SPY vs TSLX: Correlation
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (TSLX) show a moderate relationship: their 3-year correlation of weekly returns is 0.42.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are SPY and TSLX?
On 3 years of weekly data the SPY/TSLX correlation comes out at 0.42, moderate. The relationship has been stable: the 1-year correlation (0.34) sits close to the 3-year figure. The 5-year figure is 0.51, and annualized covariance runs at 125.6 %².
By 3-year correlation, TSLX places #995 of the 4755 assets tracked against SPY. Their recent paths diverged sharply: over the last 12 months SPY outperformed by 35.6 percentage points (+20.6% for SPY against -15.0% for TSLX).
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.
SPY vs TSLX: side by side
| SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust) | TSLX (Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc.) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +20.6% | -15.0% |
| 5-year return | +82.4% | +35.2% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 14.5% | 20.5% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 1.00 | 0.60 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -18.8% | -29.0% |
| Market cap | – | $1.8B |
| P/E (trailing) | – | 19.9 |
| Dividend yield | 1.01% | 10.04% |
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | – |
| Assets under management | $795.3B | – |
| Sector / category | ETF · US Large Cap | US Listed |
On the fund side, SPY sits in the Large Blend category at State Street Investment Management, with $795.3B under management, 504 holdings, a 0.09% expense ratio, a 1.01% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | SPY | TSLX |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -18.2% | -16.4% |
| 2023 | +26.2% | +35.3% |
| 2024 | +24.9% | +8.8% |
| 2025 | +17.7% | +11.5% |
| 2026 | +13.7% | -9.1% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are SPY and TSLX good diversifiers for each other?
Reasonably. At 0.42, SPY and TSLX keep a meaningful degree of independence, and combining them has historically reduced portfolio volatility.
FAQ
What is the correlation between SPY and TSLX?
The SPY/TSLX correlation stands at 0.42 on a 3-year window (1 year: 0.34, 5 years: 0.51), computed from weekly returns as of 2026-08-27.
Is TSLX a good diversifier for SPY?
Reasonably. At 0.42, SPY and TSLX keep a meaningful degree of independence, and combining them has historically reduced portfolio volatility.
What does a correlation of 0.42 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.42 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/spy-vs-tslx.json
Embed this badge (it refreshes with the data), with attribution:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/spy-vs-tslx/)
No key needed, free to use. Full endpoint list in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: SPY correlations · TSLX correlations