SPY: The Original S&P 500® ETF | SPDR® (2024)

FAQs

How well does SPY track the S&P 500? ›

The low expenses inherent with ETFs like SPY enable investors to track the S&P 500 index more closely compared to index funds with higher expenses. When building an ETF portfolio, some investors use an S&P 500 ETF like SPY as a core holding.

What Is SPY? The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), also known as SPY, is an exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of the S&P 500 index. The S&P 500 is a stock market index that measures the performance of 500 large cap publicly traded companies in the United States.

When was SPY created? SPY was created on January 22, 1993. It was the first US ETF to be listed on a national stock exchange, and it remains the most widely traded ETF in the world.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol SPY. The SPY's price tracks the S&P 500 index. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF allows investors to track the performance of the US economy without having to buy all the stocks listed on the S&P 500 directly.

Since it was expanded to include 500 stocks in 1957, the average annualized return in the S&P 500 is closer to 10.15%. That means the average annualized return in SPY is roughly 10%.

VOO earns a top rating of Gold, while SPY earns the next best rating of Silver. Almahasneh says the reason is fees. VOO charges 0.03%, while SPY charges 0.09%. With all else equal, the fund with the lower fee is more aligned with investors' best interests.

VOO charges 3 basis points, while SPY charges 9 basis points. Both are very low cost compared to the average ETF in the US market.

SPY has a dividend yield of 1.28% and paid $6.72 per share in the past year. The dividend is paid every three months and the last ex-dividend date was Mar 15, 2024.

What is the best S&P 500 index fund? ›

Is SPY a Buy, Hold, or Sell? Based on SPY's technical indicators, SPY is a Buy.

The S&P 500 is all US-domiciled companies that over the last ~40 years have accounted for ~50% of all global stocks. By just owning the S&P 500 you miss out on almost half of the global opportunity set which is another ~10,000 public companies.

Buffett's rationale behind endorsing S&P 500 index funds is rooted in their simplicity and effectiveness.

In the past year, QQQ returned a total of 29.88%, which is higher than SPY's 26.19% return. Over the past 10 years, QQQ has had annualized average returns of 18.31% , compared to 12.50% for SPY. These numbers are adjusted for stock splits and include dividends.

SPY's price is about 1/10th of the SPX's value at all times. If the SPX is trading at 4,500, the SPY should be around 450. As such, the option prices will usually correlate.

Based on analyst ratings, SPY's 12-month average price target is $591.50.

Looking closely, you can see that each SPX contract is about 10 times the value of a SPY option because the S&P 500 Index is approximately 10X times higher than SPY in numerical terms. Although trading SPX options requires more capital, the tax treatment on SPX options is better.