Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PVAL vs VPU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PVAL returned +26.6% to VPU's −3.3%; 4% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $14.1bn on Aug 31, 2026 for Putnam Focused Large Cap Value ETF, and $7.7bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Utilities ETF.
Pair scorecard
VPU costs 0.46 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 29.9 points.
| Measure | PVAL | VPU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +26.6% | −3.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 8.9%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50 |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.55% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, PVAL as of Aug 31, 2026 and VPU as of Sep 30, 2026 | $14.1bn | $7.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 4% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 42.8% | 52.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jun 4, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 · 281 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: PVAL against IWD, Jun 4, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026; VPU against FUTY, Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
PVAL returned more: +123.6% to +52.0%. PVAL swung less: 14.9% to 16.8%. PVAL fell less at its worst: −15.6% to −23.5%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PVAL | VPU | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +123.6% | +52.0% | PVAL | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +16.1% | +8.1% | PVAL | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +111.2% | +28.6% | PVAL | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 14.9% | 16.8% | PVAL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.1% | 11.7% | PVAL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −15.6% | −23.5% | PVAL | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 105.1% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 94.0% | 100.1% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.01 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.93 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.83 | 0.33 | PVAL | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.23 | 0.47 | PVAL | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.123 | 0.087 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 1.03 | 0.34 | PVAL | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWD | FUTY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +4.5% a year | 0.0% a year | VPU not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 2.66 | −0.21 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | +1.2% to +7.8% | −0.4% to +0.3% | VPU includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 1.16 | 0.00 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.9% | 0.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 281 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, PVAL and VPU hold 4% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026.
half
4% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
PVAL and VPU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PVAL and VPU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. PVAL follows No index, actively managed and VPU follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50.
- Holdings in common. 4% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 PVAL returned +26.6% and VPU −3.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 29.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +26.6% with distributions reinvested, against +27.5% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index.
PVAL is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.55% a year. By its holdings filed for Aug 31, 2026, 91% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 44 positions, with the top ten at 42.8%.
VPU
VPU tracks an index of Utilities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.3% with distributions reinvested, against −3.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 90% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 70 positions, with the top ten at 52.3%. It sat 8.9% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, PVAL or VPU?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PVAL returned +26.6% and VPU −3.3%.
- Which is cheaper, PVAL or VPU?
- VPU is cheaper, by 0.46 percentage points a year. That is about $46 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, PVAL against VPU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pval-vs-vpu
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