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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and XLF +7.6%.

Which is cheaper, SDY or XLF?

XLF 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 XLF overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SDY vs XLF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SDY returned +16.5% to XLF's +7.6%; 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 $51.6bn for State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF.

SDY on its own →XLF on its own →

At a glance

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

+7.6%

XLF total return, 1 year

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

0.08%

XLF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLF costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.9 points; XLF is 2.4 times larger.

SDY vs XLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SDY	XLF
Return
Measure	SDY	XLF
Total return, 1 year	+16.5%	+7.6%
Drawdown
Measure	SDY	XLF
Below its high		3.8%, high on Sep 3, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SDY	XLF
What it tracks	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index	Financial Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	SDY	XLF
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$21.9bn	$51.6bn
Holdings
Measure	SDY	XLF
Holdings in common	5%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	20.4%	57.4%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, SDY and XLF 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 XLF

AFLAC INC 0.87% 0.69%

TRAVELERS COS INC 0.69% 1.05%

AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL INC 0.59% 0.55%

CHUBB LTD 0.53% 1.59%

S+P GLOBAL INC 0.42% 1.72%

CINCINNATI FINANCIAL CORP 0.87% 0.35%

T ROWE PRICE GROUP INC 0.90% 0.28%

BROWN + BROWN INC 0.45% 0.25%

WR BERKLEY CORP 0.24% 0.21%

ASSURANT INC 0.58% 0.18%

GLOBE LIFE INC 0.27% 0.15%

JACK HENRY + ASSOCIATES INC 0.44% 0.14%

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 XLF

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CL B 12.84%

JPMORGAN CHASE + CO 11.33%

VISA INC CLASS A SHARES 8.69%

MASTERCARD INC A 6.26%

BANK OF AMERICA CORP 4.18%

GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC 3.37%

WELLS FARGO + CO 3.17%

MORGAN STANLEY 2.83%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF XLF State Street Financial 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 Financials

Total return, 1 year +16.5% +7.6%

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 84.4% 99.8%

Holdings 156 77

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $21.9bn $51.6bn

SDY and XLF 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%.

XLF

XLF tracks an index of Financials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +7.6% 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 77 positions, with the top ten at 57.4%. It sat 3.8% below its high of Sep 3, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SDY or XLF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and XLF +7.6%.
Which is cheaper, SDY or XLF?: XLF 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 XLF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 84% of SDY and 100% of XLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

KRE vs SDY SDY vs XLE SDY vs VNQ SDY vs XLI VOE vs XLF DVY vs XLF COWZ vs XLF NOBL vs XLF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

XLF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLF 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.

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

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