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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USMV returned +10.8% and XLU −3.0%.

Which is cheaper, USMV or XLU?

XLU 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 XLU overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USMV vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USMV returned +10.8% to XLU's −3.0%; 7% 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 $23.9bn for State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF.

USMV on its own →XLU on its own →

At a glance

+10.8%

USMV total return, 1 year

−3.0%

XLU total return, 1 year

0.15%

USMV expense ratio

0.08%

XLU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLU costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 13.8 points.

USMV vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USMV	XLU
Return
Measure	USMV	XLU
Total return, 1 year	+10.8%	−3.0%
Drawdown
Measure	USMV	XLU
Below its high		9.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	USMV	XLU
What it tracks	MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index	Utilities Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	USMV	XLU
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$24.1bn	$23.9bn
Holdings
Measure	USMV	XLU
Holdings in common	7%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	14.8%	58.7%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, USMV and XLU 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 USMV XLU

DUKE ENERGY CORP 1.38% 7.22%

SOUTHERN 1.35% 7.91%

CONSOLIDATED EDISON 1.25% 3.16%

WEC ENERGY GROUP 0.80% 2.69%

AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER INC 0.48% 5.26%

XCEL ENERGY INC 0.47% 3.62%

AMEREN 0.26% 2.23%

DOMINION ENERGY 0.24% 4.26%

CMS ENERGY 0.18% 1.60%

NEXTERA ENERGY 0.10% 12.76%

ATMOS ENERGY 0.06% 2.15%

AMERICAN WATER WORKS 0.05% 2.08%

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 XLU

CONSTELLATION ENERGY 6.33%

SEMPRA 4.12%

ENTERGY CORP 3.75%

VISTRA CORP 3.43%

EXELON CORP 3.42%

PUBLIC SERVICE ENTERPRISE GP 2.69%

P G + E CORP 2.12%

CENTERPOINT ENERGY INC 2.05%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

USMV iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF XLU State Street Utilities 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 Utilities

Total return, 1 year +10.8% −3.0%

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 93.0% 99.7%

Holdings 176 32

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $24.1bn $23.9bn

USMV and XLU 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%.

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, USMV or XLU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USMV returned +10.8% and XLU −3.0%.
Which is cheaper, USMV or XLU?: XLU 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 XLU overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 93% of USMV and 100% of XLU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

USMV vs VPU USMV vs XLY USMV vs XLC USMV vs VHT CGGR vs XLU DFUS vs XLU DGRW vs XLU AVUS vs XLU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USMV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

USMV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for USMV ↗

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.

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

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