3 ETFs Measured From the Same 2005 Starting Line. The Plain S&P 500 Fund Turned $10,000 Into $92,435

A $10,000 investment in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:IVV) made on November 15, 2005, was worth $92,435 on October 5, 2026. The SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:MDY) and the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA:SDY) were measured over that identical window, and both finished well behind. Every figure here is total return, meaning distributions are reinvested, and prices are adjusted for stock splits.

All three funds track S&P indexes, but each index is built differently. One owns large caps weighted by market size. One owns mid-caps, the level below, and one owns long-tenured dividend growers weighted by yield. Over two decades, the simplest rulebook won.

IVV Grew $10,000 Into $92,435 by Owning the Market as It Is

IVV tracks the S&P 500, a market-cap-weighted index of large U.S. companies. The strategy makes no forecast. Each company’s weight reflects its market value, so the fund mirrors whatever investors collectively decide the biggest businesses are worth.

From November 15, 2005 through October 5, 2026, IVV returned 824% on a total return basis. Its net expense ratio is 0.03%, so almost none of that compounding went to fees.

Concentration is the tradeoff. Because weights follow size, IVV depends more on its largest holdings as they grow.

MDY’s Mid-Cap Tilt Turned $10,000 Into $66,362

MDY tracks the S&P MidCap 400, which is also cap-weighted but draws from companies one level below the S&P 500. The case for mid caps rests on a size premium: these businesses are established enough to survive downturns yet still small enough to grow quickly. MDY has been listed since May 1995.

By design, holdings are spread thin. The largest holding was less than 1% of net assets. The expense ratio is 0.23%.

Over the November 15, 2005 to October 5, 2026 window, MDY returned 564%, ending at $66,362. That’s a solid absolute result. The size premium the strategy aims for never showed up during this stretch.

SDY Reached $57,577 While Doing the Job It Was Designed For

SDY tracks the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index. A company must have raised its dividend for at least 20 consecutive years to qualify, and members are then weighted by yield. The goal is income durability.

That screen produces a defensive portfolio. Top holdings, a telecom and a REIT, were each about 2% of assets in the June filing. Utilities and staples fill out the upper positions. At 0.35%, its gross expense ratio is the highest of the three.

Over the same window, SDY returned 476%, growing $10,000 into $57,577. The fund was built to deliver reliable, rising income.

It paid quarterly throughout the window, with the latest distribution about $0.92 per share. SDY listed on November 8, 2005.

Why the Plainest Fund Finished First

The past two decades rewarded scale. A small group of very large companies drove an oversized share of U.S. market gains, and only one of these indexes holds more of a company as it grows.

IVV’s cap weighting lets winners compound twice: their share prices rise, and their weight in the fund rises with them.

MDY works the other way at the top end. When a mid-cap company outgrows the index’s size range, S&P can promote it to the S&P 500. So MDY owns many future winners while they grow. It then hands them off right as they become the giants that powered large-cap returns.

SDY’s filters screen out most of those giants entirely. Many of the era’s biggest growth companies paid no dividend, or started paying too recently to clear a 20-year bar. Yield weighting also favors slower-growing businesses. SDY does own dividend-paying tech names, but only at weights near 1.6%.

One Fund, Two Start Dates, Very Different Answers

Measured from November 1, 1999 to the same end date, $10,000 in MDY grew to $124,867. From this article’s later start, the same fund reached $66,362, though the fund and the end date are identical. Only the starting line moved, and the answer changed significantly.

Part of the reason is where each window opens. Late 1999 was near the peak of the dot-com era, when large-cap valuations were high, and mid caps were cheaper. A 1999 start catches the strong mid-cap run of the early 2000s. A late-2005 start skips that run and puts the fund straight into the large-cap era that followed.

Four Assumptions Hidden in Every Total Return Figure

1. A single lump sum. The figures assume $10,000 went in on November 15, 2005, and nothing was ever added. Most people invest gradually, so their results depend on the prices they paid along the way.
2. Every distribution is reinvested. This matters most for SDY. A retiree who spent the quarterly payouts would end with a smaller balance but would have collected years of income — which is precisely what the fund is designed for.
3. No taxes. In a taxable account, dividends are taxed every year, which leaves less to reinvest. The higher-yielding fund takes the biggest hit.
4. No selling. The window includes the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic crash. Each figure assumes the investor held through both, which few real investors managed.

What These Numbers Are Good For

Figures like these show how three index rulebooks behaved in one specific era, which helps explain what each fund actually owns. They tell you nothing about the next two decades. IVV offers the lowest-cost core exposure of the three. MDY can diversify away from mega-cap concentration. Income seekers should judge SDY by how durable its payouts are.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.