FSGS vs SPYG

FSGSDFirst Trust SMID Growth Strength ETF

SPYGAState Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF

In short

FSGS Growth only after the balance sheet passes inspection: FSGS screens small and mid caps for cash, low debt and double-digit return on equity, then ranks survivors on three-year revenue and cash flow growth. About 100 names, equally weighted.

SPYG The growth half of the S&P 500 for 0.04% a year, running since 2000. No exotic screen, no reinvention: just the index's fastest-growing names, in the cheapest wrapper tracking that index.

Stated mandate

FSGS The Fund seeks investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield of The SMID Growth Strength Index before fees and expenses.

SPYG The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the S&P 500 Growth Index. It provides exposure to S&P 500 companies selected for strong growth characteristics.

Why people hold it

• FSGS Quality gate comes first: at least $100 million in cash, long-term debt under 30% of market cap, positive equity, positive revenue and cash flow, and ROE above 10%.ftportfolios.com
• Growth ranking is backward-looking and concrete: three-year revenue growth and three-year cash flow growth, weighted equally. No analyst forecasts in the recipe.ftportfolios.com
• Equal weighting across about 100 stocks, reset quarterly, so one hot name cannot quietly become the fund. A different shape from cap-weighted growth indexes.ftportfolios.com
• Small and mid caps put it in a different lane from the megacap-heavy growth funds that lead this category, including SPYG, SCHG and VUG.nasdaq.com

• SPYG Costs 0.04% a year, well under the typical fee in the US growth-ETF group.
• The cheapest way to buy the S&P 500 Growth Index: VOOG follows the same benchmark at 0.07%.
• Has tracked its index tightly, one of the strongest implementations among growth funds we grade.
• Trading since 2000, now a multi-billion-dollar fund that changes hands actively, so spreads stay thin. Pays quarterly.

Worth knowing

• FSGS At 0.60% with no waiver, it sits above the category median, and well above cap-weighted options like VUG at 0.03% and mid-cap growth fund IMCG at 0.06%.
• The ticker dates to 2017, but it tracked a different index until late 2024, so the live record for this strategy is short.sec.gov
• One of the smaller, more lightly traded funds in the growth group, so spreads can run wider than in the category's giants.

• SPYG About 150 stocks, not 500. You get the growth slice, which means heavier single-name and sector concentration than the full index.
• The index screens on growth and momentum, so rebalances lean into names that have already run and the ride is bumpier than the broad market.
• Large-cap US only. No small caps, no international, no bonds.

Full FSGS profile⁠

Full SPYG profile⁠