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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and XLC −10.4%.

Which is cheaper, SDY or XLC?

XLC 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 XLC overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SDY vs XLC: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SDY returned +16.5% to XLC's −10.4%; 3% 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 $22.1bn for State Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF.

SDY on its own →XLC on its own →

At a glance

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

−10.4%

XLC total return, 1 year

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

0.08%

XLC expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLC costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 26.9 points.

SDY vs XLC: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SDY	XLC
Return
Measure	SDY	XLC
Total return, 1 year	+16.5%	−10.4%
Drawdown
Measure	SDY	XLC
Below its high		13.3%, high on Jan 30, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SDY	XLC
What it tracks	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index	Communication Services Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	SDY	XLC
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$21.9bn	$22.1bn
Holdings
Measure	SDY	XLC
Holdings in common	3%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	20.4%	75.3%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, SDY and XLC hold 3% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

3% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SDY XLC

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC 2.81% 4.45%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in SDY

ACCENTURE PLC CL A 3.73%

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%

KENVUE INC 1.55%

Only in XLC

META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A 21.45%

ALPHABET INC CL A 12.27%

ALPHABET INC CL C 9.82%

WALT DISNEY CO 5.33%

TAKE TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWRE 4.80%

COMCAST CORP CLASS A 4.48%

APPLOVIN CORP CLASS A 4.34%

AT+T INC 4.20%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF XLC State Street Communication Services 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 Communication services

Total return, 1 year +16.5% −10.4%

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 84.4% 99.8%

Holdings 156 23

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $21.9bn $22.1bn

SDY and XLC 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%.

XLC

XLC tracks an index of Communication services. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −10.4% 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 23 positions, with the top ten at 75.3%. It sat 13.3% below its high of Jan 30, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SDY or XLC?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and XLC −10.4%.
Which is cheaper, SDY or XLC?: XLC 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 XLC overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 84% of SDY and 100% of XLC by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

SDY vs VOX SDY vs XLY SDY vs XLU SDY vs VHT VOE vs XLC DVY vs XLC COWZ vs XLC RSP vs XLC

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

XLC filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

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