COWZ vs SPY: Performance, Holdings, Fees & Risk
COWZ and SPY are ETFs, but they can differ materially in exposure, yield, fees and risk. COWZ is Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF, while SPY is State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF. SPY is broader by holdings count, with 505 positions versus 102 for COWZ. SPY is more concentrated at the top, based on top-10 holdings weight. Current AlgovestIQ evidence has COWZ ahead on AIQ Score, 58 versus 56.
What is the main difference between COWZ and SPY?
SPY holds 505 positions to COWZ's 102, and 8% of their weight is in the same securities.
| Metric | COWZ | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.09% |
| Holdings | 102 | 505 |
| Top-10 concentration | 21.4% | 38.2% |
| Distribution yieldTrailing 12 months | 1.96% | 1.03% |
| Average volume | 1,029,021 | 44,337,691 |
| Performance | ||
| 1Y return | +20% | +8.5% |
| YTD return | +15.4% | +7.8% |
| 5Y annualized returnTotal return, distributions reinvested | +10.2% | +10.9% |
| Risk | ||
| Annualized volatility | 12.6% | 13.6% |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -7.8% | -9.1% |
| Max drawdown (5Y)Total return, distributions reinvested | -22% | -24.5% |
| Beta | 0.38 | 1.00 |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.26 | 0.46 |
| Sortino ratio | 2.12 | 0.63 |
| AlgovestIQ | ||
| AIQ Score | 58/100 | 56/100 |
| AIQ Edge Score | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Momentum | 44/100 | 24/100 |
| Risk Resilience | 74/100 | 77/100 |
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF vs State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF
COWZ leads
COWZ leads by 2 AIQ points, primarily on Momentum and Value.
Fragile: 2 of 4 evidence groups support COWZ, and its current signal state is conflicted.
Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF
State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors COWZ over SPY, 58 versus 56 as of Nov 7, 2026. COWZ's advantage is driven primarily by stronger momentum and value, while SPY holds the stronger quality profile. COWZ also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average. 2 of 4 covered evidence groups favor COWZ today, and the comparison is rated Fragile on stability: the AIQ gap is narrow at 2 points. COWZ lead: Stable — the AIQ differential has held near 2 points over 30 sessions.
Compare Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF and State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF across performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, drawdown, volatility and the Algovestiq AIQ Score.
COWZ vs SPY: which fits what
Each row is settled by a single measure. Where the gap is too small to matter it reads Similar, and no row decides the comparison as a whole.
| If you want | COWZ | SPY | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower costExpense ratio | 0.49% | 0.09% | SPY |
| Broader diversificationNumber of holdings | 102 | 505 | SPY |
| Lower concentrationWeight of the 10 largest holdings | 21.4% | 38.2% | COWZ |
| Higher incomeTrailing 12-month distribution yield | 1.96% | 1.03% | COWZ |
| Smaller drawdownsMax drawdown, 5 years | -22% | -24.5% | COWZ |
| Lower volatilityAnnualized volatility, 1 year | 12.6% | 13.6% | Similar |
Similar means the gap is within 0.01 percentage points of expense ratio, 25% more holdings, 3 points of top-10 weight, 0.2 points of yield, 2 points of drawdown or 1 point of volatility. Past drawdowns and volatility describe the funds’ history, not their future.
Performance over time
Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes for both ETFs.
Total return comparison
Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested
Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.
Compare COWZ and SPY against another ticker
Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.
AIQ Factor Divergence
Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.
- Quality60 vs 84SPY +24
- Momentum44 vs 24COWZ +20
- Value59 vs 43COWZ +16
- Risk Resilience74 vs 77Even
2 of 4 evidence groups favor COWZ. COWZ’s edge is concentrated in momentum and value; SPY keeps a meaningful quality edge.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-11-06, compared against the prior scored session 2026-11-05.
Largest factor move: Momentum -15
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 5 active signals are unchanged.
Largest factor move: Momentum -3, not enough on its own to move the overall score.
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 5 active signals are unchanged.
COWZ's lead narrowed by 3 AIQ points in the latest session.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — COWZ and SPY both carry a full feed there.
The central trade-off
COWZ (Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF): the stronger current systematic profile, led by momentum and value.
SPY (State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF): the counter-case, on quality.
