ETF Versus

SPY vs VB

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust vs Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund ETF Shares

Last updated: 2026-04-02

SPY State Street

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is an exchange-traded fund issued by State Street that provides exposure to large-cap U.S. equities across growth and value styles. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.09%. The fund offers a moderate dividend yield of 1.13%. Launched in 1993, the fund has a 33-year track record.

AUM: $636.7B ER: 0.09% Yield: 1.13% Since: Jan 22, 1993
VB Vanguard

Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund ETF Shares (VB) is an exchange-traded fund issued by Vanguard that provides exposure to small-cap U.S. equities with higher growth potential and volatility. It charges a very low expense ratio of 0.03%. The fund offers a moderate dividend yield of 1.33%. Launched in 2004, the fund has a 22-year track record.

AUM: $69.1B ER: 0.03% Yield: 1.33% Since: Jan 26, 2004

Quick Verdict

VB has a slightly lower expense ratio (0.03% vs 0.09%), saving about $119 per $10,000 over 10 years. VB has edged ahead over the past year (18.4% vs 16.8%).

Key Metrics

Metric SPY VB
Expense Ratio 0.09% 0.03%
Dividend Yield 1.1% 1.3%
Fund Family State Street Vanguard
Category US Large Cap Blend US Small Cap

Performance Chart

Indexed to 100 at start (5-year comparison)

75 95 115 135 155 175 2021-04 2022-06 2023-09 2024-12 2026-04
SPY +61.2%
VB +20.7%

Performance Comparison

Period SPY VB Difference
1 Month -4.54% -5.50% +0.96%
3 Months -4.09% +0.71% -4.80%
6 Months -2.09% +2.15% -4.24%
YTD -4.09% +0.71% -4.80%
1 Year +16.80% +18.40% -1.60%
3 Years +59.45% +39.02% +20.43%
5 Years +61.25% +20.71% +40.54%

Fee Impact Over Time

Estimated fee cost difference assuming 8% annual returns

Investment Period SPY Fees VB Fees You Save
$10.000 10 years $179 $60 $119
$10.000 20 years $771 $258 $512
$10.000 30 years $2.486 $835 $1.650
$50.000 10 years $896 $299 $597
$50.000 30 years $12.428 $4.176 $8.252
$100.000 30 years $24.855 $8.352 $16.503

Risk Metrics

Based on 5 years of daily returns

Metric SPY VB
Annualized Volatility 17.1% 20.8%
Max Drawdown -25.4% -28.8%
Sharpe Ratio 0.38 0.07

Dividend Comparison

Metric SPY VB
Annual Dividend (per share) $7.38 $3.50
Dividend Yield 1.13% 1.33%
Distribution Frequency Quarterly Quarterly

Top Holdings

0 of top 9 holdings overlap (0% overlap in top holdings)

SPY Top Holdings

NameWeight
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA7.58%
Apple Inc.AAPL6.66%
Microsoft CorporationMSFT4.91%
Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN3.64%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO2.62%
Alphabet Inc.GOOG2.40%
Meta Platforms, Inc.META2.24%
Tesla, Inc.TSLA1.87%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRK.B1.57%

VB Top Holdings

NameWeight
Sandisk CorporationSNDK1.21%
Comfort Systems USA, Inc.FIX0.65%
Lumentum Holdings Inc.LITE0.64%
Ciena CorporationCIEN0.64%
Coherent Corp.COHR0.53%
Rocket Lab CorporationRKLB0.48%
NRG Energy, Inc.NRG0.44%
Bloom Energy CorporationBE0.43%
EMCOR Group, Inc.EME0.42%

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose VB if...

you want the lowest fees and plan to buy and hold long-term. Over decades, the expense ratio difference compounds significantly.

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