. Its worst was October 2008, at −16.5%.

Return each month, in percent
YearTotalJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202612.8%1.5−0.9−4.910.55.3−1.00.02.7−0.30.1
202517.7%2.7−1.3−5.6−0.96.35.12.32.13.62.40.20.1
202424.9%1.65.23.3−4.05.13.51.22.32.1−0.96.0−2.4
202326.2%6.3−2.53.71.60.56.53.3−1.6−4.7−2.29.14.6
2022−18.2%−5.3−2.93.8−8.80.2−8.29.2−4.1−9.28.15.6−5.8
202128.7%−1.02.84.55.30.72.22.43.0−4.77.0−0.84.6
202018.3%0.0−7.9−12.512.74.81.85.97.0−3.7−2.510.93.7
201931.2%8.03.21.84.1−6.47.01.5−1.72.02.23.62.9
2018−4.6%5.6−3.6−2.70.52.40.63.73.20.6−6.91.9−8.8
201721.7%1.83.90.11.01.40.62.10.32.02.43.11.2
201612.0%−5.0−0.16.70.41.70.43.70.10.0−1.73.72.0
20151.2%−3.05.6−1.61.01.3−2.02.3−6.1−2.58.50.4−1.7
201413.5%−3.54.60.80.72.32.1−1.34.0−1.42.42.8−0.2
201332.3%5.11.33.81.92.4−1.35.2−3.03.24.63.02.6
201216.0%4.64.33.2−0.7−6.04.11.22.52.5−1.80.60.9
20111.9%2.33.50.02.9−1.1−1.7−2.0−5.5−6.910.9−0.41.0
201015.1%−3.63.16.11.6−7.9−5.26.8−4.59.03.80.06.7
200926.4%−8.2−10.78.39.95.9−0.17.53.73.6−1.96.21.9
2008−36.8%−6.0−2.6−0.94.81.5−8.4−0.91.6−9.4−16.5−7.01.0
20075.1%1.5−2.01.24.43.4−1.5−3.11.33.91.4−3.9−1.1
200615.8%2.40.61.71.3−3.00.30.52.22.73.22.01.3
20054.8%−2.22.1−1.8−1.93.20.23.8−0.90.8−2.44.4−0.2
200410.7%2.01.4−1.3−1.91.71.9−3.20.21.01.34.53.0
200328.2%−2.5−1.30.28.55.51.11.82.1−1.15.41.15.0
2002−21.6%−1.0−1.83.3−5.8−0.6−7.4−7.90.7−10.58.26.2−5.7
2001−11.8%4.5−9.5−5.68.5−0.6−2.4−1.0−5.9−8.21.37.80.6
2000−9.7%−5.0−1.59.7−3.5−1.62.0−1.66.5−5.5−0.5−7.5−0.5
199920.4%3.5−3.24.23.8−2.35.5−3.1−0.5−2.26.41.75.7
199828.7%1.36.94.91.3−2.14.3−1.3−14.16.48.15.66.5
199733.5%6.21.0−4.46.36.34.17.9−5.24.8−2.43.91.9
199622.5%3.60.31.71.12.30.9−4.51.95.63.27.3−2.4
199538.0%3.44.12.83.04.02.03.20.54.2−0.34.51.6
19940.4%3.5−2.9−4.21.11.6−2.33.23.8−2.52.8−4.00.7
19938.7%1.12.2−2.62.70.4−0.53.8−0.72.0−1.11.2

Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.

How risky is SPY compared with the US stock market?#

Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.

  • Beta 0.98. When the US stock market moved 1% in a day, SPY tended to move about 0.98%.
  • Correlation 1.00. SPY mostly moved with the US stock market.
  • Up and down months. In months the US stock market rose, SPY rose 101% as much on average. In months it fell, SPY fell 95% as much.
MeasureSPYUS stock market (VTI)
Return per year12.8%11.6%
Volatility17.1%17.5%
Worst drop−24.5%−25.4%
Sharpe ratio0.790.72
Sortino ratio1.151.04
Calmar ratio0.520.46

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 SPY above its 200-day average?#

SPY closed 5.7% above its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds SPY only above that average would hold it today.

vs 200-day average
+5.7%
above it
50-day vs 200-day
+6.3%
trend rising
vs 52-week high
−2.0%
high of $779.09

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 SPY and backtest it in a minute.

What was SPY’s worst drop?#

0%−10%−20%−30%−40%−50%1994199920042009201420192024
Drawdown: how far SPY was below its last high on each day.

A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. SPY’s worst fall was −55.2%, from October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009. It got back to that high on August 16, 2012. On October 16, 2026 it was 2.0% below its highest close.

DropFrom the highTo the bottomBack to the high
−55.2%Oct 9, 2007Mar 9, 200917 monthsAug 16, 20123.4 years
−47.5%Mar 24, 2000Oct 9, 20022.5 yearsOct 26, 20064.0 years
−33.7%Feb 19, 2020Mar 23, 202033 daysAug 10, 20205 months
−24.5%Jan 3, 2022Oct 12, 20229 monthsDec 13, 202314 months
−19.4%Sep 20, 2018Dec 24, 20183 monthsApr 12, 20194 months

Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.

What does SPY hold?#

This fund owns the 500 or so large US companies in the S&P 500. Started in 1993, it was the first ETF listed in the US. Its value goes up and down with big US stocks.

It tracks the S&P 500 Index. It had 504 holdings as of October 15, 2026, according to SPDR (State Street).

What is the SPY expense ratio?#

SPY charges 0.0945% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.0945% fee comes to about $9.45 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 51% 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 SPY?#

47 classic strategies hold SPY at least some of the time. Each is a set of written rules you can open, test and copy.

How does SPY compare with similar ETFs?#

Side-by-side pages measure both funds over the same dates:

  • SPY vs VOO: two S&P 500 funds with different fees and structures.
  • QQQ vs SPY: the Nasdaq-100 against the S&P 500, from the two oldest big index ETFs.

Funds that can stand in for SPY:

  • SPYM: State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF, 0.02% a year
  • IVV: iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, 0.03% a year
  • VOO: Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, 0.03% a year
  • ITOT: iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF, 0.03% a year

See all 8 SPY alternatives, compared on the same dates as SPY.

Test SPY 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 SPY, 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 SPY and VTI. 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 US stock market over the same dates.

Fund facts come from SPDR (State Street). We checked them on October 16, 2026. Read what a backtest simulates and how to read drawdown and CAGR for more on these measures.

Research and test it

Common questions#

What is the expense ratio of SPY?#

SPY charges 0.0945% a year, according to SPDR (State Street) as of October 16, 2026. That is about $9.45 a year for every $10,000 you hold.

When did SPY start trading?#

SPY started trading on January 22, 1993. It is run by SPDR (State Street).

What does SPY track?#

SPY tracks the S&P 500 Index. This fund owns the 500 or so large US companies in the S&P 500.

How much has SPY returned per year?#

From January 1993 to October 2026, SPY returned about 10.8% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −55.2%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.

Is SPY above its 200-day moving average?#

On October 16, 2026, SPY closed 5.7% above its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.

Which strategies use SPY?#

47 of Tactfolio’s classic strategies hold SPY, including Hybrid Asset Allocation (HAA), HAA Simple: Hybrid Asset Allocation with one asset, Bold Asset Allocation (BAA).

Sources#