Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
FXL vs XLK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FXL returned +29.0% to XLK's +27.1%; 26% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about FXL and XLK
Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $2.8bn for First Trust Technology AlphaDEX Fund and $125.0bn for State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF.
Pair scorecard
XLK costs 0.52 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.9 points; XLK is far larger, $125.0bn against $2.8bn.
| Measure | FXL | XLK |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +29.0% | +27.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 5.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | StrataQuant Technology Index | Technology Select Sector Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.60% | 0.08% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $2.8bn | $125.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 26% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 17.0% | 64.6% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 18, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,014 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: FXL against IWB, May 18, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; XLK against SPY, Dec 31, 1998 to Oct 23, 2026.
XLK returned more: +1,766.2% to +1,055.5%. XLK swung less: 21.1% to 23.7%. XLK fell less at its worst: −50.7% to −60.5%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FXL | XLK | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +1,055.5% | +1,766.2% | XLK | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.4% | +16.2% | XLK | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +995.5% | +1,347.9% | XLK | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 23.7% | 21.1% | XLK | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 16.4% | 14.3% | XLK | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −60.5% | −50.7% | XLK | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 137.3% | 138.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 111.5% | 113.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.13 | 1.15 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.76 | 0.73 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.58 | 0.74 | XLK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.85 | 1.10 | XLK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.122 | 0.094 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.22 | 0.32 | XLK | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWB | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.4% a year | +1.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.91 | 0.67 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.8% to +7.5% | −3.0% to +6.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.32 | 0.22 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 11.8% | 12.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,014 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FXL and XLK hold 26% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
26% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
FXL and XLK on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
FXL and XLK are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. FXL follows StrataQuant Technology Index and XLK follows Technology Select Sector Index.
- Holdings in common. 26% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- Cost. FXL charges 0.60% of assets a year and XLK 0.08%, a gap of 0.52 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.
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +29.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index.
FXL tracks an index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.60% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 50% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 110 positions, with the top ten at 17.0%.
XLK
XLK tracks an index of Technology. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +27.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. 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 76 positions, with the top ten at 64.6%. It sat 5.4% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, FXL or XLK?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FXL returned +29.0% and XLK +27.1%.
- Which is cheaper, FXL or XLK?
- XLK is cheaper, by 0.52 percentage points a year. That is about $52 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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, FXL against XLK, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fxl-vs-xlk
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). FXL against XLK. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fxl-vs-xlk
[FXL against XLK (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fxl-vs-xlk)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.