# How Simon Property Group (SPG) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: BetterThanSPY research, https://betterthanspy.com/research/spg
> Data as of October 22, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on SPG alone. It places SPG (Simon Property Group, Inc.) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where SPG stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: SPG's full trading record, from December 1993 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 22, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** SPG has gone against the market, falling 5.3% over the past 3 months while the S&P 500 rose 2.5%. On the flip side, after a 24.3% loss from March 2025 to April 2025, SPG has bounced 19.6% off the low.
- **Stock or market?:** Not a move of its own: the retail reits ETF VNQ (Vanguard Real Estate ETF) fell 5.6% over the past 3 months, with O (Realty Income, down 11.1%) and KIM (Kimco Realty, down 8.7%), while the S&P 500 rose 2.5%. Last month cut against the tape: SPG rose 3.0% while the S&P 500 fell 1.2%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** A behind 65% of stocks worth at least $300 million over 10 years, but ahead of 77% of the stocks worth at least $300 million over 3 years. Over the past year, SPG rose 23.3% against 15.6% for the S&P 500 and 16.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (133% against 88.4%).
- **Long term:** SPG turned $10,000 into $17,900 over the past decade, against $41,600 in the S&P 500. That said, the past 5 years have been the better stretch: SPG rose 90.6% against 80.3% for the S&P 500, after trailing over the decade.
- **In a crash:** Across seven sell-offs, SPG has typically fallen 1.2 times as far as the S&P 500. In the Covid crash, SPG fell 68.4%, against 33.7% for the S&P 500. That was more than O (Realty Income, 48.3%) but less than MAC (Macerich, 72.0%).
- **Diversification:** SPG is more of the same, not a cushion: a correlation of 0.75 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.76 with the total US market, more closely than 99% of stocks worth at least $300 million.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** TJX (TJX Companies) earned more than SPG with less volatility over the past 5 years: 19.8% a year at 22.3% volatility, against 13.8% a year at 25.9%.
  - **Whole market:** 86 of the 3,641 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than SPG with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them WMT (Walmart), JPM (JPMorgan Chase & Co.) and ABBV (AbbVie).

## How much would $10,000 in SPG have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in SPG over the past 29 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of SPG over the same span and SPG's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in SPG at the end of September 1997 would have grown to $257,044 by September 2026, more than the $132,907 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of SPG, and AMZN finished highest, at $11,484,924.

## SPG at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- SPG's deepest decline since it began trading in 1993 was 77.3%, from August 2016 to April 2020. It took about four years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 29 full calendar years, SPG's best was 2021, when it returned 95.7%, and its worst was 2020, when it lost 38.6%. It lost money in ten of those years.
- SPG is 9.5% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Real Estate (REIT - Retail)
- Trading since: December 14, 1993
- Market value: $69B
- Volatility (5 years): 25.9%; Sharpe ratio: 0.63
- Worst decline ever: −77.3%, from August 1, 2016 to April 2, 2020; back at its high by March 19, 2024

| Period | SPG total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +3.0% |
| 3 months | −5.3% |
| 6 months | +7.4% |
| year to date | +19.1% |
| 1 year | +23.3% |
| 3 years | +133% |
| 5 years | +90.6% |
| 10 years | +78.8% |

## SPG against the whole market

Where SPG ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does SPG rank among all stocks?

This section ranks SPG on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- SPG is among the steadier stocks: its price swings rank in the top 14% of the 2,897 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top is the calmest.

| Measure | SPG | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +23.3% | 1,176 of 3,282 (top 36%) |
| 3-year return | +133% | 687 of 3,016 (top 23%) |
| 5-year return | +90.6% | 755 of 2,897 (top 27%) |
| 10-year return | +78.8% | 1,438 of 2,201 (top 66%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 25.9% | 400 of 2,897 (top 14%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.63 | 605 of 2,897 (top 21%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −75.3% | 1,470 of 2,184 (top 68%) |

### What has beaten SPG on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- 43 stocks and 43 ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than SPG over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is 2% of the 3,641 screened.
- Among those with at least half SPG's swings, DXJ has the best return for its risk: 26.6% a year at 19.1% volatility, 26% less than SPG's 25.9%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.34 against 0.63 for SPG. WELL earned the most, 27.0% a year, while still swinging less than SPG (23.8% against 25.9%).
- Among SPG's popular alternatives, TJX is in the region. TJX earned 19.8% a year against 13.8% a year for SPG, at 22.3% volatility, 14% less than SPG's 25.9%.

