Vanguard S&P 500 ETF Offers Lower Fees Than SPDR Rival

Sarah Sidlow, The Motley Fool

Fri, May 22, 2026 astatine 10:21 AM CDT 4 min read

The superior favoritism betwixt Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT:VOO) and State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT:SPY) lies successful the disbursal ratio and the circumstantial liquidity needs of the investor.

For astir semipermanent retail investors, the prime betwixt these 2 giants often comes down to interior costs and however efficiently the money tracks its benchmark. While some supply broad-market vulnerability to the largest companies successful the United States, their humanities roots and full assets nether absorption differ.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Beta measures terms volatility comparative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year monthly returns. The 1-yr instrumentality represents full instrumentality implicit the trailing 12 months. Dividend output is the trailing-12-month organisation yield.

The Vanguard money is much affordable, featuring a 0.03% disbursal ratio that is one-third the outgo of the SPDR trust. Investors mightiness besides announcement a somewhat higher payout from VOO, which presently carries a 1.1% dividend yield. The 0.06 percent constituent quality successful fees whitethorn look negligible implicit a azygous year, but it tin compound implicit decades.

Performance & hazard examination

What's wrong

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF holds 505 positions and was launched successful 2010. Its largest positions see Nvidia astatine 7.85%, Apple astatine 6.45%, and Microsoft at 4.9%. Its assemblage vulnerability includes exertion astatine 35%, fiscal services astatine 12%, and connection services astatine 11%. This money has a trailing-12-month dividend of $7.13 per share.

The State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust was launched successful 1993 and holds 504 securities. Its apical holdings see Nvidia astatine 8.4%, Apple astatine 7%, and Microsoft astatine 4.9%. The spot weights exertion astatine 37.35%, fiscal services astatine 12%, and connection services astatine 11%. It paid $7.38 per stock implicit the trailing 12 months.

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