VVOOVanguard S&P 500 ETF

VOO is Vanguard's S&P 500 fund — the same index, a modern structure and one of the lowest fees available.

The holdings are identical to SPY's: the index is the same. The difference is structure and cost of ownership. VOO is a conventional exchange-traded fund able to reinvest dividends and to use mechanisms unavailable to the older trust format, so its tracking difference is minimal.

The management fee is an order of magnitude lower than the oldest competitor's. Over a year the gap is barely visible; over decades it compounds into a meaningful sum — which is why the choice between these funds depends not on a market view but on holding period.

Liquidity and the options market are thinner than SPY's, making VOO less convenient for active trading. A distinguishing feature of the manager is its ownership structure, in which the funds are owned by their own investors — that explains why fees here keep falling.