### Is there a better investment than SPG?

The table below lists investments that beat SPG over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among SPG's popular alternatives, TJX earned more than SPG with less volatility over the past 5 years: 19.8% a year at 22.3% volatility, against 13.8% a year at 25.9%.
- Across the whole market, 86 of the 3,641 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than SPG with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them WMT, JPM and ABBV.

The 15 strongest of 86 investments that beat SPG over the past 5 years, out of 3,641 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with SPG | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SPG: Simon Property Group, Inc. (this page) |  | +13.8% | 25.9% | 0.63 | −75.3% | +78.8% |  |  |
| [KO](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ko): The Coca-Cola Company | Nonalcoholic Beverages | +15.2% | 16.8% | 0.93 | −37.0% | +205% | 0.41 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [CB](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cb): Chubb Limited | Property & Casualty Insurance | +15.8% | 20.4% | 0.82 | −42.6% | +256% | 0.55 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [RY](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ry): Royal Bank of Canada | Banks | +17.5% | 18.2% | 0.98 | −40.0% | +361% | 0.66 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [WELL](https://betterthanspy.com/research/well): Welltower Inc. | Healthcare REITs | +27.0% | 23.8% | 1.13 | −63.3% | +378% | 0.50 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| THG: The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. | Property & Casualty Insurance | +15.2% | 22.9% | 0.73 | −40.1% | +309% | 0.41 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [JPM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/jpm): JPMorgan Chase & Co. | Banks | +17.3% | 24.3% | 0.78 | −43.6% | +534% | 0.72 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [ABBV](https://betterthanspy.com/research/abbv): AbbVie Inc. | Specialty Pharmaceuticals | +25.5% | 23.4% | 1.09 | −45.1% | +600% | 0.36 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | Japan Equity | +26.6% | 19.1% | 1.34 | −39.1% | +415% | 0.34 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | International Dividend Equity | +16.9% | 11.1% | 1.48 | −32.4% | +194% | 0.65 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [PM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/pm): Philip Morris International Inc. | Tobacco | +21.3% | 23.4% | 0.94 | −42.9% | +240% | 0.39 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [RTX](https://betterthanspy.com/research/rtx): RTX Corporation | Aerospace & Defense | +18.7% | 24.4% | 0.83 | −52.0% | +319% | 0.26 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [TD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/td): The Toronto-Dominion Bank | Banks | +16.5% | 20.0% | 0.87 | −42.0% | +319% | 0.56 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [BTI](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bti): British American Tobacco p.l.c. | Tobacco | +19.4% | 22.0% | 0.92 | −56.1% | +110% | 0.27 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [MO](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mo): Altria Group, Inc. | Tobacco | +18.3% | 21.4% | 0.90 | −53.7% | +133% | 0.49 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [CM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cm): Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | Banks | +19.5% | 21.6% | 0.94 | −47.3% | +409% | 0.66 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |

## SPG against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against SPG, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do SPG's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- Only TJX was both more rewarding and calmer than SPG over the past 5 years, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Over the past 5 years, SPG returned 13.8% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.5%, with higher volatility (25.9% against 17.2%).

