FTGS vs SPYG: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

First Trust Growth Strength ETF

FTGSCNasdaq

State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF

SPYGANYSE Arca

Overlap

16.7%by weight

Expense ratio

SPYG −0.56pt a year

FTGS0.60%SPYG0.04%

Avg volume · 30D

SPYG 19.8×the volume

FTGS115KSPYG2.28M

3Y return · a year

SPYG +9.3pt

FTGS+17.8%SPYG+27.1%

FTGS vs SPYG Performance

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

+5.2%FTGS+8.3%SPYG

Expense ratio: FTGS 0.60%; SPYG 0.04%, better
Fund size: FTGS $1.27B; SPYG $55.5B
1Y total return: FTGS +5.2%; SPYG +8.3%, better
Yield (12M): FTGS 0.04%; SPYG 0.50%, better
Holdings: FTGS 51; SPYG 154
Avg volume (30D): FTGS 115K sh; SPYG 2.28M sh, better
NAV per share: FTGS $37.48; SPYG $119.59
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for FTGS, SPYG, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	FTGS	SPYG
Cost30% weight	F6	A96Higher
Mission25% weight	A76	A98Higher
Risk15% weight	A70Higher	B62
Tradability15% weight	D39	A95Higher
Holdings10% weight	B68Higher	D38
Durability5% weight	D38	A79Higher

Rank among US Growth Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. FTGS and SPYG are both graded against the same 35 US Growth Index funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

US Growth Index⁠

Category · 35 funds

See all 35 ›

SPYG ranks 1st and FTGS 28th of 35 funds in the US Growth Index Category.

Rank 1ASPYGState Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETFScore 84
Rank 2AILCGiShares Morningstar Growth ETFScore 78
Rank 27CBKLGBNY Mellon US Large Cap Equity Growth ETFScore 51
Rank 28CFTGSFirst Trust Growth Strength ETFScore 45
Rank 28CFYCFirst Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX FundScore 45

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

FTGSCFirst Trust Growth Strength ETF

SPYGAState Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF

In short

FTGS Growth with a credit check. FTGS holds about 50 US names that clear screens for return on equity, long-term debt against cash, and revenue and cash flow growth. Growth that funds itself, rather than borrows for it.

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

FTGS The Fund seeks results generally corresponding to the price and yield, before fees and expenses, of The Growth StrengthTM Index. Normally, it invests at least 80% of net assets in the common stocks and REITs comprising that Index.

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

FTGS A quality gate wearing a growth label: return on equity, long-term debt versus cash, and revenue plus cash flow growth. Balance sheet first, story second.yahoo.com
About 50 holdings, with REITs eligible alongside common stocks. Concentrated and a little unusual for a growth fund, which is the reason to hold it next to a cap-weighted index.
The portfolio sticks to the mandate: at least 80% of net assets in the index's stocks and REITs, US large-cap growth, no drift into side bets.
Since its 2022 launch it has grown into a multi-billion-dollar fund and trades regularly, so ordinary-sized orders are not fighting an empty book.

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

FTGS 0.60% a year is the entry fee, while plain-vanilla category giants like IUSG and VYM charge under a tenth of that. The screen has to earn the gap.
With roughly 50 names, single stocks and sector tilts carry real weight, so results can wander well away from broad growth benchmarks in either direction.
The live record starts in late 2022, a short history for judging how a fundamental screen behaves across different markets.

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 FTGS profile⁠

Full SPYG profile⁠

FTGS vs SPYG Holdings

How FTGS and SPYG differ

Overlap by weight

16.7%

Shared holdings make up 75.3% of FTGS and 34.6% of SPYG.

Level by level

Holdings38 in both16.7%
Sector11 Sectors69.8%
Countryby domicile98.0%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

Sector weights in FTGS and SPYG, widest gap first
Sector	More in FTGSMore in SPYG	FTGS	SPYG
Technology	SPYG +18.2 points	34.7%	52.9%
Communication	SPYG +11.3 points	3.5%	14.8%
Financials	FTGS +8.9 points	18.1%	9.2%
Health Care	FTGS +7.4 points	14.3%	6.8%
Industrials	FTGS +6.4 points	12.0%	5.6%
Materials	FTGS +3.5 points	3.8%	0.3%
Energy	FTGS +2.1 points	2.1%	0.0%
Real Estate	FTGS +1.2 points	1.8%	0.6%
Consumer Staples	FTGS +0.8 points	2.0%	1.2%
Consumer Discretionary	SPYG +0.5 points	7.8%	8.3%
Utilities	SPYG +0.3 points	0.0%	0.3%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in FTGS and SPYG, widest gap first
Country	More in FTGSMore in SPYG	FTGS	SPYG
Switzerland	FTGS +2.0 points	1.9%	0.0%
United States	SPYG +1.7 points	98.0%	99.8%
Other countries (2)	SPYG +0.2 points	0.0%	0.2%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

