Data as of Sep 13, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
VNQ vs XLC: how they differ
VNQ and XLC hold 0% of their weight in the same names, and VNQ returned more over the year.
Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund and State Street(R) Communication Services Select Sector SPDR(R) ETF.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, VNQ and XLC hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Only in VNQ | Only in XLC |
|---|---|
| Vanguard Real Estate II Index Fund 14.67% | META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A 18.92% |
| Welltower Inc 7.86% | ALPHABET INC CL A 10.12% |
| Prologis Inc 7.02% | ALPHABET INC CL C 8.10% |
| Equinix Inc 5.66% | AT+T INC 5.19% |
| American Tower Corp 4.55% | VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC 5.03% |
| Digital Realty Trust Inc 3.67% | WALT DISNEY CO/THE 4.76% |
| Simon Property Group Inc 3.54% | WARNER BROS DISCOVERY INC 4.61% |
| Realty Income Corp 3.12% | COMCAST CORP CLASS A 4.61% |
Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Apr 30, 2026 and Sep 10, 2026.
| VNQ Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund | XLC State Street(R) Communication Services Select Sector SPDR(R) ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | Vanguard | State Street |
| What it is | US real estate | Communication services |
| Total return, 1 year | +5.6% | −2.0% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −11.9 pts | −19.5 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.13% | 0.08% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 63.3% | 100.0% |
| Holdings | 146 | 26 |
VNQ in plain words
VNQ is an index equity fund tracking the US real estate. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +5.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.13% a year. By its holdings filed for Apr 30, 2026, 63% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 146 positions, with the top ten at 54.9%. It sat 6.1% below its high of Jul 28, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
XLC in plain words
XLC is an index equity fund tracking the Communication services. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned −2.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings filed for Sep 10, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 26 positions, with the top ten at 70.4%. It sat 5.7% below its high of Jan 30, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, VNQ or XLC?
- In the year to Sep 13, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VNQ returned +5.6% and XLC returned −2.0%, so VNQ returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, VNQ or XLC?
- VNQ charges 0.13% a year and XLC charges 0.08%, so XLC is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do VNQ and XLC overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 63% of VNQ and 100% of XLC by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 0% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
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Where these figures came from
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Cite this page. ETFIQ, VNQ against XLC, data as of Sep 13, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/vnq-vs-xlc Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
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