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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and XLB +18.5%.

Which is cheaper, SDY or XLB?

XLB is cheaper, by 0.27 percentage points a year. That is about $27 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 84% of SDY and 100% of XLB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SDY vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SDY returned +16.5% to XLB's +18.5%; 5% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $21.9bn for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF and $8.1bn for State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF.

SDY on its own →XLB on its own →

At a glance

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

+18.5%

XLB total return, 1 year

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

0.08%

XLB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLB costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.0 points; SDY is 2.7 times larger.

SDY vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SDY	XLB
Return
Measure	SDY	XLB
Total return, 1 year	+16.5%	+18.5%
Benchmark
Measure	SDY	XLB
What it tracks	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index	Materials Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	SDY	XLB
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$21.9bn	$8.1bn
Holdings
Measure	SDY	XLB
Holdings in common	5%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	20.4%	58.5%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, SDY and XLB hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

5% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SDY XLB

AIR PRODUCTS + CHEMICALS INC 1.08% 4.84%

PPG INDUSTRIES INC 0.96% 3.85%

AMCOR PLC 0.88% 3.24%

LINDE PLC 0.52% 12.96%

NUCOR CORP 0.49% 4.89%

ECOLAB INC 0.48% 4.98%

ALBEMARLE CORP 0.43% 1.78%

SHERWIN WILLIAMS CO 0.40% 4.73%

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 XLB

NEWMONT CORP 6.56%

FREEPORT MCMORAN INC 5.23%

VULCAN MATERIALS CO 4.89%

STEEL DYNAMICS INC 4.77%

MARTIN MARIETTA MATERIALS 4.62%

CRH PLC 4.47%

DOW INC 3.73%

INTL FLAVORS + FRAGRANCES 3.63%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF XLB State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street State Street

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

Total return, 1 year +16.5% +18.5%

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 84.4% 99.8%

Holdings 156 25

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $21.9bn $8.1bn

SDY and XLB 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%.

XLB

XLB tracks an index of Materials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.5% with distributions reinvested. 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 25 positions, with the top ten at 58.5%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SDY or XLB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and XLB +18.5%.
Which is cheaper, SDY or XLB?: XLB is cheaper, by 0.27 percentage points a year. That is about $27 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do SDY and XLB overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 84% of SDY and 100% of XLB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

SDY vs XHB SDY vs VPU SDY vs VDC SDY vs VDE VOE vs XLB DVY vs XLB COWZ vs XLB NOBL vs XLB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

XLB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

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 XLB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/sdy-vs-xlb

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