Wealthy PotRSP vs SPY: Same 500 Companies, Only 43% the Same Portfolio
RSP and SPY own the same roughly 500 companies, the S&P 500. What differs is how much of each. SPY weights by company size, so its ten largest holdings were 37.8% of the fund at 30 June 2026. RSP gives every company the same weight at each quarterly rebalance, so its ten largest stocks came to 2.45% at 31 July 2026. On our holdings match that makes them only 43.2% the same portfolio, even though they share 499 companies. RSP costs more (0.20% a year against 0.0945%) and trades much more (27% turnover against 3%). Over the ten years to 30 June 2026 it returned 12.14% a year against SPY's 15.35%, because the largest companies led that decade.
Table of Contents
The Short Answer
- Overlap: 43.2% by weight, 500 companies in common. Same stocks, very different amounts of each. The next section explains why the number is so low.
- Fees: RSP 0.20%, SPY 0.0945%. On $10,000 that is $20 a year against $9.45.
- Turnover: RSP 27%, SPY 3% in each fund's latest fiscal year. Selling winners back to equal weight every quarter is the cost of the strategy.
- Returns to 30 June 2026: SPY led over every period shown: 22.15% against 18.93% over one year, 13.26% against 8.92% over five, 15.35% against 12.14% over ten.
- Concentration: NVIDIA was 7.51% of the S&P 500 portfolio and 0.19% of RSP. RSP's largest stock was 0.26%.
- Sectors: information technology was 38.0% of SPY and 16.1% of RSP on the latest reports.
- Holding both is a reasonable way to dilute mega-cap weight, but decide the split on purpose.
Why the Overlap Is Only 43%
Our Portfolio Overlap Checker matches the holdings each fund reports to the SEC and adds up the smaller weight of every stock they share. That is the right measure for "how much of my money is in the same place", and here it gives an answer that surprises people.
| Holdings match | Result |
|---|---|
| Companies held by both | 500 |
| Share of RSP's weight in companies the S&P 500 portfolio holds | 95.8% |
| Share of the S&P 500 portfolio's weight in companies RSP holds | 99.0% |
| Overlap (sum of the smaller shared weights) | 43.2% |
Nearly every dollar in each fund is in a company the other owns. The overlap is low because the weights are so different. Take the shared companies one at a time and keep the smaller weight:
- The 89 biggest companies are heavier in SPY than RSP's flat slice. Together they were 73.3% of the S&P 500 portfolio, but RSP held only 16.7% in them, so only 16.7% counts as shared.
- The other 411 companies are heavier in RSP. RSP put 79.3% of its money there, but they were only 26.5% of the S&P 500 portfolio, so only 26.5% counts.
16.7 plus 26.5 gives the 43.2%. Put simply, more than half of each fund's money is in places the other fund underweights. That is the point of RSP, not a flaw in the measure.
| Weight in the fund | S&P 500 portfolio (SPY), 30 Jun 2026 | RSP, 31 Jul 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | 7.51% | 0.19% |
| Apple | 6.58% | 0.20% |
| Alphabet (both share classes) | 5.83% | 0.19% |
| Microsoft | 4.29% | 0.22% |
| Amazon.com | 3.61% | 0.21% |
| These ten companies combined (SPY's top ten) | 37.83% | 1.88% |
| RSP's own ten largest stocks | 2.45% |
How the equal weighting works. RSP's prospectus says its index "assigns each component security the same weight at each quarterly rebalance." Between rebalances, winners drift above that level and losers fall below it, so the weights are never exactly equal. At each rebalance the fund sells some of what rose and buys more of what fell. That is why its turnover is 27% a year.
RSP vs SPY Side by Side
| RSP | SPY | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF | State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust |
| Index | S&P 500 Equal Weight Index | S&P 500 |
| Weighting | Equal, reset at each quarterly rebalance | Float-adjusted market value |
| Expense ratio | 0.20% | 0.0945% |
| Annual cost on $10,000 | $20 | $9.45 |
| Portfolio turnover, last fiscal year | 27% (year to 30 Apr 2026) | 3% (year to 30 Sep 2025) |
| Holdings | 506 (2 Oct 2026) | 505 (1 Oct 2026) |
| Size | $95.4 billion (2 Oct 2026) | $817.6 billion (1 Oct 2026) |
| Legal form | Open-end fund (Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust) | Unit investment trust |
| Securities lending | Yes (holds lending cash collateral) | Not permitted by the trust |
| Capital gains distributions | None in fiscal years 2022 to 2026 | Not checked for this page |
| Inception | 24 April 2003 | 22 January 1993 |
The fee gap in dollars: 0.1055 points a year, or about $105 a year on $100,000. Over ten years RSP's prospectus cost example comes to $255 per $10,000.
