# State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY): ETF Facts & Distributions > Markdown mirror of https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/spy for AI agents. Same live data as the HTML page, regenerated on the same refresh cycle. Not investment advice. - Issuer: SPDR · Asset class: Equity - Strategy: Passive Index · Inception: 1993-01-22 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 (... ## Key Facts | Metric | Value | |---|---| | Price | $769.66 | | Expense Ratio | 0.09% | | Assets Under Management | $807.94B | | NAV | $759.86 | | Holdings Count | 504 | | Distribution Yield (TTM) | 0.99% | | Annual Distribution (TTM) | $7.58 /share | | Distribution Frequency | Quarterly | | 52-Week Range | $629.28 – $781.62 | | Beta | 1.01 | ## Latest Distribution - Amount: $1.8888 /share - Ex-date: 2026-09-18 - Pay date: 2026-10-30 ## Frequently Asked Questions ### 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. ### Does SPY pay a dividend? State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) currently distributes little or no income. Trailing-twelve-month yield is 0.99%. Investors looking for income should consider income-focused alternatives. See the Peers tab. ### How often does SPY pay dividends? State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF pays dividends Quarterly. Each ex-dividend date, record date, and payment date is listed in the dividend history table on this page. ### What is SPY's dividend yield? SPY's trailing-twelve-month yield is 0.99%, calculated from the sum of dividends over the past year divided by the current price. ### When is SPY's next ex-dividend date? The most recently announced ex-dividend date for SPY was 2026-09-18. The next ex-date typically follows Quarterly; once announced it appears at the top of the dividend history table on this page. ### How much will SPY's expense ratio cost me over 30 years? On a $10,000 investment compounding at 7% gross return, a 0.09% expense ratio quietly compounds against your balance every year. The Fee Compounding Forecast card above projects the dollar drag for any holding period and assumption you pick. The typical result for a 1.0% expense ratio on a 30-year hold is roughly 25% of the final balance lost to fees. ### How does SPY charge its expense ratio? The expense ratio is deducted in tiny daily slices from SPY's net asset value (NAV). You never see a bill. The price quoted on every exchange is already net of fees. There's no "fee day" to avoid; the cost is continuous and built into the trading price. ### Why does SPY cost more than a fund like VOO? SPY is a passive index fund (current expense ratio 0.09%). Differences from broad-market ETFs like VOO usually come from index licensing fees, asset class (bond funds typically run cheaper than equity), or fund scale (smaller funds spread fixed operating costs across less AUM). ### Are there cheaper alternatives to SPY? The Lower-Fee Alternatives card above lists ETFs following the same investment strategy as SPY (0.09%) but at a lower expense ratio. Each row shows the fee gap, the peer's AUM as a liquidity sanity-check, and a direct link to that fund's analysis page. Cheaper price doesn't automatically mean better. Verify the peer holds what you actually want. ## More on Dividend Data - Overview (HTML): https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/spy - Distribution history: https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/spy/dividend - Holdings & diversification: https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/spy/diversification - Fees & cheaper alternatives: https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/spy/expenses - Peer comparison: https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/spy/peers Data sourced from primary filings and market data providers; see https://www.dividenddata.com/methodology.