FTGS22.1%
SPYG58.9%

Securities held

FTGS50
SPYG152

Asset class

FTGS: Equity
SPYG: Equity

Holdings

Only in FTGS12
In both38
Only in SPYG114

Only in FTGS

12 securities, 24.7% of FTGS by weight

United Therapeutics Corporation2.27%
Blackstone Inc.2.25%
Five Below, Inc.2.19%
Delta Air Lines, Inc.2.15%
Arch Capital Group Ltd.2.13%
PayPal Holdings, Inc.2.03%
Baker Hughes Company (Class A)2.01%
Ameriprise Financial, Inc.1.98%
CBRE Group, Inc.1.96%
Garmin Ltd.1.94%
Salesforce, Inc.1.93%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc.1.82%

Only in SPYG

114 securities, 65.4% of SPYG by weight

Microsoft Corp10.99%
Apple Inc7.11%
Alphabet Inc Class A4.65%
Alphabet Inc Class C3.75%
Amazon.com Inc3.54%
Micron Technology Inc2.95%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B2.82%
Advanced Micro Devices2.58%
Tesla Inc1.97%
JPMorgan Chase & Co1.73%
Johnson & Johnson1.09%
Visa Inc Class A Shares1.07%
Applied Materials Inc0.93%
Lam Research Corp0.89%
Caterpillar Inc0.83%
Rtx Corp0.75%
Crowdstrike Holdings Inc A0.74%
Ge Vernova Inc0.66%
AbbVie Inc0.66%
Cisco Systems Inc0.63%
Kla Corp0.61%
Sandisk Corp0.54%
Philip Morris International0.51%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc0.49%
Palo Alto Networks Inc0.48%
Amgen Inc0.47%
General Electric0.47%
Welltower Inc0.47%
Coca Cola Co/The0.42%
Morgan Stanley0.38%
Intl Business Machines Corp0.35%
Oracle Corp0.35%
American Express Co0.32%
Booking Holdings Inc0.32%
Gilead Sciences Inc0.31%
Quanta Services Inc0.27%
Datadog Inc Class A0.25%
Tjx Companies Inc0.24%
Marriott International Class A0.24%
Howmet Aerospace Inc0.23%
Lumentum Holdings Inc0.23%
Hilton Worldwide Holdings In0.22%
McDonald’s Corp0.22%
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd0.22%
Progressive Corp0.21%
Robinhood Markets Inc A0.20%
O Reilly Automotive Inc0.20%
Hca Healthcare Inc0.20%
Servicenow Inc0.19%
Doordash Inc A0.19%

