Which returned more over the last year, USMV or XLC?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USMV returned +10.8% and XLC −10.4%.

Which is cheaper, USMV or XLC?

XLC is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do USMV and XLC overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 93% of USMV and 100% of XLC by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USMV vs XLC: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USMV returned +10.8% to XLC's −10.4%; 4% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $24.1bn for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF and $22.1bn for State Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF.

USMV on its own →XLC on its own →

At a glance

+10.8%

USMV total return, 1 year

−10.4%

XLC total return, 1 year

0.15%

USMV expense ratio

0.08%

XLC expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLC costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 21.2 points; USMV is 1.1 times larger.

USMV vs XLC: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USMV	XLC
Return
Measure	USMV	XLC
Total return, 1 year	+10.8%	−10.4%
Drawdown
Measure	USMV	XLC
Below its high		13.3%, high on Jan 30, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	USMV	XLC
What it tracks	MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index	Communication Services Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	USMV	XLC
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$24.1bn	$22.1bn
Holdings
Measure	USMV	XLC
Holdings in common	4%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	14.8%	75.3%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, USMV and XLC hold 4% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

4% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first USMV XLC

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC 1.26% 4.45%

T MOBILE US INC 0.81% 4.17%

AT&T 0.73% 4.20%

ALPHABET CLASS C 0.35% 9.82%

TAKE TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE 0.24% 4.80%

APPLOVIN CLASS A 0.16% 4.34%

NETFLIX 0.14% 4.14%

META PLATFORMS CLASS A 0.08% 21.45%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in USMV

MICROSOFT 1.61%

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 1.54%

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CLASS B 1.50%

CHUBB 1.50%

MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC 1.48%

AMPHENOL CORP CLASS A 1.47%

NVIDIA 1.47%

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 1.44%

Only in XLC

ALPHABET INC CL A 12.27%

WALT DISNEY CO 5.33%

COMCAST CORP CLASS A 4.48%

LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT IN 3.87%

OMNICOM GROUP 3.06%

REDDIT INC CL A 2.83%

FOX CORP CLASS A 1.83%

ECHOSTAR CORP A 1.78%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

USMV iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF XLC State Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor Tracks an index of Communication services

Total return, 1 year +10.8% −10.4%

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 93.0% 99.8%

Holdings 176 23

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $24.1bn $22.1bn

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

Alert

About each fund

USMV

USMV tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 176 positions, with the top ten at 14.8%.

XLC

XLC tracks an index of Communication services. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −10.4% 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 23 positions, with the top ten at 75.3%. It sat 13.3% below its high of Jan 30, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, USMV or XLC?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USMV returned +10.8% and XLC −10.4%.
Which is cheaper, USMV or XLC?: XLC is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do USMV and XLC overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 93% of USMV and 100% of XLC by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

USMV vs VOX USMV vs XLY USMV vs XLU IYW vs USMV CGGR vs XLC DFUS vs XLC DGRW vs XLC AVUS vs XLC

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USMV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

USMV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for USMV ↗

XLC filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLC 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.

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ETFIQ, USMV against XLC, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/usmv-vs-xlc

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