Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IYW vs XLK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IYW returned +23.2% to XLK's +27.1%; 81% 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 $125.0bn for State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF.
Pair scorecard
XLK costs 0.29 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.9 points; XLK is 5.0 times larger.
| Measure | IYW | XLK |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +23.2% | +27.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 5.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | 5.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Russell 1000 Technology RIC 22 | Technology Select Sector Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.37% | 0.08% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $25.0bn | $125.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 81% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 65.1% | 64.6% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 26, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,378 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IYW against IWB, May 26, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026; XLK against SPY, Dec 31, 1998 to Oct 23, 2026.
IYW returned slightly more: +997.9% to +950.3%. XLK swung slightly less: 23.1% to 25.2%. XLK fell slightly less at its worst: −79.1% to −81.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IYW | XLK | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +997.9% | +950.3% | IYW (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.5% | +9.3% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +846.7% | +676.6% | IYW | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 25.2% | 23.1% | XLK (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 17.4% | 16.1% | XLK (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −81.3% | −79.1% | XLK (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 146.1% | 138.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 116.0% | 113.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.19 | 1.15 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.70 | 0.73 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.42 | 0.42 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.60 | 0.61 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.088 | 0.094 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.12 | 0.12 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWB | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.9% a year | +1.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.32 | 0.67 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −4.4% to +6.1% | −3.0% to +6.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.17 | 0.22 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 14.2% | 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, 1,378 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IYW and XLK hold 81% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
81% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IYW and XLK on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IYW and XLK are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. IYW follows Russell 1000 Technology RIC 22 and XLK follows Technology Select Sector Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IYW returned +23.2% and XLK +27.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.9 points.
- Cost. IYW charges 0.37% of assets a year and XLK 0.08%, a gap of 0.29 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.
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, IYW or XLK?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IYW returned +23.2% and XLK +27.1%.
- Which is cheaper, IYW or XLK?
- XLK 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.
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 XLK, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iyw-vs-xlk
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IYW against XLK. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iyw-vs-xlk
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