Which returned more over the last year, DGRO or XLF?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DGRO returned +18.8% and XLF +7.6%.

Which is cheaper, DGRO or XLF?

Neither: DGRO and XLF both charge 0.08% a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do DGRO and XLF overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 92% of DGRO and 100% of XLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

DGRO vs XLF: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DGRO returned +18.8% to XLF's +7.6%; 18% of their weight is in the same names.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about DGRO and XLF

Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $44.6bn for iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF and $51.6bn for State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF.

DGRO on its own →XLF on its own →

At a glance

+18.8%

DGRO total return, 1 year

+7.6%

XLF total return, 1 year

0.08%

DGRO expense ratio

0.08%

XLF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

Both cost 0.08% a year; their one-year returns differ by 11.2 points; XLF is 1.2 times larger.

DGRO vs XLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	DGRO	XLF
Return
Measure	DGRO	XLF
Total return, 1 year	+18.8%	+7.6%
Drawdown
Measure	DGRO	XLF
Below its high		3.8%, high on Sep 3, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	DGRO	XLF
What it tracks	Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index	Financial Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	DGRO	XLF
Expense ratio	0.08%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$44.6bn	$51.6bn
Holdings
Measure	DGRO	XLF
Holdings in common	18%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	27.2%	57.4%

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

Risk and return

Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026 · 644 weekly returns

DGRO XLF

Return

Total return edge DGRO +321.3% +278.5%

Annualized edge DGRO (slight) +12.3% +11.3%

Price return edge DGRO +216.7% +144.9%

Risk

Volatility edge DGRO 15.3% 20.9%

Max drawdown edge DGRO −32.1% −39.3%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge DGRO 0.70 0.52

Sortino edge DGRO 1.00 0.75

Calmar edge DGRO 0.38 0.29

Reading

DGRO returned more: +321.3% to +278.5%. DGRO swung less: 15.3% to 20.9%. DGRO fell less at its worst: −32.1% to −39.3%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: DGRO vs XLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	DGRO	XLF	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+321.3%	+278.5%	DGRO	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+12.3%	+11.3%	DGRO (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+216.7%	+144.9%	DGRO	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	15.3%	20.9%	DGRO	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	10.7%	14.5%	DGRO	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−32.1%	−39.3%	DGRO	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.70	0.52	DGRO	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	1.00	0.75	DGRO	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.38	0.29	DGRO	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 644 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

18%

By the books each fund has filed, DGRO and XLF hold 18% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

18% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first DGRO XLF

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 2.68% 11.33%

BANK OF AMERICA 1.29% 4.18%

WELLS FARGO 1.22% 3.17%

VISA CLASS A 1.08% 8.69%

MORGAN STANLEY 1.03% 2.83%

GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP 1.01% 3.37%

CITIGROUP 0.88% 2.61%

BLACKROCK 0.71% 2.08%

MASTERCARD CLASS A 0.65% 6.26%

PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP 0.65% 1.15%

CME GROUP CLASS A 0.43% 1.34%

MARSH 0.43% 1.16%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in DGRO

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 3.24%

MICROSOFT 3.14%

APPLE 3.11%

ABBVIE 3.00%

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 2.77%

BROADCOM INC 2.55%

PROCTER & GAMBLE 2.42%

PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL 2.23%

Only in XLF

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CL B 12.84%

SCHWAB (CHARLES) CORP 1.84%

PROGRESSIVE CORP 1.67%

CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP 1.58%

US BANCORP 1.18%

BLACKSTONE INC 1.11%

ROBINHOOD MARKETS INC A 0.95%

TRUIST FINANCIAL CORP 0.75%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

DGRO iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF XLF State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks an index of Dividend Growth Tracks an index of Financials

Total return, 1 year +18.8% +7.6%

Expense ratio 0.08% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 91.8% 99.8%

Holdings 393 77

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $44.6bn $51.6bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-EB5F6A1827

DGRO and XLF do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. DGRO follows Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index and XLF follows Financial Select Sector Index.
Holdings in common. 18% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 DGRO returned +18.8% and XLF +7.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.2 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.

Your saved page · Privacy.

Alert

About each fund

DGRO

DGRO tracks an index of Dividend Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 393 positions, with the top ten at 27.2%.

XLF

XLF tracks an index of Financials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +7.6% with distributions reinvested. 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, DGRO or XLF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DGRO returned +18.8% and XLF +7.6%.
Which is cheaper, DGRO or XLF?: Neither: DGRO and XLF both charge 0.08% a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do DGRO and XLF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 92% of DGRO and 100% of XLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

DGRO vs KRE DGRO vs XLE DGRO vs VNQ DGRO vs XLI VTV vs XLF FDVV vs XLF VLUE vs XLF SPYD vs XLF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

DGRO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

DGRO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for DGRO ↗

XLF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLF 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, DGRO against XLF, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dgro-vs-xlf

Open data →

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