Weight gaps

All 38 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in FTGS and SPYG, widest gap first
Holding	More in FTGSMore in SPYG	FTGS	SPYG
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA	SPYG +12.51 points	1.93%	14.44%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO	SPYG +2.57 points	2.01%	4.58%
Incyte CorporationINCY	FTGS +2.09 points	2.15%	0.06%
Cincinnati Financial CorporationCINF	FTGS +2.09 points	2.14%	0.05%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A)META	SPYG +2.10 points	1.75%	3.85%
General Dynamics CorporationGD	FTGS +2.05 points	2.19%	0.14%
Workday, Inc. (Class A)WDAY	FTGS +2.05 points	2.10%	0.05%
S&P Global Inc.SPGI	FTGS +2.03 points	2.20%	0.17%
Ralph Lauren CorporationRL	FTGS +2.02 points	2.06%	0.04%
Vertiv Holdings Co (Class A)VRT	FTGS +2.02 points	2.28%	0.26%
Intuit Inc.INTU	FTGS +1.98 points	2.12%	0.14%
Moody's CorporationMCO	FTGS +1.96 points	2.06%	0.10%
Expedia Group, Inc.EXPE	FTGS +1.91 points	2.00%	0.09%
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.CDNS	FTGS +1.91 points	2.08%	0.17%
Monster Beverage CorporationMNST	FTGS +1.90 points	2.09%	0.19%
Tapestry, Inc.TPR	FTGS +1.89 points	1.96%	0.07%
DexCom, Inc.DXCM	FTGS +1.90 points	1.94%	0.04%
ResMed Inc.RMD	FTGS +1.89 points	1.95%	0.06%
Stryker CorporationSYK	FTGS +1.87 points	2.00%	0.13%
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.MPWR	FTGS +1.86 points	2.02%	0.16%
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (Class A)IBKR	FTGS +1.78 points	1.88%	0.10%
Cummins Inc.CMI	FTGS +1.77 points	1.90%	0.13%
Seagate Technology Holdings PlcSTX	FTGS +1.76 points	2.04%	0.28%
Corning IncorporatedGLW	FTGS +1.69 points	1.89%	0.20%
Trane Technologies plcTT	FTGS +1.67 points	1.81%	0.14%
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.ISRG	FTGS +1.61 points	2.05%	0.44%
Comfort Systems USA, Inc.FIX	FTGS +1.60 points	1.73%	0.13%
Applovin Corp. (Class A)APP	FTGS +1.55 points	1.74%	0.19%
Uber Technologies, Inc.UBER	FTGS +1.51 points	1.88%	0.37%
Marvell Technology, Inc.MRVL	FTGS +1.49 points	1.74%	0.25%
Newmont CorporationNEM	FTGS +1.49 points	1.82%	0.33%
Fortinet, Inc.FTNT	FTGS +1.48 points	1.63%	0.15%
Amphenol CorporationAPH	FTGS +1.45 points	2.02%	0.57%
Arista Networks, Inc.ANET	FTGS +1.39 points	1.93%	0.54%
Mastercard IncorporatedMA	FTGS +1.13 points	2.09%	0.96%
Netflix, Inc.NFLX	FTGS +1.06 points	1.78%	0.72%
Eli Lilly and CompanyLLY	SPYG +0.79 points	2.28%	3.07%
Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A)PLTR	FTGS +0.74 points	2.00%	1.26%

All 50 FTGS holdings⁠All 152 SPYG holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

FTGS vs SPYG Cost

Overpaying FTGS vs SPYG

$10,968

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

FTGS 0.60%
$11,817
SPYG 0.04%
$849

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

FTGS 0.60%
SPYG 0.04%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	FTGS	SPYG	Overpaying
10	$1,076	$73	$1,003
20	$4,116	$288	$3,828
30	$11,817	$849	$10,968

Expense ratio

0.60%FTGS
0.04%SPYG, cheaper

SPYG0.04%FTGS0.60%

0.03%0.70%

Middle half of US Growth Index funds
Median 0.18%

SPYG 2nd cheapest of 35 funds

FTGS 32nd cheapest of 35 funds

FTGS vs SPYG Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): FTGS 0.04%; SPYG 0.50%, better
Payout (12M): FTGS $0.01; SPYG $0.59
Last payment: FTGS $0.0088; SPYG $0.15
Ex-dividend: FTGS Sep 24, 2026; SPYG Sep 21, 2026
Paid on: FTGS Sep 30, 2026; SPYG Sep 23, 2026
Frequency: FTGS Twice a year; SPYG Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

FTGSTwice a year · 14 paymentsAll FTGS payments⁠

SPYGQuarterly · 39 paymentsAll SPYG payments⁠

FTGS vs SPYG Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: FTGS 13.8%, betterSPYG 16.5%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: FTGS 0.94SPYG 1.28, better
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: FTGS −20.0%since Oct 2022SPYG −32.7%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: FTGS 1.02SPYG 1.17; Market = 1

FTGS and SPYG in the news

All news⁠

Best ETFs
The best growth ETF is the cheap one on the index you want
Updated Nov 2, 2026SPYG
Best ETFs
The cheap large-cap growth pick is the S&P 500 list
Updated Oct 2, 2026SPYG

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FTGS vs SPYG

In short

Stated mandate

Why people hold it

Worth knowing

How FTGS and SPYG differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Only in FTGS

Only in SPYG

Weight gaps

Cost over time

Year by year

Distribution history

Fall from peak · 5 years

Risk facts

The best growth ETF is the cheap one on the index you want

The cheap large-cap growth pick is the S&P 500 list

How FTGS and SPYG differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Only in FTGS

Only in SPYG

Weight gaps