USCI vs. SPY

Last updated Apr 1, 2026

Compare and contrast key facts about United States Commodity Index Fund (USCI) and State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

USCI and SPY are both exchange-traded funds (ETFs), meaning they are traded on stock exchanges and can be bought and sold throughout the day. USCI is a passively managed fund by Concierge Technologies that tracks the performance of the SummerHaven Dynamic Commodity (TR). It was launched on Aug 10, 2010. SPY is a passively managed fund by State Street that tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index. It was launched on Jan 22, 1993. Both USCI and SPY are passive ETFs, meaning that they are not actively managed but aim to replicate the performance of the underlying index as closely as possible.

Performance

USCI vs. SPY - Performance Comparison

The chart below illustrates the hypothetical performance of a $10,000 investment in United States Commodity Index Fund (USCI) and State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). The values are adjusted to include any dividend payments, if applicable.

USCI vs. SPY - Yearly Performance Comparison

	2026 (YTD)	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
USCI United States Commodity Index Fund	22.82%	17.63%	17.24%	-0.00%	29.47%	33.07%	-11.47%	-1.68%	-11.76%	6.32%
SPY State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF	-4.37%	17.72%	24.89%	26.18%	-18.18%	28.73%	18.33%	31.22%	-4.57%	21.71%

Returns By Period

In the year-to-date period, USCI achieves a 22.82% return, which is significantly higher than SPY's -4.37% return. Over the past 10 years, USCI has underperformed SPY with an annualized return of 9.00%, while SPY has yielded a comparatively higher 13.98% annualized return.

USCI

• 1D: -0.70%
• 1M: 11.64%
• YTD: 22.82%
• 6M: 22.37%
• 1Y: 32.16%
• 3Y*: 20.66%
• 5Y*: 21.59%
• 10Y*: 9.00%

SPY

• 1D: 2.91%
• 1M: -4.94%
• YTD: -4.37%
• 6M: -1.82%
• 1Y: 17.59%
• 3Y*: 18.19%
• 5Y*: 11.69%
• 10Y*: 13.98%

*Multi-year figures are annualized to reflect compound growth (CAGR)

USCI vs. SPY - Expense Ratio Comparison

USCI has a 1.03% expense ratio, which is higher than SPY's 0.09% expense ratio.

USCI

United States Commodity Index Fund

SPY

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF

Return for Risk

USCI vs. SPY — Risk / Return Rank

Compare risk-adjusted metric ranks to identify better-performing investments over the past 12 months.

USCI

USCI Risk / Return Rank: 86
USCI Sharpe Ratio Rank: 87
USCI Sortino Ratio Rank: 86
USCI Omega Ratio Rank: 81
USCI Calmar Ratio Rank: 88
USCI Martin Ratio Rank: 85

SPY

SPY Risk / Return Rank: 64
SPY Sharpe Ratio Rank: 56
SPY Sortino Ratio Rank: 60
SPY Omega Ratio Rank: 65
SPY Calmar Ratio Rank: 65
SPY Martin Ratio Rank: 75

The rank (0–100) shows how this investment's returns compare to the risk taken. Higher = better. Based on the past 12 months of data, combining Sharpe, Sortino, and other metrics used by quantitative funds and institutional investors.

USCI vs. SPY - Risk-Adjusted Trends Comparison

This table presents a comparison of risk-adjusted performance metrics for United States Commodity Index Fund (USCI) and State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). Risk-adjusted metrics are performance indicators that assess an investment's returns in relation to its risk, enabling a more accurate comparison of different investment options.

	USCI	SPY	Difference
Sharpe ratio Return per unit of total volatility	1.76	0.93	+0.83
Sortino ratio Return per unit of downside risk	2.28	1.45	+0.82
Omega ratio Gain probability vs. loss probability	1.30	1.22	+0.08
Calmar ratio Return relative to maximum drawdown	2.76	1.53	+1.23
Martin ratio Return relative to average drawdown	9.39	7.30	+2.09
Data is calculated on a 1-year rolling basis and updated daily. The trend shows the change in the indicator over the past month.

USCI vs. SPY - Sharpe Ratio Comparison

The current USCI Sharpe Ratio is 1.76, which is higher than the SPY Sharpe Ratio of 0.93. The chart below compares the historical Sharpe Ratios of USCI and SPY, offering insights into how both investments have performed under varying market conditions. These values are calculated using daily returns over the previous 12 months.

Sharpe Ratios by Period

	USCI	SPY	Difference
Sharpe Ratio (1Y) Calculated over the trailing 1-year period	1.76	0.93	+0.83
Sharpe Ratio (5Y) Calculated over the trailing 5-year period	1.18	0.69	+0.49
Sharpe Ratio (10Y) Calculated over the trailing 10-year period	0.57	0.78	-0.21
Sharpe Ratio (All Time) Calculated using the full available price history	0.29	0.56	-0.28

Correlation

The correlation between USCI and SPY is 0.30, which is considered to be low. This implies their price changes are not closely related. A low correlation is generally favorable for portfolio diversification, as it helps to reduce overall risk by spreading it across multiple assets with different performance patterns.

Dividends

USCI vs. SPY - Dividend Comparison

USCI has not paid dividends to shareholders, while SPY's dividend yield for the trailing twelve months is around 1.14%.

	TTM	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
USCI United States Commodity Index Fund	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
SPY State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF	1.14%	1.07%	1.21%	1.40%	1.65%	1.20%	1.52%	1.75%	2.04%	1.80%	2.03%	2.06%

Drawdowns

USCI vs. SPY - Drawdown Comparison

The maximum USCI drawdown since its inception was -66.41%, which is greater than SPY's maximum drawdown of -55.19%. Use the drawdown chart below to compare losses from any high point for USCI and SPY.

Drawdown Indicators

	USCI	SPY	Difference
Max Drawdown Largest peak-to-trough decline	-66.41%	-55.19%	-11.22%
Max Drawdown (1Y) Largest decline over 1 year	-12.01%	-12.05%	+0.04%
Max Drawdown (5Y) Largest decline over 5 years	-18.84%	-24.50%	+5.66%
Max Drawdown (10Y) Largest decline over 10 years	-45.82%	-33.72%	-12.10%
Current Drawdown Current decline from peak	-0.70%	-6.24%	+5.54%
Average Drawdown Average peak-to-trough decline	-29.82%	-9.09%	-20.73%
Ulcer Index Depth and duration of drawdowns from previous peaks	3.53%	2.52%	+1.01%

Volatility

USCI vs. SPY - Volatility Comparison

United States Commodity Index Fund (USCI) has a higher volatility of 6.98% compared to State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) at 5.31%. This indicates that USCI's price experiences larger fluctuations and is considered to be riskier than SPY based on this measure. The chart below showcases a comparison of their rolling one-month volatility.

Volatility by Period

	USCI	SPY	Difference
Volatility (1M) Calculated over the trailing 1-month period	6.98%	5.31%	+1.67%
Volatility (6M) Calculated over the trailing 6-month period	13.85%	9.47%	+4.38%
Volatility (1Y) Calculated over the trailing 1-year period	18.38%	19.05%	-0.67%
Volatility (5Y) Calculated over the trailing 5-year period, annualized	18.42%	17.06%	+1.36%
Volatility (10Y) Calculated over the trailing 10-year period, annualized	15.78%	17.92%	-2.14%