What Is SPLG? SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF
Short answer
SPLG is the SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF, State Street's cheap version of the S&P 500 SPDR family. It charges just 0.02% in annual fees, far below SPY's 0.0945%, while tracking the exact same S&P 500 Index of large U.S. companies. The lower fee and lower share price make it a budget-friendly alternative to SPY for buy-and-hold S&P 500 exposure. Note that the fund was rebranded in late 2025 and now trades under the ticker SPYM.
SPLG is issued by State Street SPDR and tracks S&P 500. It charges a 0.02% expense ratio, holds approximately ~$87 billion in assets under management, yields about ~1.2%, and launched in November 2005.
What is SPLG?
SPLG is the SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF, State Street's cheap version of the S&P 500 SPDR family. It charges just 0.02% in annual fees, far below SPY's 0.0945%, while tracking the exact same S&P 500 Index of large U.S. companies. The lower fee and lower share price make it a budget-friendly alternative to SPY for buy-and-hold S&P 500 exposure. Note that the fund was rebranded in late 2025 and now trades under the ticker SPYM.
SPLG is issued by State Street SPDR and tracks S&P 500, so a single ticker gives you the whole basket of underlying holdings weighted by the index's methodology rather than by any active stock-picking.
SPLG holdings: what's actually inside
SPLG is weighted toward its largest constituents. As of early 2026, the top holdings are:
| Rank | Ticker | Company | % of SPLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NVDA | NVIDIA Corp. | 7.3% | |
| 2 | MSFT | Microsoft Corp. | 7.0% | |
| 3 | AAPL | Apple Inc. | 5.8% | |
| 4 | AMZN | Amazon.com Inc. | 3.9% | |
| 5 | META | Meta Platforms Inc. | 3.0% | |
| 6 | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc. Class A | 2.2% | |
| 7 | AVGO | Broadcom Inc. | 2.1% | |
| 8 | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. Class C | 1.8% | |
| 9 | TSLA | Tesla Inc. | 1.7% | |
| 10 | BRK.B | Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class B | 1.6% |
The remaining holdings make up the balance of the fund, with weights tapering off below the top names. Because the index reconstitutes on a rolling basis, the roster stays current without active management. Each ticker above links to its individual stock guide in Walnut.
The bottom line on SPLG
SPLG offers the same S&P 500 exposure as SPY at roughly a fifth of the cost, with a lower share price that suits smaller contributions. The fund now trades as SPYM after an October 2025 rebrand, but its index, strategy, and holdings are unchanged.
More on SPLG
Whether SPLG is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is SPLG a buy?
SPLG yields ~1.2% as of early 2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see SPLG dividend: yield and schedule.
Build a portfolio around SPLG with Walnut
Use SPLG as your core holding, then let Walnut's AI propose thematic satellites: AI infrastructure, dividend growth, clean energy, whatever you believe in. Connect your broker, build the basket in conversation, track it as one unit.
FAQ
What is SPLG?
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SPLG is the SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF, a fund from State Street that tracks the S&P 500 Index of roughly 500 large U.S. companies. It is the low-cost core member of the SPDR S&P 500 family, designed to give broad U.S. large-cap exposure in a single holding. In late 2025 it was rebranded and now trades under the ticker SPYM.
What is SPLG's expense ratio?
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SPLG charges an expense ratio of 0.02% per year, or about $2 annually on every $10,000 invested. That makes it one of the cheapest S&P 500 ETFs available and far less expensive than SPY, which charges 0.0945%.
SPLG vs SPY vs VOO: what is the difference?
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All three track the same S&P 500 Index, so their returns are nearly identical before fees. The main difference is cost and share price: SPLG (now SPYM) charges 0.02% versus SPY's 0.0945% and VOO's 0.03%, and SPLG trades at a much lower per-share price than SPY, which can make it easier to buy in small amounts.
What does SPLG hold?
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SPLG holds the stocks of the S&P 500, weighted by market capitalization, so its largest positions are mega-cap names like NVIDIA, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Meta. Technology and communication-services companies dominate the top of the fund, mirroring the concentration of the broad U.S. large-cap market.
Does SPLG pay a dividend?
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Yes. SPLG passes through the dividends paid by its underlying S&P 500 holdings and distributes them to shareholders quarterly. Its dividend yield is roughly 1.2%, which is typical for a broad S&P 500 index fund.
Is SPLG a good investment?
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SPLG gives low-cost, diversified exposure to the U.S. large-cap market, which is why many long-term investors use S&P 500 funds as a core holding. Whether it fits your situation depends on your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
Why did SPLG change to SPYM?
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Effective October 31, 2025, State Street renamed the fund the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF and changed its trading symbol from SPLG to SPYM. The change aligned the ticker with State Street's broader SPDR branding, similar to how the firm names SPY. The fund's S&P 500 index, strategy, holdings, and 0.02% fee were unchanged.
Can I buy SPLG instead of SPY to save money?
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Many investors do exactly that. SPLG (now SPYM) tracks the same S&P 500 Index as SPY but charges 0.02% instead of 0.0945% and trades at a lower share price, so it can lower both your fees and the dollar amount needed per share. SPY's larger size and trading volume can still make it preferable for active traders who prioritize liquidity.
How do I compare SPLG to similar ETFs?
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Put a few fields side by side: the expense ratio (fees compound over decades), the index or strategy it tracks, the top holdings and how much they overlap with what you already own, the dividend yield, and the AUM, liquidity, and bid-ask spread that affect trading costs. For index funds, tracking error (how closely it follows its index) and tax efficiency matter too. SPLG's figures are above; the full method is in Walnut's guide on how to compare ETFs.
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Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Holdings weights and fund statistics on this page are approximations stamped to early 2026; verify current figures against State Street SPDR's fund page or your broker before investing.