### Has SPG consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares SPG with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- None of the 21 popular alternatives outperformed SPG in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes. The closest was TJX.
- TJX earned more for the risk it took than SPG (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in its worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of SPG | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SPG: Simon Property Group, Inc. (this page) | +23.3% | +133% | +90.6% | +78.8% |  |  | 0.63 |
| [TJX](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tjx): The TJX Companies, Inc. | +4.3% | +73.5% | +147% | +357% | 1/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.93 |
| MAC: The Macerich Company | +38.5% | +161% | +61.8% | −46.8% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.44 |
| [AMZN](https://betterthanspy.com/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | +14.9% | +97.8% | +50.1% | +498% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.41 |
| [PLD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/pld): Prologis, Inc. | +3.7% | +38.4% | +1.9% | +218% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.15 |
| IVT: InvenTrust Properties Corp. | +8.2% | +37.4% | +44.4% | +155% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.42 |
| GTY: Getty Realty Corp. | +10.1% | +30.3% | +20.7% | +118% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.29 |
| ADC: Agree Realty Corporation | −6.8% | +41.8% | +18.7% | +109% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.28 |
| SKT: Tanger Inc. | +12.1% | +75.5% | +153% | +61.7% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.78 |
| KIM: Kimco Realty Corporation | +10.2% | +65.1% | +28.6% | +35.3% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.33 |
| PECO: Phillips Edison & Co. | +14.1% | +26.0% | +48.1% | — | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.47 |
| BRX: Brixmor Property Group Inc. | +5.7% | +63.6% | +49.3% | +74.8% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.45 |
| [VNQ](https://betterthanspy.com/research/vnq): Vanguard Real Estate ETF | +4.3% | +45.4% | +3.2% | +64.9% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.13 |
| KRG: Kite Realty Group Trust | +12.8% | +42.6% | +48.1% | +61.4% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.43 |
| [O](https://betterthanspy.com/research/o): Realty Income Corporation | −0.1% | +37.5% | +6.4% | +52.4% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.16 |
| REG: Regency Centers Corporation | +6.7% | +44.3% | +30.0% | +48.8% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.35 |
| NNN: NNN REIT, Inc. | +5.5% | +43.3% | +19.2% | +46.4% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.28 |
| UE: Urban Edge Properties | 0.0% | +50.7% | +30.3% | +9.2% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.34 |
| FRT: Federal Realty Investment Trust | +12.4% | +44.1% | +11.4% | +8.5% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.21 |
| BFS: Saul Centers, Inc. | +2.7% | +7.1% | −13.5% | −20.8% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.00 |
| AKR: Acadia Realty Trust | −1.3% | +55.5% | +2.7% | −21.2% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.16 |
| VICI: VICI Properties Inc. | −17.8% | +5.2% | +5.0% | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.15 |

### How did SPG do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 1997, along with where SPG ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, SPG finished in the top quarter in nine of 29 years and in the bottom quarter in four. In 2025, it ranked 3 of 22.
- SPG finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 17 of its 29 full calendar years.
- Among its popular alternatives, TJX came out ahead of SPG most often, in 18 of the 29 years both traded.

| Year | SPG | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +13.0% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +26.9% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +29.3% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −21.9% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +95.7% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | −38.6% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | −6.7% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | +2.5% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | −0.1% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | −5.5% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How SPG has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were SPG's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of SPG's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: SPG fell 77.3% from August 2016 to April 2020, while the S&P 500 rose 24.9%.
- The slowest recovery came after SPG fell 77.3% from August 2016 to April 2020; it did not regain that peak until March 2024, four years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −77.3% | August 1, 2016 | April 2, 2020 | March 19, 2024 | +24.9% | late-2018 sell-off |
| −76.7% | February 7, 2007 | March 6, 2009 | February 11, 2011 | −50.5% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −31.0% | July 7, 1998 | December 16, 1999 | May 22, 2001 | +24.6% |  |
| −24.3% | March 3, 2025 | April 8, 2025 | September 11, 2025 | −14.7% |  |
| −22.3% | April 1, 2004 | May 12, 2004 | October 18, 2004 | −2.9% |  |

### How did SPG do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far SPG, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- Among its popular alternatives, PECO held up best, falling less than SPG in all two crashes they both traded through.
- SPG fell further than the S&P 500 in five of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the Covid crash, when SPG fell 68.4% and the S&P 500 fell 33.7%.

| Crash | Dates | SPG fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −17.6% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −73.7% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | 0.0% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −18.5% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −12.5% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −2.8% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −15.7% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −68.4% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −44.0% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −7.4% | −3.4% |