Fund facts, side by side
Two funds tracking overlapping universes are separated by cost and risk far more than by holdings. Those lead here.
| Measure | COWZ | SPY | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.09% | Lower is better — it compounds against you every year you hold. |
| Holdings | 102 | 505 | More holdings means broader diversification, not better returns. |
| Average volume | 1,029,021 | 44,337,691 | Liquidity — matters most if you trade size. |
| Annualized volatility | 12.6% | 13.6% | Lower is a steadier ride for the same exposure. |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -7.8% | -9.1% | The worst peak-to-trough loss over the past year. |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.26 | 0.46 | Return per unit of risk. Higher is better. |
| Beta | 0.38 | 1.00 | Sensitivity to the broad market. Neither direction is better — it depends on the role in your portfolio. |
Where the exposure actually sits
Sector exposure for each fund, ordered by the size of the difference.
How much of the same holdings they own
COWZ and SPY share 7.88% of their weighted exposure across 89 common holdings.
11 holdings are unique to COWZ, and 415 holdings are unique to SPY. Owning both is genuinely additive — most of the capital sits in different securities.
SPY is the more concentrated of the two: its ten largest positions are 38.17% of the fund, against 21.41% for COWZ (505 holdings vs 102). Concentration cuts both ways — it is what drives outperformance when the top names work, and what makes the drawdown deeper when they do not.
Largest shared positions
| Holding | COWZ | SPY | Shared |
|---|---|---|---|
| VZVerizon Communications Inc | 2.02% | 0.32% | 0.32% |
| CRMSalesforce Inc | 2.41% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| GILDGilead Sciences Inc | 2.06% | 0.28% | 0.28% |
| QCOMQUALCOMM Inc | 1.51% | 0.28% | 0.28% |
| TAT&T Inc | 2.06% | 0.27% | 0.27% |
| PFEPfizer Inc | 1.95% | 0.24% | 0.24% |
| UBERUber Technologies Inc | 1.89% | 0.23% | 0.23% |
| NEMNewmont Corp | 2.33% | 0.21% | 0.21% |
Shared weight is the lower of the two positions — the portion of capital both funds genuinely have in the same security.
What COWZ adds that SPY doesn’t
| Holding | COWZ | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| MPCMarathon Petroleum Corp | 2.46% | 0.17% |
| CRMSalesforce Inc | 2.41% | 0.3% |
| NEMNewmont Corp | 2.33% | 0.21% |
| HCAHCA Healthcare Inc | 2.08% | 0.1% |
| TAT&T Inc | 2.06% | 0.27% |
| GILDGilead Sciences Inc | 2.06% | 0.28% |
What SPY adds that COWZ doesn’t
| Holding | SPY | COWZ |
|---|---|---|
| NVDANVIDIA CORP | 8.08% | Not held |
| AAPLAPPLE INC | 7.33% | Not held |
| MSFTMICROSOFT CORP | 5.59% | Not held |
| AMZNAMAZON.COM INC | 3.77% | Not held |
| GOOGLALPHABET INC CL A | 2.98% | Not held |
| AVGOBROADCOM INC | 2.61% | Not held |
Each list is a fund’s largest positions by weight that the other fund does not hold, or holds at less than half the weight.
COWZ vs SPY: five-year payout growth
COWZ grew its split-adjusted payout faster over 2020-2025 — 9.13% a year against SPY's 5.05%. SPY never reduced its annual distribution in the window; COWZ did in 1 year. COWZ: A single payment in an endpoint year was 3.1x the fund's median payment, so one distribution carries much of the result.
| Dividend metric | COWZ | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| 5Y payout CAGR | 9.13% | 5.05% |
| 2020 annual payout | $0.852 | $5.691 |
| 2025 annual payout | $1.319 | $7.281 |
| Calendar-year declines | 1 | 0 |
| Peer rank | #62 of 138 | #95 of 138 |
Split-adjusted annual distributions, 2020–2025. Research as of Sep 19, 2026. Yield and expense ratio above are current values, not part of this window.
AIQ Agreement Matrix
2 of 4 covered evidence groups favor COWZ. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | Even | 58 vs 56 |
| Fundamentals | Not covered | Not covered |
| Valuation | COWZ | Value 59 vs 43 |
| Technicals | COWZ | Price vs 50-day -0.4% vs -4%; vs 200-day 5.8% vs 0.9% |
| Risk Resilience | Even | Risk Resilience 74 vs 77 |
| Analyst expectations | Not covered | Not covered |
✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of COWZ and SPY and are excluded from the count.
