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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWF returned +0.9% and XLF +7.6%.

Which is cheaper, IWF or XLF?

XLF is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 94% of IWF and 100% of XLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IWF vs XLF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWF returned +0.9% to XLF's +7.6%; 5% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $124.7bn for iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF and $51.6bn for State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF.

IWF on its own →XLF on its own →

At a glance

+0.9%

IWF total return, 1 year

+7.6%

XLF total return, 1 year

0.18%

IWF expense ratio

0.08%

XLF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLF costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.7 points; IWF is 2.4 times larger.

IWF vs XLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IWF	XLF
Return
Measure	IWF	XLF
Total return, 1 year	+0.9%	+7.6%
Drawdown
Measure	IWF	XLF
Below its high	4.8%, high on Oct 6, 2026	3.8%, high on Sep 3, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IWF	XLF
What it tracks	Russell 1000 Growth Index	Financial Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	IWF	XLF
Expense ratio	0.18%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$124.7bn	$51.6bn
Holdings
Measure	IWF	XLF
Holdings in common	5%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	57.5%	57.4%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IWF and XLF hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

5% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IWF XLF

VISA CLASS A 2.05% 8.69%

MASTERCARD CLASS A 1.48% 6.26%

BLACKSTONE 0.21% 1.11%

ROBINHOOD MARKETS CLASS A 0.18% 0.95%

AMERICAN EXPRESS 0.14% 2.09%

MOODYS CORP 0.10% 0.90%

CITIGROUP 0.10% 2.61%

ARES MANAGEMENT CLASS A 0.07% 0.35%

BANK OF AMERICA 0.07% 4.18%

INTERACTIVE BROKERS GROUP INC CLAS 0.04% 0.47%

KKR AND CO INC 0.04% 0.81%

CHARLES SCHWAB 0.03% 1.84%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IWF

NVIDIA 15.30%

APPLE 8.18%

MICROSOFT 5.94%

ALPHABET CLASS A 5.62%

BROADCOM INC 4.79%

ALPHABET CLASS C 4.53%

TESLA INC 3.58%

META PLATFORMS CLASS A 3.36%

Only in XLF

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CL B 12.84%

JPMORGAN CHASE + CO 11.33%

GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC 3.37%

WELLS FARGO + CO 3.17%

MORGAN STANLEY 2.83%

BLACKROCK INC 2.08%

S+P GLOBAL INC 1.72%

PROGRESSIVE CORP 1.67%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IWF iShares Russell 1000 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 the Russell 1000 growth Tracks an index of Financials

Total return, 1 year +0.9% +7.6%

Its benchmark over the same days +1.1% (VONG) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs VONG not measured

Expense ratio 0.18% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 93.5% 99.8%

Holdings 374 77

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $124.7bn $51.6bn

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

Alert

About each fund

IWF

IWF tracks the Russell 1000 growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +0.9% with distributions reinvested, against +1.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 374 positions, with the top ten at 57.5%. It sat 4.8% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

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, IWF or XLF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWF returned +0.9% and XLF +7.6%.
Which is cheaper, IWF or XLF?: XLF is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IWF and XLF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 94% of IWF and 100% of XLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IWF vs KRE IWF vs XLE IWF vs VNQ IWF vs XLI QQQM vs XLF VUG vs XLF QQQ vs XLF SCHG vs XLF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IWF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IWF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IWF ↗

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

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