SDY vs SPHQ: Performance, Holdings, Fees & Risk
SDY and SPHQ are ETFs, but they can differ materially in exposure, yield, fees and risk. SDY is State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF, while SPHQ is Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF. SDY is broader by holdings count, with 158 positions versus 103 for SPHQ. SPHQ is more concentrated at the top, based on top-10 holdings weight. Current AlgovestIQ evidence has SDY ahead on AIQ Score, 63 versus 54.
What is the main difference between SDY and SPHQ?
SDY and SPHQ have little in common: 13% of their weight is in the same securities.
| Metric | SDY | SPHQ |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.2% |
| Holdings | 158 | 103 |
| Top-10 concentration | 20.6% | 43.2% |
| Distribution yieldTrailing 12 months | 2.42% | 1.03% |
| Average volume | 208,470 | 1,467,307 |
| Performance | ||
| 1Y return | +12.9% | +15.5% |
| YTD return | +12.2% | +12.4% |
| 5Y annualized returnTotal return, distributions reinvested | +7.5% | +11.8% |
| Risk | ||
| Annualized volatility | 10.8% | 14.7% |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -8% | -9.2% |
| Max drawdown (5Y)Total return, distributions reinvested | -15.2% | -25.1% |
| Beta | 0.23 | 0.93 |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.75 | 0.75 |
| Sortino ratio | 1.40 | 1.24 |
| AlgovestIQ | ||
| AIQ Score | 63/100 | 54/100 |
| AIQ Edge Score | 9/10 | 5/10 |
| Momentum | 82/100 | 50/100 |
| Risk Resilience | 72/100 | 80/100 |
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF vs Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF
SDY leads
SDY leads by 9 AIQ points, primarily on Momentum and Value, having only recently taken the lead back from SPHQ.
Fragile: 3 of 4 evidence groups support SDY, the lead recently changed hands, and its current signal state is conflicted.
State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF
Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors SDY over SPHQ, 63 versus 54 as of Oct 21, 2026. SDY's advantage is driven primarily by stronger momentum and value, while SPHQ holds the stronger risk resilience profile. SDY also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average. 3 of 4 covered evidence groups favor SDY today, and the comparison is rated Fragile on stability: the lead has already changed hands inside the comparison window. SDY lead: Reversed — SPHQ led by 5 AIQ points 30 sessions ago; SDY now leads by 9.
Compare State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF and Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF across performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, drawdown, volatility and the Algovestiq AIQ Score.
SDY vs SPHQ: 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 | SDY | SPHQ | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower costExpense ratio | 0.35% | 0.2% | SPHQ |
| Broader diversificationNumber of holdings | 158 | 103 | SDY |
| Lower concentrationWeight of the 10 largest holdings | 20.6% | 43.2% | SDY |
| Higher incomeTrailing 12-month distribution yield | 2.42% | 1.03% | SDY |
| Smaller drawdownsMax drawdown, 5 years | -15.2% | -25.1% | SDY |
| Lower volatilityAnnualized volatility, 1 year | 10.8% | 14.7% | SDY |
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 SDY and SPHQ 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.
- Momentum82 vs 50SDY +32
- Value52 vs 39SDY +13
- Risk Resilience72 vs 80SPHQ +8
- Quality54 vs 61SPHQ +7
3 of 4 evidence groups favor SDY. SDY’s edge is concentrated in momentum and value; SPHQ keeps a meaningful risk resilience edge.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-10-20, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-19.
Largest factor move: Value +1, not enough on its own to move the overall score.
New signals
- BB Upper Band Breach — bearish, volatility, short horizon
- 52-Week High Proximity — bullish, risk, long horizon (2.6%)
Largest factor move: Momentum +4, not enough on its own to move the overall score.
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 4 active signals are unchanged.
SDY's lead was unchanged in the latest session.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — SDY and SPHQ both carry a full feed there.
