Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
REMX vs VPU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, REMX returned −19.2% to VPU's −3.3%, and VPU charges 0.09% to REMX's 0.53%.
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Net assets: $1.5bn on Oct 27, 2026 for VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF, and $7.7bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Utilities ETF.
Pair scorecard
VPU costs 0.44 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 15.9 points.
| Measure | REMX | VPU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −19.2% | −3.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 75.1%, high on Apr 11, 2011 | |
| Below its high | 8.9%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Rare earth and critical materials | MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50 |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | behind by 32.6 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.53% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, REMX as of Oct 27, 2026 and VPU as of Sep 30, 2026 | $1.5bn | $7.7bn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 100% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 61% | 52.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 5, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026 · 833 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: REMX against ACWI, Nov 5, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; VPU against FUTY, Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
VPU returned more: +355.9% to −68.2%. VPU swung less: 17.1% to 35.3%. VPU fell less at its worst: −32.4% to −89.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | REMX | VPU | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | −68.2% | +355.9% | VPU | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | −6.9% | +9.9% | VPU | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −79.7% | +169.4% | VPU | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 35.3% | 17.1% | VPU | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 24.5% | 11.7% | VPU | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −89.2% | −32.4% | VPU | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 129.3% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 133.0% | 100.1% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.43 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.42 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.07 | 0.55 | VPU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.10 | 0.80 | VPU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.018 | 0.087 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | −0.08 | 0.31 | VPU | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWI | FUTY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −15.8% a year | 0.0% a year | VPU not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −2.33 | −0.21 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −29.0% to −2.5% | −0.4% to +0.3% | VPU includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.42 | 0.00 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 27.8% | 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, 833 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, REMX and VPU hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
REMX and VPU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
REMX and VPU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. REMX follows Rare earth and critical materials and VPU follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 REMX returned −19.2% and VPU −3.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 15.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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REMX
By weight, 9% of REMX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 61% of the fund across 32 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned −19.2% with distributions reinvested against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Index, so a holder was behind by 32.6 pts. It sits 75.1% below its all-time high of Apr 11, 2011.
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
- Are REMX and VPU in the same category?
- REMX is a thematic ETF and VPU is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, REMX or VPU?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, REMX returned −19.2% and VPU −3.3%.
- Which is cheaper, REMX or VPU?
- VPU is cheaper, by 0.44 percentage points a year. That is about $44 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, REMX against VPU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/remx-vs-vpu
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[REMX against VPU (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/remx-vs-vpu)
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