Launched on September 25, 2000, the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF (SPYG) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by State Street Investment Management. It has amassed assets over $46.13 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
Why Large Cap Growth
Large cap companies typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Overall, they are usually a stable option, with less risk and more sure-fire cash flows than mid and small cap companies.
Qualities of growth stocks include faster growth rates compared to the broader market, as well as higher valuations and higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. Even though growth stocks are more likely to outperform their value counterparts in strong bull markets, value stocks have a record of delivering better returns in almost all markets than growth stocks.
Costs
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.04%, making it the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.51%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector -- about 48.4% of the portfolio. Telecom and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 14.31% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Apple Inc (AAPL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 61.73% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
SPYG seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 Growth Index before fees and expenses. The S&P 500 Growth Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization growth sector in the U.S. equity market.
The ETF has added about 1.84% so far this year and is up about 23.15% in the last one year (as of 01/28/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $71.83 and $109.39.
The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 18.23% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 141 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, SPYG is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
The Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) track a similar index. While Vanguard Growth ETF has $204.60 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $414.18 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ charges 0.2%.
Bottom-Line
Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF (SPYG): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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