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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and XLU −3.0%.

Which is cheaper, SDY or XLU?

XLU 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 XLU overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SDY vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SDY returned +16.5% to XLU's −3.0%; 11% of their weight is in the same names.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about SDY and XLU

Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $21.9bn for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF and $23.9bn for State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF.

SDY on its own →XLU on its own →

At a glance

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

−3.0%

XLU total return, 1 year

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

0.08%

XLU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLU costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 19.5 points; XLU is 1.1 times larger.

SDY vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SDY	XLU
Return
Measure	SDY	XLU
Total return, 1 year	+16.5%	−3.0%
Drawdown
Measure	SDY	XLU
Below its high		9.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SDY	XLU
What it tracks	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index	Utilities Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	SDY	XLU
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$21.9bn	$23.9bn
Holdings
Measure	SDY	XLU
Holdings in common	11%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	20.4%	58.7%

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

Risk and return

Nov 25, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,091 weekly returns

SDY XLU

Return

Total return edge SDY +506.8% +452.1%

Annualized edge SDY (slight) +9.0% +8.5%

Price return edge SDY +188.8% +168.1%

Risk

Volatility edge SDY (slight) 17.5% 18.0%

Max drawdown edge XLU −54.4% −45.2%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SDY (slight) 0.48 0.44

Sortino edge SDY (slight) 0.68 0.62

Calmar edge XLU 0.16 0.19

Reading

SDY returned more: +506.8% to +452.1%. SDY swung slightly less: 17.5% to 18.0%. XLU fell less at its worst: −45.2% to −54.4%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: SDY vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SDY	XLU	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+506.8%	+452.1%	SDY	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+9.0%	+8.5%	SDY (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+188.8%	+168.1%	SDY	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.5%	18.0%	SDY (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	12.3%	12.9%	SDY (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−54.4%	−45.2%	XLU	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.48	0.44	SDY (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.68	0.62	SDY (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.16	0.19	XLU	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,091 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

11%

By the books each fund has filed, SDY and XLU hold 11% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

11% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SDY XLU

CONSOLIDATED EDISON INC 1.40% 3.16%

WEC ENERGY GROUP INC 1.36% 2.69%

SOUTHERN CO 1.30% 7.91%

XCEL ENERGY INC 1.22% 3.62%

NEXTERA ENERGY INC 1.11% 12.76%

EVERSOURCE ENERGY 1.03% 1.89%

ATMOS ENERGY CORP 0.94% 2.15%

EDISON INTERNATIONAL 0.86% 1.66%

EVERGY INC 0.81% 1.46%

ALLIANT ENERGY CORP 0.77% 1.35%

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 XLU

DUKE ENERGY CORP 7.22%

CONSTELLATION ENERGY 6.33%

AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER 5.26%

DOMINION ENERGY INC 4.26%

SEMPRA 4.12%

ENTERGY CORP 3.75%

VISTRA CORP 3.43%

EXELON CORP 3.42%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF XLU State Street Utilities 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 Utilities

Total return, 1 year +16.5% −3.0%

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 84.4% 99.7%

Holdings 156 32

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $21.9bn $23.9bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-0881C168E6

SDY and XLU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. SDY follows S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index and XLU follows Utilities Select Sector Index.
Holdings in common. 11% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SDY returned +16.5% and XLU −3.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 19.5 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.

Your saved page · Privacy.

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%.

XLU

XLU tracks an index of Utilities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.0% 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 32 positions, with the top ten at 58.7%. It sat 9.1% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SDY or XLU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and XLU −3.0%.
Which is cheaper, SDY or XLU?: XLU 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 XLU overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 84% of SDY and 100% of XLU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

SDY vs VPU SDY vs XLY SDY vs XLC SDY vs XLI VOE vs XLU DVY vs XLU COWZ vs XLU NOBL vs XLU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

XLU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

Open data →

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