The central trade-off
SDY (State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF): the stronger current systematic profile, led by momentum and value.
SPHQ (Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF): the counter-case, on risk resilience, 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 | SDY | SPHQ | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.2% | Lower is better — it compounds against you every year you hold. |
| Holdings | 158 | 103 | More holdings means broader diversification, not better returns. |
| Average volume | 208,470 | 1,467,307 | Liquidity — matters most if you trade size. |
| Annualized volatility | 10.8% | 14.7% | Lower is a steadier ride for the same exposure. |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -8% | -9.2% | The worst peak-to-trough loss over the past year. |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.75 | 0.75 | Return per unit of risk. Higher is better. |
| Beta | 0.23 | 0.93 | 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
SDY and SPHQ share 12.75% of their weighted exposure across 27 common holdings.
129 holdings are unique to SDY, and 73 holdings are unique to SPHQ. Owning both is genuinely additive — most of the capital sits in different securities.
SPHQ is the more concentrated of the two: its ten largest positions are 43.16% of the fund, against 20.57% for SDY (103 holdings vs 158). 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 | SDY | SPHQ | Shared |
|---|---|---|---|
| PGProcter & Gamble Co/The | 1.3% | 2.96% | 1.3% |
| ADPAUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING | 1.5% | 1.08% | 1.08% |
| LMTLOCKHEED MARTIN CORP | 1.25% | 1.03% | 1.03% |
| ACNACCENTURE PLC CL A | 3.15% | 1.03% | 1.03% |
| QCOMQUALCOMM Inc | 0.95% | 2.67% | 0.95% |
| ITWILLINOIS TOOL WORKS | 1.03% | 0.78% | 0.78% |
| TXNTexas Instruments Inc | 0.74% | 2.11% | 0.74% |
| AMPAmeriprise Financial Inc | 0.68% | 0.72% | 0.68% |
Shared weight is the lower of the two positions — the portion of capital both funds genuinely have in the same security.
What SDY adds that SPHQ doesn’t
| Holding | SDY | SPHQ |
|---|---|---|
| VZVERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 3.23% | Not held |
| ACNACCENTURE PLC CL A | 3.15% | 1.03% |
| CVXCHEVRON CORP | 2.08% | Not held |
| OREALTY INCOME CORP | 2.05% | Not held |
| PEPPEPSICO INC | 1.91% | Not held |
| MDTMEDTRONIC PLC | 1.85% | Not held |
What SPHQ adds that SDY doesn’t
| Holding | SPHQ | SDY |
|---|---|---|
| MAMastercard Inc | 5.8% | Not held |
| AAPLApple Inc | 5.8% | Not held |
| VVisa Inc | 5.75% | Not held |
| NFLXNetflix Inc | 3.98% | Not held |
| GEVGE Vernova Inc | 3.94% | Not held |
| COSTCostco Wholesale Corp | 3.83% | 0.27% |
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.
SDY vs SPHQ: five-year payout growth
SPHQ grew its split-adjusted payout faster over 2020-2025 — 4.48% a year against SDY's 3.76%.
| Dividend metric | SDY | SPHQ |
|---|---|---|
| 5Y payout CAGR | 3.76% | 4.48% |
| 2020 annual payout | $3.022 | $0.655 |
| 2025 annual payout | $3.634 | $0.815 |
| Calendar-year declines | 1 | 3 |
| Peer rank | #22 of 33 | #103 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
3 of 4 covered evidence groups favor SDY. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | SDY | 63 vs 54 |
| Fundamentals | Not covered | Not covered |
| Valuation | SDY | Value 52 vs 39 |
| Technicals | SDY | Price vs 50-day 1.7% vs -0.7%; vs 200-day 3.4% vs 2.3% |
| Risk Resilience | SPHQ | Risk Resilience 72 vs 80 |
| 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 SDY and SPHQ 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 moderate at 9 points.
- The lead has already changed hands inside the comparison window. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
- The lead has swung materially session to session. (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 SDY.
