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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and XLU −3.0%.

Which is cheaper, SLV or XLU?

XLU is cheaper, by 0.42 percentage points a year. That is about $42 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SLV vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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SLV is a commodity fund and XLU an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SLV returned +14.9% against −3.0%.

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Net assets: $26.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Silver Trust, and $23.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF.

SLV on its own →XLU on its own →

At a glance

+14.9%

SLV total return, 1 year

−3.0%

XLU total return, 1 year

0.50%

SLV expense ratio

0.08%

XLU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLU costs 0.42 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 17.9 points; SLV is 1.1 times larger.

SLV vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	XLU
Return
Measure	SLV	XLU
Total return, 1 year	+14.9%	−3.0%
Drawdown
Measure	SLV	XLU
Below its high	53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026	9.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SLV	XLU
What it tracks	Silver	Utilities Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	SLV	XLU
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$26.5bn	$23.9bn
Holdings
Measure	SLV	XLU
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		58.7%

Method

Risk and return

May 5, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,068 weekly returns

SLV XLU

Return

Total return edge XLU +248.1% +435.9%

Annualized edge XLU +6.3% +8.5%

Price return edge SLV +248.1% +164.5%

Risk

Volatility edge XLU 32.5% 18.2%

Max drawdown edge XLU −75.2% −45.2%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge XLU 0.30 0.45

Sortino edge XLU 0.42 0.63

Calmar edge XLU 0.08 0.19

Reading

XLU returned more: +435.9% to +248.1%. XLU swung less: 18.2% to 32.5%. XLU fell less at its worst: −45.2% to −75.2%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: SLV vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	XLU	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+248.1%	+435.9%	XLU	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+6.3%	+8.5%	XLU	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+248.1%	+164.5%	SLV	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	32.5%	18.2%	XLU	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	23.0%	13.0%	XLU	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−75.2%	−45.2%	XLU	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.30	0.45	XLU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.42	0.63	XLU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.08	0.19	XLU	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,068 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

SLV iShares Silver Trust XLU State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Holds silver Tracks an index of Utilities

Total return, 1 year +14.9% −3.0%

Its benchmark over the same days +15.0% (SIVR) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs SIVR not measured

Expense ratio 0.50% 0.08%

Holdings not counted 32

Net assets, SLV as of Oct 28, 2026 and XLU as of Oct 27, 2026 $26.9bn $23.9bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-DE4E2FD64D

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

What each follows. SLV follows Silver and XLU follows Utilities Select Sector Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SLV returned +14.9% and XLU −3.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 17.9 points.
Cost. SLV charges 0.50% of assets a year and XLU 0.08%, a gap of 0.42 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

SLV

Its expense ratio is 0.50% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

SLV holds silver. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.9% with distributions reinvested, against +15.0% for its benchmark, the price of silver. It sat 53.5% below its high of Jan 28, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

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, SLV or XLU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and XLU −3.0%.
Which is cheaper, SLV or XLU?: XLU is cheaper, by 0.42 percentage points a year. That is about $42 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

SLV vs VPU SLV vs XLY SLV vs XLC SLV vs XLI GLDM vs XLU GLD vs XLU USO vs XLU BWET vs XLU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for SLV ↗

XLU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLU prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, SLV against XLU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/slv-vs-xlu

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