SPDW vs SSBNX Fund Comparison

A comparison between SPDW and SSBNX based on their expense ratio, growth, holdings and how well they match their benchmark performance.

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Minafi's Take on SPDW vs SSBNX

Here's an in depth look at the differences between SPDR Portfolio Developed World ex-US ETF ($SPDW) and State Street Target Retirement 2020 Fund Class I ($SSBNX).

To start off, here's a look at the basics of each fund. Keep an eye on the FI Score. That's a custom score from 0 to 100 that we generate based on how good this fund is for the casual investor. Most investors only need a handful of total funds in their portfolio. The higher the score, the more likely this is one of those few. Score alone isn't enough! Keep reading on to see how different (or perhaps similar) these two funds are.

92% FI Score
  • spdw
  • ETF
  • International Stocks
  • Large Blend

SPDR Portfolio Developed World ex-US ETF

Expenses: 0.04% (Better than 1% of similar funds)

This is a great choice for a Large Blend International Stocks fund. See why »

77% FI Score
  • ssbnx
  • Mutual Fund
  • Allocation
  • Target-Date

State Street Target Retirement 2020 Fund Class I

Expenses: 0.01% (Better than 1% of similar funds)

This is an OK choice for a Target-Date Allocation fund. See why »

$SPDW is classified as an ETF while $SSBNX is classified as a Mutual Fund. Even though one of these is a mutual fund and the other is an ETF, that doesn't matter too much for their holdings. Both ETFs and mutual funds are just containers to hold lots of investments inside of them.

The biggest differences between these two is where they may be offered. ETFs are more widely availble from a larger number of investment apps and websites. Mutual funds, on the other hand, are generally offered by the platform they're issued by (Fidelity funds on Fidelity, Vanguard funds on Vanguard). Usually 401(k)'s will offer both ETFs and Mutual Funds. If you're investing outside of a 401(k), I'd recommend you verify the fees associated with ETF and mutual fund transactions. Some platforms charge an additional fee to purchase a mutual fund.

To learn more about the difference between these two, you can read about the difference between ETFs and Mutual Funds.

When evaluating a fund, the first things I look at are:

  • What it invests in
  • How much it charges in fees
  • How large the fund is

Let's look into these criteria one by one and see if either of these funds stands out.

Fund Holdings Comparison

Minafi's FI Score algorithm takes into account the category and market. The more niche a fund is, the lower the score. This doesn't mean it's a worse fund, but it does mean you should stop and make sure this a fund you need to diversify your portfolio.

SPDW SSBNX
Market Score 8.9 /10 6.0 /10
Category Score 10.0 /10 5.0 /10
Total 18.9 11.0

A score of 10 means this is a solid market and category that almost every investor will want to have investments in. The lower the score, the more specific the investment. These scores are based on when most investors would add these funds to their portfolio. A score of 10 means that this fund (or one like it) belongs in a three-fund portfolio. The lower the score, the farther down in your portfolio a fund would go.

Winner: $SPDW

Fee Comparison

Fees are one of the biggest killers of portfolio growth. The difference between a 2% fee and a 0.04% fee over 30 years can result in your portfolio having half the total value!

If you're just getting started investing and learning how fees impact your portfolio, I'd encourage you to read through my free investment course (specifically '2.2 - All About Fees') where I go over all the different types of fees you can be charged and how to lower them.

For these two funds, SPDW has an expense ratio of 0.04% while SSBNX has an expense ratio of 0.01%. In this case, both of these funds have a similar fee.

Winner: $SSBNX (barely)

Fund Size Comparison

One place these two funds differ is in their total assets under management. This is a good indication of how many other investors trust this fund. A large fund by itself doesn't mean it's a good fund, but it is one thing to consider when figuring out how to choose the right fund.

In the case of these two funds, SPDW is a large fund with 6.51 Billion in assets under management. SSBNX, on the other hand, is a medium fund with 703 Million in assets under management.

Winner: $SPDW, SPDR Portfolio Developed World ex-US ETF

Which Should You Choose? SPDW or SSBNX?

Comparing these two funds isn't an apples to apples comparison. SPDW is a International Stocks Large Blend fund, while SSBNX is a Allocation Target-Date fund.

If you're aiming to build a diversified, low-fee, tax-optimized portfolio you likely won't be choosing between these two funds since they're different enough.

Running both of these funds through Minafi's FI Score algorithm, gives SPDW a score of 92 and SSBNX a score of 77.

Winner: $SPDW, SPDR Portfolio Developed World ex-US ETF

$SPDW

SPDR Portfolio Developed World ex-US ETF

92

Read More
Ratings
Rating Type Rating
Diversification Score 9 /10
Expense Ratio Score 10 /10
Expense Rating 10 /10
Market Score 9 /10
Category Score 10 /10
Overview
Overview Details
Fund Type ETF
Exchange NYSE ARCA
Expense Ratio 0.040%
Net Assets 6.51 Billion
Yield 3.64%
Holdings
Description Info
Market International Stocks
Category Large Blend
Sectors
  • Basic Materials 7.43%
  • Communication Services 6.01%
  • Consumer Cyclicals 9.58%
  • Consumer Defensive 10.42%
  • Energy 4.38%
  • Financial Services 16.14%
  • Healthcare 13.04%
  • Industrials 14.90%
  • Real Estate 3.91%
  • Technology 10.87%
  • Utilities 3.33%
Regions
  • Africa/Middle East 0.65%
  • Asia Developed 8.48%
  • Asia Emerging 0.40%
  • Australasia 6.02%
  • Europe Developed 37.73%
  • Europe Emerging 0.01%
  • Japan 25.04%
  • Latin America 0.02%
  • North America 9.29%
  • United Kingdom 12.36%

$SSBNX

State Street Target Retirement 2020 Fund Class I

77

Read More
Ratings
Rating Type Rating
Expense Ratio Score 10 /10
Expense Rating 10 /10
Market Score 6 /10
Category Score 5 /10
Overview
Overview Details
Fund Type Mutual Fund
Inception Date Sep-30-2014
Exchange NMFQS
Expense Ratio 0.010%
Net Assets 703 Million
Yield 2.90%
Holdings
Description Info
Market Allocation
Category Target-Date
Sectors
  • Basic Materials 3.77%
  • Communication Services 8.17%
  • Consumer Cyclical 9.52%
  • Consumer Defensive 7.23%
  • Energy 3.24%
  • Financial Services 13.34%
  • Healthcare 12.49%
  • Industrials 9.13%
  • Real Estate 14.05%
  • Technology 16.11%
  • Utilities 2.94%
Regions
  • Africa/Middle East 0.87%
  • Asia Developed 4.09%
  • Asia Emerging 4.67%
  • Australasia 1.95%
  • Europe Developed 11.10%
  • Europe Emerging 0.44%
  • Japan 7.31%
  • Latin America 0.76%
  • North America 64.79%
  • United Kingdom 4.02%

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