Data as of Sep 13, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
VNQ vs XLV: how they differ
VNQ and XLV hold 0% of their weight in the same names, and XLV returned more over the year.
Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund and State Street(R) Health Care Select Sector SPDR(R) ETF.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, VNQ and XLV hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Only in VNQ | Only in XLV |
|---|---|
| Vanguard Real Estate II Index Fund 14.67% | ELI LILLY + CO 14.87% |
| Welltower Inc 7.86% | JOHNSON + JOHNSON 10.73% |
| Prologis Inc 7.02% | ABBVIE INC 7.54% |
| Equinix Inc 5.66% | MERCK + CO. INC. 5.98% |
| American Tower Corp 4.55% | UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC 5.90% |
| Digital Realty Trust Inc 3.67% | THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC INC 3.75% |
| Simon Property Group Inc 3.54% | AMGEN INC 3.46% |
| Realty Income Corp 3.12% | ABBOTT LABORATORIES 3.01% |
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 | XLV State Street(R) Health Care Select Sector SPDR(R) ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | Vanguard | State Street |
| What it is | US real estate | Health care |
| Total return, 1 year | +5.6% | +20.4% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −11.9 pts | +2.9 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.13% | 0.08% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 63.3% | 100.0% |
| Holdings | 146 | 63 |
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.
XLV in plain words
XLV is an index equity fund tracking the Health care. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +20.4% 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 63 positions, with the top ten at 60.9%. It sat 5.9% below its high of Aug 19, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, VNQ or XLV?
- In the year to Sep 13, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VNQ returned +5.6% and XLV returned +20.4%, so XLV returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, VNQ or XLV?
- VNQ charges 0.13% a year and XLV charges 0.08%, so XLV is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do VNQ and XLV overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 63% of VNQ and 100% of XLV 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 XLV, data as of Sep 13, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/vnq-vs-xlv Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
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