Which returned more over the last year, IYM or XLB?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IYM returned +25.8% and XLB +18.5%.

Which is cheaper, IYM or XLB?

XLB is cheaper, by 0.29 percentage points a year. That is about $29 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do IYM and XLB overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 73% of IYM and 100% of XLB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IYM vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IYM returned +25.8% to XLB's +18.5%; 53% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.3bn for iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF and $8.1bn for State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF.

IYM on its own →XLB on its own →

At a glance

+25.8%

IYM total return, 1 year

+18.5%

XLB total return, 1 year

0.37%

IYM expense ratio

0.08%

XLB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLB costs 0.29 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.3 points; XLB is 6.2 times larger.

IYM vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IYM	XLB
Return
Measure	IYM	XLB
Total return, 1 year	+25.8%	+18.5%
Drawdown
Measure	IYM	XLB
Below its high	7.0%, high on Aug 25, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IYM	XLB
What it tracks	Russell 1000 Basic Materials RIC 22	Materials Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	IYM	XLB
Expense ratio	0.37%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.3bn	$8.1bn
Holdings
Measure	IYM	XLB
Holdings in common	53%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	68.6%	58.5%

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

Risk and return

Jun 30, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,373 weekly returns

IYM XLB

Return

Total return edge XLB +716.5% +851.1%

Annualized edge XLB (slight) +8.3% +8.9%

Price return edge XLB (slight) +412.9% +422.5%

Risk

Volatility edge XLB (slight) 24.5% 22.1%

Max drawdown edge XLB −66.1% −59.0%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge XLB (slight) 0.38 0.42

Sortino edge XLB 0.53 0.60

Calmar edge XLB 0.13 0.15

Reading

XLB returned more: +851.1% to +716.5%. XLB swung slightly less: 22.1% to 24.5%. XLB fell less at its worst: −59.0% to −66.1%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: IYM vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IYM	XLB	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+716.5%	+851.1%	XLB	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+8.3%	+8.9%	XLB (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+412.9%	+422.5%	XLB (slight)	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	24.5%	22.1%	XLB (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	17.3%	15.4%	XLB	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−66.1%	−59.0%	XLB	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.38	0.42	XLB (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.53	0.60	XLB	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.13	0.15	XLB	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,373 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

53%

By the books each fund has filed, IYM and XLB hold 53% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

53% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IYM XLB

LINDE PLC 20.59% 12.96%

NEWMONT 10.47% 6.56%

FREEPORT MCMORAN INC 8.35% 5.23%

ECOLAB 6.46% 4.98%

AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS 4.84% 4.84%

NUCOR 4.48% 4.89%

STEEL DYNAMICS INC 3.12% 4.77%

INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS & FRAGRANCES 2.46% 3.63%

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS INC 1.90% 2.79%

INTERNATIONAL PAPER 1.81% 2.70%

LYONDELLBASELL INDUSTRIES CLASS A 1.79% 2.66%

AVERY DENNISON CORP 1.44% 2.10%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IYM

FASTENAL 4.46%

ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI PLC 3.33%

RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM 2.27%

ROYAL GOLD 2.10%

SOUTHERN COPPER CORP 1.87%

RBC BEARINGS 1.55%

COEUR MINING 1.51%

CARPENTER TECHNOLOGY 1.44%

Only in XLB

VULCAN MATERIALS CO 4.89%

SHERWIN WILLIAMS CO 4.73%

MARTIN MARIETTA MATERIALS 4.62%

CRH PLC 4.47%

PPG INDUSTRIES INC 3.85%

DOW INC 3.73%

PACKAGING CORP OF AMERICA 3.42%

SMURFIT WESTROCK PLC 3.41%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IYM iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF XLB State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index of Materials

Total return, 1 year +25.8% +18.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.1% (IWB) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +12.7 pts vs IWB not measured

Expense ratio 0.37% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 73.1% 99.8%

Holdings 41 25

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.3bn $8.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-44F3C2DAD9

IYM and XLB are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

What each follows. IYM follows Russell 1000 Basic Materials RIC 22 and XLB follows Materials Select Sector Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IYM returned +25.8% and XLB +18.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.3 points.
Cost. IYM charges 0.37% of assets a year and XLB 0.08%, a gap of 0.29 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

IYM

IYM tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +25.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.37% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 73% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 41 positions, with the top ten at 68.6%. It sat 7.0% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

XLB

XLB tracks an index of Materials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.5% 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 25 positions, with the top ten at 58.5%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IYM or XLB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IYM returned +25.8% and XLB +18.5%.
Which is cheaper, IYM or XLB?: XLB is cheaper, by 0.29 percentage points a year. That is about $29 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IYM and XLB overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 73% of IYM and 100% of XLB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IYM vs VAW VAW vs XLB XLB vs XLI XHB vs XLB IYR vs XLB KRE vs XLB XLB vs XRT VOX vs XLB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IYM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IYM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IYM ↗

XLB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLB 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, IYM against XLB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iym-vs-xlb

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