Best ETFs
Schwab and Vanguard charge the same 0.03%. Their small-cap funds are 3.7 percentage points apart
State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 600 Small Cap ETF
$53.49+0.07 (+0.13%)
- 0.03%
- $15.7B
- +21.9%
- 1.54%
- 1.8M sh
- $53.46
- low $43.66high $58.60
The ETF.net SPSM Grade
A
Score 81 out of 100
- 1 of 13
Score 81 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A98 out of 100Rank 1 of 13Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A83 out of 100Rank 5 of 13Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.C52 out of 100Rank 1 of 13Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A77 out of 100Rank 4 of 13Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A86 out of 100Rank 1 of 13Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A78 out of 100Rank 2 of 13
Our read on SPSM
AThe bargain-rack version of a small-cap classic. SPSM tracks the S&P SmallCap 600 for 0.03% a year, one of the thinnest fees in US equities, and holds roughly 600 smaller American companies.
The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return performance of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index.
Why people hold it
- Three ETFs wrap this same index. SPSM charges 0.03%, IJR 0.06%, VIOO 0.07%. Same basket, thinner fee drag.
- Its fee sits far below the typical charge among S&P 600 wrappers, and cost is the one variable an index investor actually controls.
- Roughly 600 US small caps in a single line item, held straight to the index. No single name carries the fund.
- One of the strongest implementations in its peer group: tight index tracking, active trading, and a multi-billion-dollar asset base behind it.
Worth knowing
- Small-cap prices swing wider than large-cap ones. This fund takes the index as it comes, with no volatility cushion built in.
- All US, all stocks. Nothing here diversifies away from the domestic economy.
- Income is a byproduct, not the mission: cash goes out quarterly and varies with what the underlying companies pay.
SPSM Holdings
- Stocks
- 607
- 5%
- VSAT
Sectors
- Financials17.1%
- Technology16.0%
- Industrials15.6%
- Consumer Discretionary12.4%
- Health Care10.9%
- Real Estate7.3%
- Energy6.3%
- Consumer Staples4.6%
- Materials4.6%
- Communication3.5%
- Utilities1.7%
Geography
- United States97.84%
- Ireland0.59%
- Bermuda0.56%
- Singapore0.28%
- Switzerland0.18%
- Bahamas0.14%
- Puerto Rico0.13%
- Israel0.12%
- 0.16%
SPSM Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
SPSM$12,190
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | SPSM |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +15.3% |
| 1 month | −3.0% |
| 3 months | −5.2% |
| 1 year | +21.9% |
| 3 years | +16.0% |
| 5 years | +6.1% |
| 10 years | +10.1% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | SPSM |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +15.3% | |
| 2025 | +6.1% | |
| 2024 | +8.5% | |
| 2023 | +16.1% | |
| 2022 | −16.1% | |
| 2021 | +26.7% | |
| 2020 | +11.5% |
SPSM in the news
SPSM Dividends
- 1.54%
- $0.82
- $0.22 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
SPSM Risk
- 19.1%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.58
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −27.9%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 1.04
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
SPSM Cost
0.03%
SPSM0.03%
- The middle half of S&P SmallCap 600 funds
- Median 0.15%
No S&P SmallCap 600 fund charges less.
Other funds in S&P SmallCap 600
- AIJRiShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETFExpense ratio 0.06%1 year return +21.9%
- BVIOOVanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 ETFExpense ratio 0.07%1 year return +21.9%
- BVIOGVanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETFExpense ratio 0.10%1 year return +20.0%
- BIJTiShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETFExpense ratio 0.18%1 year return +19.8%
- BSLYGState Street SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Growth ETFExpense ratio 0.15%1 year return +19.9%