Which returned more over the last year, URTH or XLB?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, URTH returned +13.1% and XLB +18.5%.

Which is cheaper, URTH or XLB?

XLB is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do URTH and XLB overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 69% of URTH and 100% of XLB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

URTH vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, URTH returned +13.1% to XLB's +18.5%; 1% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $8.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI World ETF, and $8.1bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF.

URTH on its own →XLB on its own →

At a glance

+13.1%

URTH total return, 1 year

+18.5%

XLB total return, 1 year

0.24%

URTH expense ratio

0.08%

XLB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLB costs 0.16 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.4 points; URTH is 1.1 times larger.

URTH vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	URTH	XLB
Return
Measure	URTH	XLB
Total return, 1 year	+13.1%	+18.5%
Benchmark
Measure	URTH	XLB
What it tracks	MSCI World Index	Materials Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	URTH	XLB
Expense ratio	0.24%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$8.8bn	$8.1bn
Holdings
Measure	URTH	XLB
Holdings in common	1%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	27.2%	58.5%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, URTH and XLB hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

1% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first URTH XLB

LINDE PLC 0.26% 12.96%

NEWMONT 0.13% 6.56%

FREEPORT MCMORAN INC 0.10% 5.23%

ECOLAB 0.08% 4.98%

SHERWIN WILLIAMS 0.08% 4.73%

AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS 0.07% 4.84%

NUCOR 0.07% 4.89%

CRH PUBLIC LIMITED PLC 0.06% 4.47%

STEEL DYNAMICS INC 0.04% 4.77%

VULCAN MATERIALS 0.04% 4.89%

DOW 0.03% 3.73%

INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS & FRAGRANCES 0.03% 3.63%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in URTH

APPLE 5.60%

NVIDIA 5.50%

MICROSOFT 4.12%

AMAZON.COM INC 2.69%

ALPHABET CLASS A 2.07%

BROADCOM INC 1.70%

ALPHABET CLASS C 1.62%

META PLATFORMS CLASS A 1.49%

Only in XLB

AVERY DENNISON CORP 2.10%

ALBEMARLE CORP 1.78%

MOSAIC CO 0.91%

XAB MATERIALS DEC26 0.00%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

URTH iShares MSCI World ETF XLB State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks the MSCI World Tracks an index of Materials

Total return, 1 year +13.1% +18.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.4% (ACWI) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.3 pts vs ACWI not measured

Expense ratio 0.24% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 69.1% 99.8%

Holdings 1254 25

Net assets, URTH as of Oct 28, 2026 and XLB as of Oct 27, 2026 $8.9bn $8.1bn

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

Alert

About each fund

URTH

URTH tracks the MSCI World. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.24% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 69% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,254 positions, with the top ten at 27.2%.

XLB

XLB tracks an index of Materials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.5% 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 25 positions, with the top ten at 58.5%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, URTH or XLB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, URTH returned +13.1% and XLB +18.5%.
Which is cheaper, URTH or XLB?: XLB is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do URTH and XLB overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 69% of URTH and 100% of XLB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

URTH vs XHB URTH vs VPU URTH vs VDC URTH vs VDE ACWI vs XLB VT vs XLB VPL vs XLB AVDV vs XLB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

URTH filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

URTH prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for URTH ↗

XLB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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, URTH against XLB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/urth-vs-xlb

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