How the comparison changed
95 daily snapshots · Jun 22 – Oct 20SDY lead: Reversed — SPHQ led by 5 AIQ points 30 sessions ago; SDY now leads by 9.
- Today
- SDY +9
- 63 vs 54
- 7 sessions ago
- SDY +9
- 63 vs 54
- 30 sessions ago
- SPHQ +5
- 49 vs 54
- 90 sessions ago
- SDY +2
- 57 vs 55
The lead changed hands 4 times in this window, most recently on Oct 14 when SDY moved ahead of SPHQ.
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.
6 bullish / 2 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted
Only SDY
- BB Upper Band Breach — bearish, volatility, short horizon
- Keltner Channel Breakout — bullish, volatility, short horizon
- RSI Overbought — bearish, momentum, short horizon
- EMA Ribbon Expansion Bullish — bullish, trend, medium horizon
- 52-Week High Proximity — bullish, risk, long horizon (2.6%)
- Uptrend Structure Active — bullish, trend, long horizon
- MACD Bullish Crossover — bullish, momentum, short horizon
1 bullish / 1 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted
Only SPHQ
- Bollinger Band Squeeze — neutral, volatility, short horizon
- MACD Bearish Crossover — bearish, momentum, short horizon
Both carry 2 more signals that do not separate them: Golden Cross Active, ATR Contraction - Coiling.
SDY 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.
Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price -0.07%, AIQ 0 points).
Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price +0.3%, 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.
- 1SPHQ closes the Momentum gap — currently 32 points behind, the largest single contributor to SDY's edge.
- 2SPHQ's Bollinger Band Squeeze turns directional — it is neutral today and would confirm a change in trend.
- 3SDY's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 6 bullish and 2 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
Split across windows| Metric | SDY | SPHQ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | 3.5% | -1.3% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | 4.1% | -0.8% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | 1.2% | -0.9% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | 5.5% | 5.9% |
| Year to date | 12.2% | 12.4% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | 12.9% | 15.5% |
Technicals
SDY has the stronger structure| Metric | SDY | SPHQ |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | 82.9 | 52.3 |
| ADX (14) | 31.8 | 16.1 |
| Price vs 50-day | 1.7% | -0.7% |
| Price vs 200-day | 3.4% | 2.3% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | 11.7% | 9.6% |
Risk
SPHQ is the more resilient| Metric | SDY | SPHQ |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | 0.23 | 0.93 |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.75 | 0.75 |
| Sortino ratio | 1.4 | 1.24 |
| Max drawdown | -8% | -9.2% |
| Current drawdown | -1.9% | -6.4% |
| Annualized volatility | 10.8% | 14.7% |
| Value at risk (95%) | -0.9% | -1.4% |
Straight answers
Short answers to the questions fund investors ask about this pair, from the figures above.
What is the difference between SDY and SPHQ?
SDY and SPHQ have little in common: 13% of their weight is in the same securities.
How much do SDY and SPHQ overlap?
SDY and SPHQ share 12.75% of their weighted exposure across 27 common holdings. 129 holdings are unique to SDY, and 73 holdings are unique to SPHQ. Owning both is genuinely additive — most of the capital sits in different securities.
Which ETF is more diversified, SDY or SPHQ?
SDY holds more positions: 158 versus 103 for SPHQ.
Which has the lower expense ratio?
SPHQ has the lower expense ratio, 0.2% a year against 0.35% for SDY.
Which ETF has the higher distribution yield?
SDY, with a trailing 12-month distribution yield of 2.42% against 1.03% for SPHQ.
Which ETF has been more volatile?
SPHQ has been more volatile over the past year, at 14.7% annualized against 10.8% for SDY.
Which ETF has had the smaller drawdown?
SDY fell less from peak to trough over the past five years: -15.2% against -25.1% for SPHQ.
Compare SDY and SPHQ 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.