FA vs SPY: Correlation
Measured on weekly returns over the past three years, First Advantage Corporation (FA) and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) carry a correlation of 0.37, a moderate link.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are FA and SPY?
On 3 years of weekly data the FA/SPY correlation comes out at 0.37, moderate. Little has changed lately, as the 1-year reading of 0.30 lands near the 3-year figure. The 5-year figure is 0.47, and annualized covariance runs at 247.2 %².
Among the 16 assets we track against FA, SPY sits near the bottom by co-movement, at rank #12. Over the last 12 months FA came out ahead by 6.4 percentage points (+27.0% against +20.6%). Note the risk asymmetry: FA runs 3.2 times the annualized volatility of the other leg, so equal-weighting the two is not an equal-risk position.
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
FA vs SPY: side by side
| FA (First Advantage Corporation) | SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +27.0% | +20.6% |
| 5-year return | +6.1% | +82.4% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 45.8% | 14.5% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 1.18 | 1.00 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -55.9% | -18.8% |
| Market cap | $3.6B | – |
| P/E (trailing) | 139.5 | – |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 1.01% |
| Expense ratio | – | 0.09% |
| Assets under management | – | $795.3B |
| Sector / category | US Listed | ETF · US Large Cap |
SPY is a Large Blend fund from State Street Investment Management: $795.3B under management, 504 holdings, a 0.09% expense ratio, a 1.01% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | FA | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -31.7% | -18.2% |
| 2023 | +41.5% | +26.2% |
| 2024 | +13.0% | +24.9% |
| 2025 | -22.4% | +17.7% |
| 2026 | +44.0% | +13.7% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are FA and SPY good diversifiers for each other?
A fair diversifier. At 0.37, enough of each asset's movement is its own that the pair has smoothed outcomes historically.
FAQ
What is the correlation between FA and SPY?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.37 over 3 years, with 0.30 over the last year and 0.47 over 5 years.
Is SPY a good diversifier for FA?
A fair diversifier. At 0.37, enough of each asset's movement is its own that the pair has smoothed outcomes historically.
What does a correlation of 0.37 mean?
A reading of 0.37 sits on a scale from −1 (opposite moves) through 0 (unrelated) to +1 (identical moves). Correlation captures direction, not magnitude or performance.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/fa-vs-spy.json
Embed this badge (it refreshes with the data), with attribution:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/fa-vs-spy/)
Free with attribution; caching and terms are described in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: FA correlations · SPY correlations
