Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IYW vs XLG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IYW returned +23.2% to XLG's +6.4%; 56% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $25.0bn for iShares U.S. Technology ETF and $11.9bn for Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF.
Pair scorecard
XLG costs 0.17 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 16.8 points; IYW is 2.1 times larger.
| Measure | IYW | XLG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +23.2% | +6.4% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 5.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Russell 1000 Technology RIC 22 | S&P 500 Top 50 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.37% | 0.20% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $25.0bn | $11.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 56% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 65.1% | 60.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 20, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,118 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IYW against IWB, May 26, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026; XLG against IVV, May 20, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
IYW returned more: +2,364.2% to +882.5%. XLG swung less: 17.0% to 21.5%. IYW and XLG fell about the same at their worst: −52.3% and −51.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IYW | XLG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +2,364.2% | +882.5% | IYW | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +16.1% | +11.2% | IYW | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +2,057.3% | +572.4% | IYW | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.5% | 17.0% | XLG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.5% | 11.8% | XLG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −52.3% | −51.7% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 146.1% | 97.7% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 116.0% | 98.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.19 | 0.95 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.70 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.72 | 0.61 | IYW | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.06 | 0.87 | IYW | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.088 | 0.108 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.31 | 0.22 | IYW | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWB | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.9% a year | +0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.32 | 0.68 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −4.4% to +6.1% | −1.0% to +2.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.17 | 0.02 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 14.2% | 3.8% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,118 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IYW and XLG hold 56% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
56% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IYW and XLG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IYW and XLG do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IYW follows Russell 1000 Technology RIC 22 and XLG follows S&P 500 Top 50 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IYW returned +23.2% and XLG +6.4% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 16.8 points.
- Cost. IYW charges 0.37% of assets a year and XLG 0.20%, a gap of 0.17 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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IYW
IYW tracks an index of U.S. Technology. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +23.2% 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, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 150 positions, with the top ten at 65.1%. It sat 5.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
XLG
XLG tracks the S&P 500 top 50. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +6.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 98% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 53 positions, with the top ten at 60.3%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, IYW or XLG?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IYW returned +23.2% and XLG +6.4%.
- Which is cheaper, IYW or XLG?
- XLG is cheaper, by 0.17 percentage points a year. That is about $17 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.
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ETFIQ, IYW against XLG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iyw-vs-xlg
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