AIQ Decision Stability
The conclusion is sensitive to small changes. Treat the lead as provisional and watch the flip conditions below.
- The AIQ gap is narrow at 2 points. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
- Only 2 of 4 covered evidence groups agree. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
- The leader is throwing conflicting signals. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on COWZ.
How the comparison changed
120 daily snapshots · Jul 8 – Nov 6COWZ lead: Stable — the AIQ differential has held near 2 points over 30 sessions.
- Today
- COWZ +2
- 58 vs 56
- 7 sessions ago
- COWZ +7
- 66 vs 59
- 30 sessions ago
- COWZ +1
- 67 vs 66
- 90 sessions ago
- SPY +1
- 63 vs 64
The lead changed hands 6 times in this window, most recently on Oct 15 when COWZ moved ahead of SPY.
AIQ Signal Divergence
Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.
2 bullish / 1 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted
Only COWZ
- Bollinger Band Squeeze — neutral, volatility, short horizon
- EMA Ribbon Expansion Bullish — bullish, trend, medium horizon
2 bullish / 2 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted
Only SPY
- BB Lower Band Breach — bullish, volatility, short horizon
- Keltner Channel Breakdown — bearish, volatility, short horizon
Both carry 3 more signals that do not separate them: Golden Cross Active, ATR Contraction - Coiling, MACD Bearish Crossover.
COWZ leads the comparison while carrying a conflicted signal state, which is one reason the stability rating is not higher.
Price vs model alignment
Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.
Price and the AIQ Score both moved down over the latest session (price -0.54%, AIQ -3 points).
Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price +0.31%, AIQ 0 points).
What would flip this result
A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.
- 1SPY closes the Momentum gap — currently 20 points behind, the largest single contributor to COWZ's edge.
- 2SPY's Keltner Channel Breakdown resolves — a bearish volatility rule currently active against it.
- 3COWZ's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 2 bullish and 1 bearish rules at once.
- 4A regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.
The full evidence
Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.
Performance
COWZ leads 6 of 6 windows| Metric | COWZ | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | -2.7% | -2.7% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | 1.4% | -5.6% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | -0.8% | -4.9% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | 9.7% | -0.3% |
| Year to date | 15.4% | 7.8% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | 20% | 8.5% |
Technicals
COWZ has the stronger structure| Metric | COWZ | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | 45.2 | 34.9 |
| ADX (14) | 29.2 | 18 |
| Price vs 50-day | -0.4% | -4% |
| Price vs 200-day | 5.8% | 0.9% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | 15.2% | 19.9% |
Risk
Split| Metric | COWZ | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | 0.38 | 1 |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.26 | 0.46 |
| Sortino ratio | 2.12 | 0.63 |
| Max drawdown | -7.8% | -9.1% |
| Current drawdown | -4.1% | -5.6% |
| Annualized volatility | 12.6% | 13.6% |
| Value at risk (95%) | -1.1% | -1.5% |
Straight answers
Short answers to the questions fund investors ask about this pair, from the figures above.
What is the difference between COWZ and SPY?
SPY holds 505 positions to COWZ's 102, and 8% of their weight is in the same securities.
How much do COWZ and SPY overlap?
COWZ and SPY share 7.88% of their weighted exposure across 89 common holdings. 11 holdings are unique to COWZ, and 415 holdings are unique to SPY. Owning both is genuinely additive — most of the capital sits in different securities.
Which ETF is more diversified, COWZ or SPY?
SPY holds more positions: 505 versus 102 for COWZ.
Which has the lower expense ratio?
SPY has the lower expense ratio, 0.09% a year against 0.49% for COWZ.
Which ETF has the higher distribution yield?
COWZ, with a trailing 12-month distribution yield of 1.96% against 1.03% for SPY.
Which ETF has been more volatile?
Their volatility over the past year is similar: 12.6% annualized for COWZ and 13.6% for SPY.
Which ETF has had the smaller drawdown?
COWZ fell less from peak to trough over the past five years: -22% against -24.5% for SPY.
Compare COWZ and SPY with others
Continue your research
This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.
How this comparison is scored
The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.
The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.
How to use side-by-side comparison →This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.