### How closely does SPG move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- TJX took just 65% of the S&P 500's losses, against 151% for SPG, while still keeping 81% of its gains.
- Over the past 10 years, SPG captured 94% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 151% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 1.40. Its share of the market's losses was larger than its share of the gains.
- Eight of the 18 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than SPG's 0.62, led by TJX, ADC and AMZN.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SPG: Simon Property Group, Inc. (this page) | 94.0% | 151% | 1.40 |
| [TJX](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tjx): The TJX Companies, Inc. | 81.0% | 65.0% | 0.78 |
| MAC: The Macerich Company | 108% | 254% | 2.05 |
| [AMZN](https://betterthanspy.com/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | 134% | 139% | 1.31 |
| [PLD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/pld): Prologis, Inc. | 103% | 122% | 1.04 |
| IVT: InvenTrust Properties Corp. | −57.0% | −190% | -4.01 |
| GTY: Getty Realty Corp. | 73.0% | 96.0% | 0.77 |
| ADC: Agree Realty Corporation | 44.0% | 39.0% | 0.40 |
| SKT: Tanger Inc. | 73.0% | 119% | 1.53 |
| KIM: Kimco Realty Corporation | 74.0% | 131% | 1.22 |
| BRX: Brixmor Property Group Inc. | 86.0% | 136% | 1.33 |
| [VNQ](https://betterthanspy.com/research/vnq): Vanguard Real Estate ETF | 69.0% | 106% | 0.89 |
| KRG: Kite Realty Group Trust | 77.0% | 123% | 1.13 |
| [O](https://betterthanspy.com/research/o): Realty Income Corporation | 57.0% | 93.0% | 0.73 |
| REG: Regency Centers Corporation | 62.0% | 100% | 0.95 |
| NNN: NNN REIT, Inc. | 60.0% | 100% | 0.82 |
| UE: Urban Edge Properties | 74.0% | 142% | 1.36 |
| FRT: Federal Realty Investment Trust | 63.0% | 122% | 1.03 |
| BFS: Saul Centers, Inc. | 62.0% | 139% | 1.02 |
| AKR: Acadia Realty Trust | 73.0% | 160% | 1.27 |

### What diversifies SPG?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in SPG into DBA would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 18% over the past 5 years for a small cut in its annual return (+15.0% for SPG alone, +14.8% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, DXJ, SMH and XLE have moved largely independently of SPG over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.48 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- MCK made money in seven of the ten calendar years in which SPG lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with SPG | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in SPG's 10 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.34 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 6 of 10 |
| [SMH](https://betterthanspy.com/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.48 | +304% | 37.0% | 0.94 | 6 of 10 |
| [XLE](https://betterthanspy.com/research/xle): State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | 0.36 | +178% | 25.5% | 0.94 | 6 of 10 |
| [GLD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.08 | +120% | 19.0% | 0.93 | 6 of 10 |
| AMLP: Alerian MLP ETF | 0.46 | +114% | 18.9% | 0.90 | 4 of 10 |
| EWT: iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF | 0.44 | +147% | 24.3% | 0.87 | 6 of 10 |
| EDIV: State Street SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF | 0.49 | +69.0% | 13.8% | 0.83 | 3 of 10 |
| DBA: Invesco DB Agriculture Fund | 0.15 | +66.7% | 13.8% | 0.81 | 1 of 10 |

## Common questions

### What was SPG's worst drawdown?

SPG's deepest decline since it began trading in 1993 was 77.3%, from August 2016 to April 2020. It took about four years from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were SPG's best and worst years?

Over 29 full calendar years, SPG's best year was 2021, when it returned 95.7%. Its worst was 2020, with a return of -38.6%.

### Is there a better investment than SPG?

Among SPG's popular alternatives, TJX earned more than SPG with less volatility over the past 5 years: 19.8% a year at 22.3% volatility, against 13.8% a year at 25.9%. Across the whole market, 86 of the 3,641 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than SPG with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them WMT, JPM and ABBV.

### Is SPG more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. SPG's volatility over the past 5 years was 25.9%, 1.5 times the S&P 500's 17.2%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, SPG's return lands within 25.9% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is SPG's Sharpe ratio?

SPG's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.63, against 0.78 for the S&P 500, so SPG earned less for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is SPG with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, SPG's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.75 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They often move together: some diversification next to an index fund, but not a cushion. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against SPG instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a SPG holding.

### What are the best alternatives to SPG?

None of the 21 popular alternatives we compared outperformed SPG in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, which says more about SPG's strength than about its alternatives.

### Did SPG outperform the S&P 500?

SPG finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 17 of 29 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +12.9%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did SPG do in stock market crashes?

SPG fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in four of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in five. The clearest case was the Covid crash, when SPG fell 68.4% and the S&P 500 fell 33.7%.

### What diversifies SPG?

These had a low correlation with SPG over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, DXJ (correlation 0.34), SMH (correlation 0.48) and XLE (correlation 0.36); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.31), CLS (correlation 0.33) and MCK (correlation 0.21). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

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## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://betterthanspy.com/research/spg
- All research pages: https://betterthanspy.com/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against SPG live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=SPG