SMH vs SPY: 18% overlap

VanEck Semiconductor ETF and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust share 18.4% of their portfolios by weight — computed as Σ min(wA, wB) over every holding both funds own.

Different holding dates. These holdings were published about 4 months apart — SMH as of 2026-03-31, the rest through 2026-07-23. Each fund is compared using its most recent file, so any trading in between shows up as a difference.

Hold both, 50/50
1.8Effective Funds

You would hold two tickers and get the diversification of 1.8. Two funds that shared nothing would score 2.0; two identical funds score 1.0.

Overlap
18.4%
SMH expense ratio
0.35%
SPY expense ratio
0.09%

Top shared holdings

SMH and SPY hold 19 of the same securities. The ten contributing most to the overlap figure:

Holdingin SMHin SPYΔ
NVDA19.6%7.9%11.7%
AVGO7.8%2.9%4.9%
MU4.2%1.8%2.5%
AMD4.7%1.4%3.3%
INTC4.3%0.7%3.6%
AMAT4.6%0.7%3.9%
LRCX4.6%0.6%4.0%
KLAC4.7%0.4%4.3%
TXN4.6%0.4%4.2%
ADI4.7%0.3%4.4%

Where SMH and SPY differ

Sector weights as a share of each fund, ordered by the size of the gap rather than the size of the sector — two funds that overlap heavily still usually diverge somewhere.

SectorSMHSPYΔ
Information Technology92.8%37.5%+55.3pp
Financials0.0%12.4%12.4pp
Communication Services0.0%9.3%9.3pp
Health Care0.0%9.1%9.1pp
Industrials0.0%8.9%8.9pp
Consumer Discretionary0.0%8.8%8.8pp
Unclassified7.2%0.0%+7.2pp
Consumer Staples0.0%4.6%4.6pp

Δ is SMH minus SPY, in percentage points. Sector data is not published by every issuer, so “Unclassified” is a real category rather than a gap in the table.

What each fund holds alone

Only in SMH
7 positions

20.2% of SMH by weight, held in no part of SPY.

Only in SPY
485 positions

81.6% of SPY by weight, held in no part of SMH.

A large count with a small weight is the usual shape: the positions one fund adds are typically its smallest ones.

Concentration and cost

SMHSPY
Top 10 holdings72.2%36.9%
Positions held26505
Cost per $10,000 held, per year$35$9

Cost is the expense ratio applied to $10,000; it excludes any brokerage commission, bid-ask spread or tax consequence. Figures are facts about the funds, not a suggestion about which to hold.

Frequently asked

How much do SMH and SPY overlap?

SMH and SPY overlap 18.4% by portfolio weight — moderate overlap. They share 19 holdings. The figure comes from current issuer holdings files (SMH as of 2026-03-31, SPY as of 2026-07-23).

How is the overlap between SMH and SPY calculated?

As the sum of the smaller weight in each fund, over every holding both funds own: Σ min(wA, wB). If SMH holds a stock at 6% and SPY holds the same stock at 4%, 4% counts as shared. The result is bounded between 0% and 100%, and it is computed after looking through any fund-of-funds to the underlying holdings.

Is it redundant to hold both SMH and SPY?

That depends on your goals — we state facts, not advice. At 18.4% overlap, each fund still contributes meaningfully distinct exposure.

What does SMH own that SPY doesn't?

SMH holds 26 positions and SPY holds 505; 7 of SMH's positions don't appear in SPY at all, and they are 20.2% of SMH by weight.

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Related comparisons

Sources: issuer holdings files, SMH as of 2026-03-31, SPY as of 2026-07-23. Weights are fractions of each fund. Diagnostics, not advice.