Which returned more over the last year, AVEM or XLU?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVEM returned +17.9% and XLU −3.0%.

Which is cheaper, AVEM or XLU?

XLU is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do AVEM and XLU overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of AVEM and 100% of XLU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

AVEM vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVEM returned +17.9% to XLU's −3.0%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $27.3bn for Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF and $23.9bn for State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF.

AVEM on its own →XLU on its own →

At a glance

+17.9%

AVEM total return, 1 year

−3.0%

XLU total return, 1 year

0.33%

AVEM expense ratio

0.08%

XLU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLU costs 0.25 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 20.9 points; AVEM is 1.1 times larger.

AVEM vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AVEM	XLU
Return
Measure	AVEM	XLU
Total return, 1 year	+17.9%	−3.0%
Drawdown
Measure	AVEM	XLU
Below its high	10.2%, high on Jun 22, 2026	9.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	AVEM	XLU
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	Utilities Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	AVEM	XLU
Expense ratio	0.33%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$27.3bn	$23.9bn
Holdings
Measure	AVEM	XLU
Holdings in common	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	28.7%	58.7%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, AVEM and XLU hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first AVEM XLU

Only in one fund ↓

Only in AVEM

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR SP ADR ADR 6.82%

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFAC COMMON STOCK TWD10.0 6.09%

SAMSUNG ELECTR GDR REG S GDR 5.35%

SK HYNIX INC COMMON STOCK KRW5000.0 4.89%

TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD COMMON STOCK HKD.00002 1.49%

CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK H COMMON STOCK CNY1.0 1.02%

MEDIATEK INC COMMON STOCK TWD10.0 0.96%

HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY COMMON STOCK TWD10.0 0.73%

Only in XLU

NEXTERA ENERGY INC 12.76%

SOUTHERN CO 7.91%

DUKE ENERGY CORP 7.22%

CONSTELLATION ENERGY 6.33%

AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER 5.26%

DOMINION ENERGY INC 4.26%

SEMPRA 4.12%

ENTERGY CORP 3.75%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

AVEM Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF XLU State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer Avantis State Street

What it is Actively managed Tracks an index of Utilities

Total return, 1 year +17.9% −3.0%

Expense ratio 0.33% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 99.7%

Holdings 4088 32

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $27.3bn $23.9bn

AVEM and XLU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

AVEM

AVEM is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.9% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.33% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 4,088 positions, with the top ten at 28.7%. It sat 10.2% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

XLU

XLU tracks an index of Utilities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 32 positions, with the top ten at 58.7%. It sat 9.1% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, AVEM or XLU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVEM returned +17.9% and XLU −3.0%.
Which is cheaper, AVEM or XLU?: XLU is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do AVEM and XLU overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of AVEM and 100% of XLU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

AVEM vs VPU AVEM vs XLY AVEM vs XLC AVEM vs VHT EEM vs XLU VWO vs XLU IEMG vs XLU EMXC vs XLU

Where to next

AVEM on its own →XLU on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →AVEM dividend history →AVEM holdings →XLU dividend history →XLU holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

AVEM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AVEM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Avantis website ↗

XLU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLU prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, AVEM against XLU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avem-vs-xlu

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.