Data as of Sep 13, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
VNQ vs XLY: how they differ
VNQ and XLY 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) Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR(R) ETF.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, VNQ and XLY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Only in VNQ | Only in XLY |
|---|---|
| Vanguard Real Estate II Index Fund 14.67% | AMAZON.COM INC 24.68% |
| Welltower Inc 7.86% | TESLA INC 17.84% |
| Prologis Inc 7.02% | HOME DEPOT INC 5.31% |
| Equinix Inc 5.66% | MCDONALD S CORP 4.09% |
| American Tower Corp 4.55% | BOOKING HOLDINGS INC 3.52% |
| Digital Realty Trust Inc 3.67% | TJX COMPANIES INC 3.44% |
| Simon Property Group Inc 3.54% | STARBUCKS CORP 2.96% |
| Realty Income Corp 3.12% | LOWE S COS INC 2.88% |
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 | XLY State Street(R) Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR(R) ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | Vanguard | State Street |
| What it is | US real estate | Consumer discretionary |
| Total return, 1 year | +5.6% | −4.1% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −11.9 pts | −21.6 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.13% | 0.08% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 63.3% | 100.0% |
| Holdings | 146 | 49 |
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.
XLY in plain words
XLY is an index equity fund tracking the Consumer discretionary. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned −4.1% 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 49 positions, with the top ten at 68.7%. It sat 8.9% below its high of Jan 12, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, VNQ or XLY?
- In the year to Sep 13, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VNQ returned +5.6% and XLY returned −4.1%, so VNQ returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, VNQ or XLY?
- VNQ charges 0.13% a year and XLY charges 0.08%, so XLY is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do VNQ and XLY overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 63% of VNQ and 100% of XLY 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 XLY, data as of Sep 13, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/vnq-vs-xly Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
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