The S&P500 is an index that tracks 500 of the best stocks on US exchanges as determined by a committee, while the FTSE 100 tracks top stocks trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
You might think both indices are pretty much the same, but they’re actually very different. Here’s how the S&P 500 and FTSE 100 compare in terms of size, value, diversification and performance.
“S&P” stands for Standard and Poor. S&P Global is a US-based company that creates stock market indices used as performance benchmarks for part, or all, of the market.
“FTSE” stands for the Financial Times Stock Exchange, a company that similarly creates market-tracking indices. In 2015, FTSE merged with UK-based Russell Investments and was renamed the FTSE Russell Group. It’s now owned by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).
The S&P 500 and FTSE 100 are indices that track collections of stocks in specific countries with the aim of tracking how the overall stock market is performing in each country. The S&P500 tracks top US stocks, and the FTSE 100 tracks top UK stocks listed on the LSE.
Spoiler alert: The S&P 500 is bigger.
The S&P 500 lists stocks from 500 companies, which is 5X more than the FTSE 100, which lists stocks from just 100 companies. Even though both indices are the most popular stock market benchmarks in the US and UK, respectively, you can also reference the FTSE250 and 350 as well as the S&P100, which serve similar purposes.
Spoiler alert: The S&P 500 is worth more.
The FTSE 100 is a lot smaller than the S&P 500 in terms of market capitalization. The FTSE 100 has a market cap of around £1.6 trillion GBP (approx. $2.5 trillion CAD), while the S&P’s market cap is around $25.6 trillion USD (about $3.3 trillion CAD). That makes the S&P 500 about 12X the size of the FTSE 100 based on market cap.
As of the time of writing, there are 505 stocks in the S&P 500 and 101 stocks in the FTSE 100. This is because some companies trade mutiple classes of stock. With the S&P 500 having 5X the number of stocks than the FTSE 100, the FTSE 100 is more concentrated.
The top 10 stocks in the FTSE100, which you can see below, make up more than 40% of the index. Just under 30% of the S&P 500 is comprised of its top 10 stocks (also listed below).
Spoiler alert: The S&P 500 has riskier technology stocks, while the FTSE 100 has more cyclical stocks.
The top stocks in the FTSE 100 and S&P 500 are vastly different, and the other stocks in both indices further reflect this difference. The S&P 500 is made up of a lot of technology stocks—74, to be exact. Meanwhile, just 7 stocks on the FTSE 100 are technology stocks.
The FTSE 100 has more stocks that are considered to be cyclical. Some investors think of cyclical stocks as recession proof, as they tend to perform well even during recessions. This could be why the FTSE 100 hasn’t seen the same growth as the S&P 500, as it’s made up of stocks in financial companies and consumer staples companies. The S&P 500 is made up of technology stocks that are considered higher risk.
A good way to diversify your stocks is to align your investments to both indices.
Statistically, the S&P 500 is more diversified than the FTSE 100, with a more equal weighting of each category across the index. But the FTSE 100 holds a higher concentration of cyclical stocks that are generally considered safer than the S&P’s growth stocks. If you’re looking for diversification, your best bet is to go with both indices.
| S&P 500 | FTSE 100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of stocks | Large-cap US equities | Large and mid-cap UK equities |
| Number of holdings | 505 | 101 |
| Top sectors | Information Technology (IT) 27.5%, Healthcare 13.3%, Consumer discretionary 12.4%, Financials 11.4% ,Communication Services 11.2% | Healthcare 11.6%, Industrial goods & services 10.9%, Energy 10.2%, Basic resources 9.7%, Personal care drug and grocery stores 9.3% |
| Exposure to global economy | Greater | Slightly weaker |
| Past performance | Stronger | Weaker |
| Availability of ETF | Wider | Weaker |
These trading apps allow you to invest in companies within the indices or funds/ETFs that hold stocks in FTSE 100 and S&P 500 companies.
Compare performance data for popular S&P 500 and FTSE 100 funds:
| Icon | Fund | 5 year performance | 1 year performance (to July 2022) | Link to invest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Vanguard S&P 500 (VFV.TSX) | 100% | -5.67% | Buy on Interactive Brokers |
 | iShares Core S&P 500 (XSP.TSX) | 121% | -8.84% | Buy on Interactive Brokers |
 | Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility (SPLV.NYSEARCA) | 72% | 1.28% | Buy on Interactive Brokers |
 | SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY.NYSEARCA) | 100% | -7.99% | Buy on Interactive Brokers |
 | Xtrackers S&P 500 Swap (XSPX.LSE) | 97% | -7.01% | Buy on Interactive Brokers |
| Icon | Fund | 5 year performance | 1 year performance (to July 2022) | Link to invest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard FTSE 100 (VUKE.LSE) | 96% | 8.29% | Buy on Interactive Brokers |
| iShares Core FTSE 100 (CUKX.LSE) | 96% | 8.28% | Buy on Interactive Brokers |
 | Lyxor FTSE 100 (100D.LSE) | 95% | 5.29% | Buy on Interactive Brokers |
Why choose? Instead of trying to decide between these indices, consider what both of them could do for your portfolio.
By investing in something like an index fund for both the S&P500 and the FTSE 100, you diversify your portfolio not only geographically, as you’ll get UK stocks and US stocks, but also by sector, as both indices offer a different mix of industries.
Here are the top stocks in the S&P500 and the FTSE 100. Most of the top 10 stocks in the S&P500 are for technology companies. Meanwhile, the top stocks of the FTSE 100 are mainly healthcare, industrial and energy stocks.
| S&P 500 | FTSE 100 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Apple | 6.1% |  | Astra-Zeneca | 6.0% |
 | Microsoft | 5.8% |  | Unilever | 5.8% |
 | Facebook inc A | 2.2% |  | Diageo | 4.2% |
 | Alphabet Inc A (Google) | 2.2% |  | Glaxo-Smith-Kline | 3.7% |
The S&P500 tracks top companies in the US stock market, and the FTSE 100 tracks top companies in the UK. Investors looking for growth may choose to model their investments after the S&P500, while those looking to offset risk with consumer cyclical stocks may choose to model their portfolios after the FTSE 100. A good way to diversify your stocks is to invest in funds that track both indices.
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