Skip to content
The FIRE Exit
S&P 500 · UCITS ETF

SPDR S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Dist)

SPDR S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Dist): what it costs, where it's based, how it tracks S&P 500, and how it sits next to the other S&P 500 funds Europeans hold. The facts, from its own reports, and no verdict.

The facts

Fee (TER)
0.03%
Domicile
🇮🇪 Ireland
Structure
Physical (full)
Income
Distributing
Size
€18.5bn
Launched
Mar 2012
Securities lending
Yes
ISIN
IE00B6YX5C33
Provider
SPDR (State Street)
Primary ticker
SPY5
  • Lowest fee here
  • Irish-domiciled
  • Pays income out
  • Lends securities

The cheapest fee on this whole page, at 0.03%: a distributing S&P 500 line that pays its dividends out each quarter.

How far it drifts from the index

Vs its index, per year
−0.19%
Return 1y
24.3%
Return 3y
69.9%
Return 5y
89.0%

Over the period trackingdifferences.com measures, it beat its index by about 0.19% a year, all in. Negative drift is the good kind: after fees, an Irish fund's lower US-dividend tax and a little securities lending can more than cover the running cost.

Returns are total return in euros to 30 June 2026, from justETF, so every fund is measured to the same date. “Vs index” is the average yearly tracking difference against its own index, from trackingdifferences.com (the standard European source); negative means it beat its index.

What the fee costs over time

This is the lowest fee on S&P 500 here, so held for decades it carries the smallest fee drag of the shortlist. Price it against a pricier fund on your own numbers:

The Tracking Gap, set to this index

The other S&P 500 funds

Same index, so nearly the same holdings. What separates them is fee, domicile and structure, which is the tracking difference above, fund by fund.

FundFeeDomicileVs index
iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc)CSPX · iShares0.07%🇮🇪 Ireland−0.21%
Invesco S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc)SPXS · Invesco0.05%🇮🇪 Ireland−0.30%
Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc)VUAA · Vanguard0.07%🇮🇪 Ireland−0.20%
Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Dist)VUSA · Vanguard0.07%🇮🇪 Ireland−0.25%
Amundi S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc)500 · Amundi0.15%🇱🇺 Luxembourg−0.29%

All S&P 500 funds, compared

Which line do I buy?

The same share class lists on several exchanges in several currencies. The tickers below are one and the same fund: buying the euro line or the dollar line changes nothing about what you earn. Pick whichever your broker offers cheapest.

  • SPY5 · Xetra · EUR
  • SPY5 · LSE · USD
  • SPX5 · LSE · GBP

The fund’s own factsheet

Where to buy it

Which broker holds this cheapest for your monthly buy is the broker guide's half, with the yearly cost priced.

Keep it honest

Know a figure here that's wrong or out of date? Point me to the line and a source. Every correction gets checked before the yearly refresh. That's how this page stays right.

Report a correction

Common questions

Is SPY5 accumulating or distributing?
Distributing. SPY5 pays its dividends out as cash, which some countries tax the year you receive it.
Where is SPY5 domiciled, and does it matter?
Ireland. Ireland's US tax treaty taxes the fund's US dividends at 15% instead of 30%, so an Irish fund quietly keeps more of them. On a US-heavy index that edge can outweigh a few hundredths of a percent of fee. Your own country's tax on the fund is a separate question, and that's the atlas's job. The whole mechanism, layer by layer, is in the withholding guide.
Is SPY5's fee good?
At 0.03% it's the cheapest S&P 500 fund on this shortlist. Cheapest fee is step one, not the whole answer: domicile and structure decide how much it keeps after tax, which is what the tracking difference above shows.
Which SPY5 ticker do I actually buy?
Whichever line your broker offers cheapest. SPY5, SPX5 are the same share class on different exchanges and currencies: the holdings are identical, and buying the euro line or the dollar line changes nothing about what you earn.

Checked July 2026

The structural facts (fee, domicile, structure, size) are each fund’s own, from its factsheet or KID, checked and cited. The returns come from justETF, a reputable ETF data service, so every fund is measured to the same date on the same basis: the only honest way to compare them. The tracking difference (how each fund actually did against its own index) comes from trackingdifferences.com, the standard European source. I don’t compute any of it myself, and there are still no affiliate links.

No affiliate links. No paywall. Nothing on this page is for sale, and no broker pays me to rank one fund above another. The neutrality is the whole point.

Structural facts from the funds’ own reports, returns via justETF, tracking via trackingdifferences.com. Not a recommendation, and I’m not a licensed adviser. Past returns are not a guide to future ones. Which fund suits you depends on your broker, your account and your country’s tax. Not advice.

Bring me a challenge.

The Exit Audit, then ninety minutes: a straight verdict, real alternatives with their pros and cons, and your first move. If you want someone to nod along, I’m the wrong person to pay.

How the sessions work

Ninety minutes, online, €600. The Exit Audit included.