Statistics · 2026 · ETFs
Index Fund Statistics (2026)
SPY, VOO, IVV and VTI — the four broad-market index funds among the 28 ETFs WealthyBud tracks — charge expense ratios as low as 0.03% and had price returns between 15.1% and 15.5% over the trailing year, as of 2026-10-02. Nationally, index funds now hold a 53.8% share of combined fund assets, per the Investment Company Institute, while 89.50% of active large-cap managers failed to beat the S&P 500 over 15 years, per S&P Dow Jones Indices’ SPIVA scorecard.
Key takeaways
- VOO, IVV and VTI tie for the lowest expense ratio among WealthyBud’s four tracked index funds, at 0.03%; SPY charges 0.09%.
- The gap between that 0.03% floor and HYG, the priciest fund in WealthyBud’s entire 28-ETF set at 0.49%, is 0.46 percentage points — a 16.3× difference.
- VOO and SPY tied for the lead on 1-year price return, at 15.5%; VTI trailed at 15.1% — a spread of just 0.36 percentage points.
- SPY, VOO and IVV all track the same S&P 500 index, and their 5-year annualized price returns sit within 0.01 percentage points of each other.
- VTI, which tracks the broader total U.S. market, trailed the average S&P 500 tracker’s 5-year annualized price return by 1.17 percentage points.
- 89.50% of active large-cap U.S. equity funds underperformed the S&P 500 over 15 years, per S&P Dow Jones Indices’ SPIVA scorecard.
- Indexed mutual funds and ETFs held $21.82 trillion versus $18.75 trillion in active funds as of May 2026 — a 53.8% share — per the Investment Company Institute.
What is an index fund, and which ones does WealthyBud track?
An index fund is a fund that buys the stocks in a published benchmark, like the S&P 500, instead of picking stocks by hand. WealthyBud tracks four broad-market index funds among its 28-ETF dataset: SPY, VOO and IVV, which all track the S&P 500, and VTI, which tracks the broader Morningstar US Total Market Index.
1. WealthyBud tracks 4 broad-market index funds: SPY, VOO, IVV, VTI
Among the 28 ETFs WealthyBud tracks, four are broad-market index funds — three S&P 500 trackers plus one total-market fund — as of 2026-10-02 (WealthyBud data · 28 ETFs).
2. SPY, launched in 1993, is the oldest of the four
SPY (State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust) launched in 1993 and was among the first exchange-traded funds ever listed; VOO is the newest, launched in 2010 (WealthyBud data).
3. 3 of the 4 funds track the identical S&P 500 index
SPY, VOO and IVV each track the S&P 500, the same 500-company benchmark, while VTI tracks the Morningstar US Total Market Index, which adds small- and mid-cap stocks the S&P 500 leaves out (WealthyBud data).
How do SPY, VOO, IVV and VTI expense ratios compare?
VOO, IVV and VTI tie for the lowest expense ratio among the four, at 0.03%, or $3.00 a year on a $10,000 position. SPY costs 0.09%, still cheap in absolute terms but more than 3 times the other three.
4. Cheapest: VOO, IVV and VTI tie at 0.03%
IVV, VOO, VTI all charge 0.03% — $3.00 a year on a $10,000 position — the lowest expense ratio among the four broad-market index funds WealthyBud tracks, as of 2026-10-02 (WealthyBud data).
5. SPY costs 0.09%, over 3× the other three
SPY (State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust) charges 0.09%, or $9.45 a year per $10,000 — still a low fee, but more than three times VOO’s, IVV’s or VTI’s (WealthyBud data).
6. Fee gap to the priciest fund WealthyBud tracks: 0.46 points (16.3×)
The 0.03% charged by the cheapest index fund sits 0.46 percentage points below HYG, the priciest of all 28 ETFs WealthyBud tracks at 0.49% — a 16.3× difference (WealthyBud data · 2026-10-02).
| Ticker | Fund | Index tracked | Expense ratio | Cost per $10,000/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IVV | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | S&P 500 | 0.03% | $3.00 |
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | S&P 500 | 0.03% | $3.00 |
| VTI | Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF | Morningstar US Total Market Index | 0.03% | $3.00 |
| SPY | State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | S&P 500 | 0.09% | $9.45 |
How have SPY, VOO, IVV and VTI performed?
VOO and SPY tied for the lead on 1-year price return, at 15.5%, while VTI trailed at 15.1% — a spread of only 0.36 percentage points. Over 5 years, the S&P 500 trackers had an annualized price return of about 12.39%, versus 11.2% for the total-market fund VTI.
Returns on this page are price returns: the change in fund price, with distributions excluded, so they understate total return for funds that pay income. Price returns run from a month-end close to the October 2, 2026 price and are annualized over the actual days: the one-year figure covers September 30, 2025 to October 2, 2026, the 3-year figure September 29, 2023 to October 2, 2026 and the 5-year figure September 30, 2021 to October 2, 2026. The last complete month-end is September 30, 2026, and the one-year figure will not match an issuer's month-end one-year return. Volatility uses the last 60 complete monthly price returns.
