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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and XLV +25.6%.

Which is cheaper, SDY or XLV?

XLV 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 XLV overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SDY vs XLV: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SDY returned +16.5% to XLV's +25.6%; 7% 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 $47.0bn for State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF.

SDY on its own →XLV on its own →

At a glance

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

+25.6%

XLV total return, 1 year

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

0.08%

XLV expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLV costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.1 points; XLV is 2.1 times larger.

SDY vs XLV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SDY	XLV
Return
Measure	SDY	XLV
Total return, 1 year	+16.5%	+25.6%
Benchmark
Measure	SDY	XLV
What it tracks	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index	Health Care Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	SDY	XLV
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$21.9bn	$47.0bn
Holdings
Measure	SDY	XLV
Holdings in common	7%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	20.4%	60.6%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, SDY and XLV hold 7% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

7% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SDY XLV

MEDTRONIC PLC 1.79% 1.77%

ABBVIE INC 1.32% 7.78%

ABBOTT LABORATORIES 1.21% 2.74%

JOHNSON + JOHNSON 0.94% 9.96%

BECTON DICKINSON AND CO 1.50% 0.82%

CARDINAL HEALTH INC 0.41% 0.88%

CENCORA INC 0.39% 0.95%

STERIS PLC 0.55% 0.34%

WEST PHARMACEUTICAL SERVICES 0.12% 0.43%

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%

TARGET CORP 1.59%

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING 1.55%

KENVUE INC 1.55%

Only in XLV

ELI LILLY + CO 15.77%

UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC 5.66%

MERCK + CO. INC. 5.38%

THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC INC 3.94%

AMGEN INC 3.72%

GILEAD SCIENCES INC 3.03%

PFIZER INC 2.61%

INTUITIVE SURGICAL INC 2.42%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF XLV State Street Health Care 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 Health care

Total return, 1 year +16.5% +25.6%

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 84.4% 99.7%

Holdings 156 62

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $21.9bn $47.0bn

SDY and XLV 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%.

XLV

XLV tracks an index of Health care. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +25.6% 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 62 positions, with the top ten at 60.6%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SDY or XLV?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SDY returned +16.5% and XLV +25.6%.
Which is cheaper, SDY or XLV?: XLV 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 XLV overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 84% of SDY and 100% of XLV by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

SDY vs VHT SDY vs XLE SDY vs XLF SDY vs XLU VOE vs XLV DVY vs XLV COWZ vs XLV RSP vs XLV

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

XLV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

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