Which returned more over the last year, SDY or VPU?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and VPU −3.3%.

Which is cheaper, SDY or VPU?

VPU is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do SDY and VPU overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 84% of SDY and 90% of VPU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SDY vs VPU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SDY returned +16.5% to VPU's −3.3%; 13% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $21.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF, and $7.7bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Utilities ETF.

SDY on its own →VPU on its own →

At a glance

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

−3.3%

VPU total return, 1 year

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

0.09%

VPU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VPU costs 0.26 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 19.8 points; SDY is 2.6 times larger.

SDY vs VPU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SDY	VPU
Return
Measure	SDY	VPU
Total return, 1 year	+16.5%	−3.3%
Drawdown
Measure	SDY	VPU
Below its high		8.9%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SDY	VPU
What it tracks	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index	MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50
Cost and size
Measure	SDY	VPU
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$20.4bn	$7.7bn
Holdings
Measure	SDY	VPU
Holdings in common	13%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	20.4%	52.3%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

13%

By the books each fund has filed, SDY and VPU hold 13% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

13% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SDY VPU

CONSOLIDATED EDISON INC 1.40% 2.72%

WEC ENERGY GROUP INC 1.36% 2.37%

SOUTHERN CO 1.30% 6.74%

XCEL ENERGY INC 1.22% 3.17%

NEXTERA ENERGY INC 1.11% 11.39%

EVERSOURCE ENERGY 1.03% 1.74%

ATMOS ENERGY CORP 0.94% 1.88%

EDISON INTERNATIONAL 0.86% 1.49%

EVERGY INC 0.81% 1.30%

ALLIANT ENERGY CORP 0.77% 1.08%

ESSENTIAL UTILITIES INC 0.49% 0.76%

NATIONAL FUEL GAS CO 0.30% 0.49%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in SDY

ACCENTURE PLC CL A 3.73%

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC 2.81%

CHEVRON CORP 2.15%

REALTY INCOME CORP 1.94%

PEPSICO INC 1.82%

MEDTRONIC PLC 1.79%

TARGET CORP 1.59%

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING 1.55%

Only in VPU

Duke Energy Corp 6.41%

Constellation Energy Corp 5.72%

American Electric Power Co Inc 4.66%

Dominion Energy Inc 3.84%

Sempra 3.68%

Vistra Corp 3.37%

Entergy Corp 3.34%

Exelon Corp 2.98%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF VPU Vanguard Utilities ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

What it is Tracks the S&P Dividend Tracks an index of Utilities

Total return, 1 year +16.5% −3.3%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured −3.3% (FUTY)

Gap to its benchmark not measured 0.0 pts vs FUTY

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.09%

Already in the S&P 500 84.4% 89.7%

Holdings 156 70

Net assets, SDY as of Oct 27, 2026 and VPU as of Sep 30, 2026 $21.9bn $7.7bn

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

Alert

About each fund

SDY

SDY tracks the S&P Dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 156 positions, with the top ten at 20.4%.

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, SDY or VPU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and VPU −3.3%.
Which is cheaper, SDY or VPU?: VPU is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do SDY and VPU overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 84% of SDY and 90% of VPU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

SDY vs XLU SDY vs VOX SDY vs VDE SDY vs VHT VOE vs VPU DVY vs VPU COWZ vs VPU NOBL vs VPU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

VPU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VPU prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VPU ↗

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, SDY against VPU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/sdy-vs-vpu

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