Is there any real difference between SPYM, IVV, VOO, SPY?

They hold the same index; the differences are fee, structure and size — a few basis points a year.

Why does this site use SPY for S&P 500 returns?

Longest price history — it reaches back furthest, so the long-run pages can exist.

via SPY$766.811D +1.65%

as of market close, Nov 4, 2026 · ChartRow estimates, not S&P Dow Jones Indices data

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S&P 500 ETFs compared (2026)

SPYM, IVV, VOO, SPY all hold S&P 500 — the same companies at the same weights, which you can see on the holdings page. So the question isn't which index they track, it's what each one charges and what that leaves you with. SPYM is the cheapest at 0.02%, 7bp a year under SPY. Total returns below are annualized from our own dividend-adjusted closes, through 2026-11-04.

Fund	Expense	Assets	Yield	Inception	1Y	5Y	10Y	10Y vs SPY
SPYMSPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF	0.02%	$153.9B	1.01%	2005-11-08	14.82%	12.00%	—	—
IVViShares Core S&P 500 ETF	0.03%	$888.1B	1.09%	2000-05-15	14.80%	11.99%	15.79%	+7bp
VOOVanguard S&P 500 ETF	0.03%	$1T	1.05%	2010-09-07	14.80%	11.99%	15.79%	+8bp
SPYSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	0.09%	$781.2B	0.99%	1993-01-22	14.79%	11.92%	15.72%	—

Returns are annualized total returns (dividends reinvested) from our own adjusted closes, over windows ending 2026-11-04 — not the issuers' published figures, so small differences from a factsheet are expected. The last column is each fund against SPY, which is fund versus fund: true tracking difference measures a fund against the index itself, and index levels are licensed, so we do not have them. Assets and yield come from the fund data we hold and refresh a few times a week; where an issuer reports assets as zero we show n/a rather than a wrong number.

FAQ#

Is there any real difference between SPYM, IVV, VOO, SPY?: They track the same index and hold the same companies, so the differences are structural, not strategic: the expense ratio (0.02% for SPYM against 0.09% for SPY), fund size and liquidity, and SPY's structure as a unit investment trust, which cannot reinvest dividends between distributions. Over ten years those add up to a few basis points a year of realized return — visible in the table, and small next to the choice to own the index at all.
Which S&P 500 ETF is cheapest?: SPYM (SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF) at 0.02% a year, 7bp a year less than SPY. On $10,000 that difference is about $7 a year before compounding.
Why does this site use SPY for S&P 500 returns?: Because it has the longest record: our price history for SPY starts 1993-01-29, so every "since 1994" claim on the returns pages is only possible through it. It is the measuring stick, not a recommendation — the table shows what the cheaper funds returned over the windows where all of them existed.

Choosing between these is a question about the vehicle, not the market. Everything about the index itself — returns by year, who is in it — is the same whichever you hold. Not investment advice.

More on S&P 500

Companies & weights→

500

companies · AAPL heaviest at 7.8% (est.)

Stock performance→

500

companies ranked best to worst

Sector performance→

+44.9%

Energy leads YTD (total return)

Return calculator→

$1,756

$1,000 invested 5 years ago, dividends reinvested

P/E ratio→

26.0

trailing · as-reported EPS, Shiller's record

Earnings per share→

$295.39

trailing 12m · +23.7% YoY

Return drivers→

+17.7%

2025 · earnings +14.6 · P/E +1.7 · dividends +1.4

Valuation bands→

26.0×

trailing earnings · 25×–30× band

Shiller P/E (CAPE)→

39.4

10-yr smoothed · median 16.6

Dividend yield→

1.08%

weighted across members

Buyback yield→

1.52%

1.37% net of shares issued

Shareholder yield→

2.57%

buybacks 1.52% + dividends

YTD total return · every year since 1994

Trailing returns→

+14.8%

1Y total return · 3Y · 5Y · 10Y (CAGR)

Drawdown from high→

−1.6%

vs all-time high · every crash

Concentration→

37.9%

held by the top 10 companies

YTD return→

+13.3%

total return · daily path + historical rank

Yearly charts→

+17.7%

2025 · every year since 1994, with its events

Average return→

10%?

the long-run answer, examined

All 28 S&P 500 pages →ETFs for: US Stock Market · Russell 1000Tracked by SPY, VOO, IVV, SPYM · all S&P 500 ETFs compared · VOO vs SPY · SPY vs QQQ · VTI vs VOO vs SPY

ChartRow is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, S&P Global, Nasdaq, Inc., FTSE Russell, MSCI Inc., Robert Shiller, RSBB-I, LLC, or Yale University. "S&P 500®" and "S&P®" are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and "Dow Jones®" of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC, both licensed to S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC; "Nasdaq-100®" is a registered trademark of Nasdaq, Inc.; "GICS®" is a trademark of MSCI Inc. and S&P Global; "CAPE®" is a registered trademark of RSBB-I, LLC; all other index names are trademarks of their owners. They are used here only to identify the index a fund tracks. ChartRow receives no data from, and holds no licence from, any index provider: the constituents and weights shown are the tracking fund's own holdings as reported in its public SEC filings, rolled forward by ChartRow from daily prices; returns are the fund's own market prices; long-run S&P 500 history comes from public research datasets, Robert Shiller's and Aswath Damodaran's, credited where used; and a current index level is ChartRow's estimate from the fund's price. These figures are ChartRow's own estimates and computations from public filings, prices and research records, provided for information only and without warranty of accuracy; they are not the fund's or any index provider's official figures and may differ from them.