Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BOXX vs XLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
BOXX is an actively managed short-term fund and XLF an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XLF returned +7.6% against +4.0%.
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Net assets: $14.5bn on Oct 28, 2026 for Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF, and $51.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF.
Pair scorecard
XLF costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.6 points; XLF is 3.6 times larger.
| Measure | BOXX | XLF |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +4.0% | +7.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.8%, high on Sep 3, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Financial Select Sector Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.19% | 0.08% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $14.4bn | $51.5bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 57.4% | |
Risk and return
Jan 6, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 198 weekly returnsXLF returned more: +67.8% to +18.9%. BOXX swung less: 0.2% to 16.4%. BOXX fell less at its worst: −0.1% to −15.3%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BOXX | XLF | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +18.9% | +67.8% | XLF | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.6% | +14.6% | XLF | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +18.6% | +58.0% | XLF | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 0.2% | 16.4% | BOXX | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 0.2% | 11.8% | BOXX | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −0.1% | −15.3% | BOXX | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.25 | 0.63 | XLF | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.35 | 0.87 | XLF | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | Not measured | 0.95 | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 198 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
BOXX and XLF on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BOXX and XLF do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BOXX follows No index, actively managed and XLF follows Financial Select Sector Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BOXX returned +4.0% and XLF +7.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.6 points.
- Cost. BOXX charges 0.19% of assets a year and XLF 0.08%, a gap of 0.11 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BOXX
BOXX is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +4.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.19% a year.
XLF
XLF tracks an index of Financials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +7.6% 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 77 positions, with the top ten at 57.4%. It sat 3.8% below its high of Sep 3, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, BOXX or XLF?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BOXX returned +4.0% and XLF +7.6%.
- Which is cheaper, BOXX or XLF?
- XLF is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, BOXX against XLF, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-xlf
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BOXX against XLF. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-xlf
[BOXX against XLF (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-xlf)
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