7. Best 1-year price return: VOO and SPY tie at 15.5%
VOO and SPY each posted a 1-year price return of 15.5% to the displayed precision, the strongest among the four index funds (a tie); exact values differ by 0.009 points, as of 2026-10-02 (WealthyBud data).
8. 3-year price returns cluster within 0.50 points
3-year annualized price returns range from 21.1% to 21.6% — a tight band, since all four hold overlapping large-cap U.S. stocks (WealthyBud data · 2026-10-02).
9. 5-year gap: VTI trails the S&P 500 trackers by 1.17 points
VTI had an annualized 5-year price return of 11.2%, versus a 12.39% average for SPY, VOO and IVV — the total-market index adds small- and mid-cap stocks to the same large caps (WealthyBud data).
| Ticker | 1-yr price return | 3-yr price return (ann.) | 5-yr price return (ann.) | Volatility (ann.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IVV | 15.4% | 21.6% | 12.4% | 15.8% |
| VOO | 15.5% | 21.6% | 12.4% | 15.8% |
| VTI | 15.1% | 21.1% | 11.2% | 16.1% |
| SPY | 15.5% | 21.6% | 12.4% | 15.8% |
Compare expense ratios and returns across every ETF WealthyBud tracks
How closely do the S&P 500 index funds track each other?
SPY, VOO and IVV all track the identical S&P 500 index, and it shows: their 1-year price returns sit within 0.03 percentage points of each other, and their 5-year annualized price returns are within 0.01 points — essentially identical, since all three hold the same 500 companies.
10. 1-year price return spread among SPY, VOO and IVV: 0.03 points
The three S&P 500 trackers had price returns between 15.4% and 15.5% over the trailing year — a 0.03-point spread across funds that hold the same index (WealthyBud data · 2026-10-02).
11. 5-year annualized price-return spread: just 0.01 points
Over 5 years, SPY, VOO and IVV had annualized price returns of about 12.4% — a 0.01-point spread, so the three funds are near-interchangeable on return (WealthyBud data).
12. Volatility is nearly identical too: a 0.04-point spread
Annualized volatility for SPY, VOO and IVV is about 15.8%, a 0.04-point spread — further evidence the three funds are near-interchangeable trackers of the same index (WealthyBud data · 2026-10-02).
How many active fund managers beat the S&P 500?
Most don’t, and the longer the horizon, the worse the odds get. 65.24% of active U.S. large-cap equity funds underperformed the S&P 500 over 1 year, rising to 89.50% over 15 years, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices’ SPIVA U.S. Year-End 2024 Scorecard, data as of December 31, 2024.
13. 1-year underperformance: 65.24%
65.24% of active U.S. large-cap funds underperformed the S&P 500 over the 1 year ending December 31, 2024, per S&P Dow Jones Indices’ SPIVA U.S. Year-End 2024 Scorecard.
14. 5-year underperformance: 76.26%
76.26% underperformed over the 5 years ending December 31, 2024, per the same SPIVA scorecard.
15. 10-year underperformance: 84.34%
84.34% underperformed over the 10 years ending December 31, 2024, per the same SPIVA scorecard.
16. 15-year underperformance: 89.50%
89.50% underperformed over 15 years, and no major U.S. equity or fixed-income category had a majority of active managers beat their benchmark, per the same SPIVA scorecard.
How much money is now in index funds versus actively managed funds?
Indexed mutual funds and ETFs held $21.82 trillion in combined net assets versus $18.75 trillion in actively managed funds as of May 2026 — a 53.8% share — and index funds pulled in far more new money that month too, per the Investment Company Institute.
17. Index funds hold $21.82 trillion, a 53.8% share
Indexed mutual funds and ETFs held $21.82 trillion in combined net assets as of May 2026, versus $18.75 trillion in actively managed funds — a 53.8% share of the combined $40.57 trillion market, per the Investment Company Institute’s Active and Index Investing release, published June 30, 2026.
18. Index funds pulled in 8.7× the new money active funds did in May 2026
Index funds had a net inflow of $96.47 billion in May 2026, versus $11.08 billion for active funds, per the same ICI release.
What this means for index-fund investors
Picking between S&P 500 trackers matters less than picking one at all. A 0.01-point 5-year spread among SPY, VOO and IVV means the choice among these three funds barely moves the return.
Fees are a rounding error at the top, but not everywhere. The 0.46-point gap between the cheapest index fund and HYG, the priciest fund WealthyBud tracks, shows how much fee dispersion remains outside the core.
Total-market and S&P 500 exposure aren’t identical. VTI’s 1.17-point lag behind the S&P 500 trackers over 5 years shows the extra small- and mid-cap holdings change results.
The passive tide keeps rising. 89.50% of active large-cap managers trailed the S&P 500 over 15 years, and index funds now outweigh active funds nationally.
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