SPY is a 1993 unit investment trust. Its prospectus says the trust may not "lend its portfolio securities" or use futures and options, and it holds dividends in a non-interest-bearing account until the quarterly payout. RSP is an ordinary open-end ETF. For a fuller look at what the trust structure costs, see SPY vs SPYM.
RSP's tax record has been clean despite the trading. The five years of financial highlights in its August 2026 prospectus (fiscal years 2022 to 2026) show distributions from net investment income only, with no capital gains distributions.
What Equal Weighting Does to Sectors
Because every company gets the same slice, a sector's weight in RSP roughly follows how many companies it has, not how large they are.
| Sector (GICS) | RSP, 30 Apr 2026 | SPY, 30 Jun 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Information technology | 16.1% | 38.03% |
| Industrials | 15.6% | 8.93% |
| Financials | 15.5% | 11.76% |
| Health care | 10.9% | 8.89% |
| Consumer discretionary | 9.2% | 9.31% |
| Consumer staples | 6.7% | 4.57% |
| Real estate | 6.2% | 1.83% |
| Utilities | 6.0% | 2.20% |
| Materials | 5.1% | 1.83% |
| Energy | 4.6% | 2.98% |
| Communication services | 3.8% | 9.68% |
SPY is close to two-fifths technology. RSP is closer to an even spread across industrials, financials and technology, with more in utilities, real estate and materials. If you want less dependence on a handful of technology companies, this is the clearest difference between the two.
Returns and Taxes
Both issuers publish NAV returns for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
| Average annual NAV return to 30 Jun 2026 | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSP | 18.93% | 14.32% | 8.92% | 12.14% |
| SPY | 22.15% | 20.46% | 13.26% | 15.35% |
| RSP minus SPY | -3.22 | -6.14 | -4.34 | -3.21 |
| S&P 500 Equal Weight Index | 19.20 | 14.53 | 9.14 | 12.36 |
| S&P 500 | 22.32 | 20.61 | 13.41 | 15.51 |
The gap came from the index. The equal-weight index trailed the S&P 500 by 3.15 points a year over ten years. Each fund then lost a little to costs: RSP trailed its index by 0.22 points a year and SPY trailed the S&P 500 by 0.16. This was a decade in which the largest companies grew fastest, which is when equal weighting falls behind. In a decade led by smaller and mid-sized companies the result can reverse; this table shows only the ten years on record here.
RSP gave up more to taxes. Each prospectus prints the SEC's standard after-tax figures for periods ended 31 December 2025:
| To 31 Dec 2025 | 1 year | 5 years | 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSP, before taxes | 11.25% | 10.25% | 11.46% |
| RSP, after taxes on distributions | 10.63% | 9.77% | 10.92% |
| SPY, before taxes | 17.73% | 14.28% | 14.66% |
| SPY, after taxes on distributions | 17.41% | 13.91% | 14.21% |
| Tax drag, RSP | 0.62 | 0.48 | 0.54 |
| Tax drag, SPY | 0.32 | 0.37 | 0.45 |
More of RSP's return reached shareholders as taxable distributions. The extra drag is modest, about 0.1 point a year more than SPY's over ten years.
| Hypothetical $10,000 held for 10 years | Ending value |
|---|---|
| At RSP's 10-year return (12.14%) | $31,449 |
| At SPY's 10-year return (15.35%) | $41,704 |
This is educational information, not personalized investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and all investing carries the risk of loss.
Which One Fits You
For a single core S&P 500 holding: a cap-weighted fund, and a cheaper one than SPY. The cap-weighted index is the market as it is. SPY charges 0.0945%; SPYM charges 0.02% and VOO and IVV 0.03% for the same index. See SPY vs SPYM and SPY vs VOO.
