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 $807.94B 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.