SPYM vs VTI

SPYMAState Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF

VTIAVanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF

In short

SPYM State Street's budget-priced S&P 500 tracker: the same 500 large caps as its famous sibling, for 0.02% a year, the lowest fee in its S&P 500 peer group. Running since 2005 and now one of the category's giants.

VTI The whole US stock market in one ticker: roughly 3,600 names, from mega caps down to micro caps, for three basis points. Vanguard has run this portfolio in ETF form since 2001, and it's grown into one of the largest funds anywhere.

Stated mandate

SPYM The fund seeks to track the total return of the S&P 500 Index before fees and expenses, providing broad exposure to U.S. large-cap equities.

VTI The fund aims to replicate the performance of a benchmark index that covers the entire U.S. stock market.

Why people hold it

• SPYM 0.02% a year, the cheapest fee in its S&P 500 cohort, against a 0.15% median for the group. Two dollars a year per $10,000 invested.
• Same S&P 500 index as State Street's flagship SPY (0.09%), for a fraction of the fee, and a basis point under VOO and IVV.
• Tracks the index tightly: gaps between fund and benchmark are among the smallest in its peer group, which is the whole job of an index wrapper.
• Live since 2005, now one of the largest and most heavily traded funds in the category. Distributions land quarterly.

• VTI Costs 0.03% a year, half the 0.06% typical for its total-market peers.
• About 3,600 holdings, so the small and micro caps an S&P 500 fund leaves out are already in the mix.investor.vanguard.com
• Tracks its total-market benchmark very closely and trades heavily, and it sits among the strongest implementations in its peer group.
• The ETF is a share class of Vanguard's Total Stock Market Index Fund, sharing one portfolio with the mutual fund rather than running a separate copy.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• SPYM The S&P 500 is cap-weighted, so the biggest US companies drive most of the move. Equal-weight takes on the same index (RSP) spread that bet differently.
• About 500 US large caps and nothing else: no mid caps, no small caps, no international.
• The fee edge over VOO and IVV is one basis point. Same index, so trading costs and platform access matter as much as the sticker fee.

• VTI Market-cap weighted, so the biggest US companies drive the result and the thousands of small names at the bottom carry little weight.personal.vanguard.com
• All US, by design. Nothing outside the country comes with it.
• ITOT and SCHB match the 0.03% fee and BBUS runs 0.02%, so rivals deliver similar whole-market exposure for the same or less.

Full SPYM profile⁠

Full VTI profile⁠