If the size of the tech giants worries you: RSP is the direct tool. It cuts NVIDIA, Apple and Microsoft from about 18% of the portfolio to well under 1%. You pay about twice SPY's fee and accept a fund that will trail whenever the biggest companies lead.
Holding both: a split such as 70% cap-weighted and 30% RSP is a common way to soften concentration without leaving the S&P 500. Pick the percentage up front and rebalance to it.
Taxable account or IRA? RSP lost a little more to taxes on distributions than SPY in the prospectus figures, so it fits slightly better in an IRA or Roth IRA. Its own filings show no capital gains distributions in fiscal years 2022 to 2026.
401(k): most plans offer a cap-weighted S&P 500 index fund and no equal-weight option. If you want an equal-weight tilt, add it in an IRA.
If you trade intraday or use options, SPY's size and long history are why traders use it. That is a trading decision; check live spreads in your own platform.
Sources & Methodology
- Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Form 485BPOS filed 27 August 2026 (RSP prospectus dated 28 August 2026): 0.20% fee, cost example, 27% turnover, equal-weight and quarterly rebalance language, full replication, returns to 31 December 2025 and financial highlights.
- Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust Form N-CSR, year ended 30 April 2026: RSP's sector allocation and top holdings.
- Invesco RSP page: returns to 30 June 2026, holdings and market value.
- SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, Form 485BPOS filed 26 January 2026: SPY's 0.0945% expense accrual, trust restrictions, 3% turnover and returns to 31 December 2025.
- State Street's SPY page and SPY Fact Sheet as of 30 June 2026: returns, sectors, holdings and assets.
- RSP Form N-PORT for 31 July 2026 and IVV Form N-PORT for 30 June 2026: the holdings behind the overlap and concentration tables.
How the overlap was computed. The Portfolio Overlap Checker sums, for every company both funds hold, the smaller of its two weights, using each fund's N-PORT filing. SPY files no N-PORT because it is a unit investment trust, so IVV's S&P 500 holdings stand in for it; SPY's fact sheet shows the same top ten at matching weights. RSP's and IVV's filings are a month apart, and RSP's weights drift between quarterly rebalances, so expect the overlap to move by a point or two from one filing to the next.
What we could not verify. We did not find a primary source giving RSP's and SPY's returns for a common period longer than ten years, so we make no claim about which led over longer history.
This article is for general education and is not investment, tax or legal advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results, index returns cannot be invested in directly, and all investing carries the risk of loss. Figures were checked against the sources above on 5 October 2026; verify current data with each issuer before acting.
FAQ: RSP vs SPY
Do RSP and SPY hold the same stocks?
Yes, essentially: 500 companies in common. They hold them in very different amounts. SPY's top ten were 37.8% of the fund; in RSP the same ten companies were 1.9%.
Why is the RSP and SPY overlap only 43%?
Overlap counts the smaller weight of each shared stock. For the biggest companies that is RSP's slice of about 0.2%; for the smaller ones it is SPY's tiny weight. Added up, only 43.2% of the money lines up, even though the company lists match.
Is RSP better than SPY?
Not on the record to date. To 30 June 2026 RSP trailed SPY by 3.21 points a year over ten years and costs about twice as much. Its case is diversification away from the largest companies, which pays only in periods when they lag.
How often does RSP rebalance?
Quarterly. The prospectus says the index "assigns each component security the same weight at each quarterly rebalance." Between rebalances the weights drift.
Which has lower fees, RSP or SPY?
SPY: 0.0945% against 0.20%. On $100,000 that is about $94.50 a year against $200.
Should I hold both RSP and SPY?
It can make sense as a deliberate blend that lowers mega-cap weight. Choose the split in advance; holding both does not add new companies.
Is RSP tax-efficient?
It paid no capital gains distributions in fiscal years 2022 to 2026, according to its prospectus. Its tax drag from dividends was slightly higher than SPY's: 0.54 against 0.45 points a year over ten years to 2025.
Cite This Page
Journalists, educators and bloggers are welcome to cite this comparison. Please link back so readers can reach the underlying filings.
"RSP vs SPY: Same 500 Companies, Only 43% the Same Portfolio." Wealthy Pot, 2026. https://wealthypot.com/rsp-vs-spy/
Related comparisons: RSP vs VOO · SPY vs VOO · SPY vs SPYM · IVV vs SPY · SPY vs VTI · All ETF comparisons
