State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF

Frequently Asked Questions About SPY

What does SPY invest in?

SPY is the best-recognized and oldest US listed ETF and typically tops rankings for largest AUM and greatest trading volume. The fund tracks the massively popular US index, the S&P 500. Few realize that S&P's index committee chooses 500 securities to represent the US large-cap space - not necessarily the 500 largest by market cap, which can lead to some omissions of single names. Still, the index offers outstanding exposure to the US large-cap space. It's important to note, SPY is a unit investment trust, an older but entirely viable structure. As a UIT, SPY must fully replicate its index (it probably would anyway) and forgo the small risk and reward of securities lending. It also can`t reinvest portfolio dividends between distributions, the resulting cash drag will slightly hurt performance in up markets and help in downtrends. SPY is a favored vanilla trading vehicle.

What is the expense ratio of SPY?

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) charges an expense ratio of 0.09%. This is the annual fee deducted from fund assets to cover management and operations.

How big is SPY?

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) manages $805.19B in total assets. AUM determines bid-ask liquidity and the fund's vulnerability to closure — funds below ~$50M are at higher risk of liquidation.

Is SPY actively managed or an index fund?

SPY is a passive index fund — it tracks a published benchmark by holding the constituents in their published weights. Index funds typically charge low expense ratios (SPY's is 0.09%) because there's no security selection cost.

When was SPY launched?

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) launched in January 1993 and is managed by SPDR.

How has SPY performed?

SPY's total return — price change plus reinvested distributions — is charted at the top of this page. Switch the price chart to Total Return and pick a 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, or 10-year window to read the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over each horizon.