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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VO returned +12.8% and XLU −3.0%.

Which is cheaper, VO or XLU?

VO is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do VO and XLU overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 91% of VO and 100% of XLU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

VO vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VO returned +12.8% to XLU's −3.0%; 8% of their weight is in the same names.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about VO and XLU

Net assets: $103.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF, and $23.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF.

VO on its own →XLU on its own →

At a glance

+12.8%

VO total return, 1 year

−3.0%

XLU total return, 1 year

0.03%

VO expense ratio

0.08%

XLU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VO costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 15.8 points; VO is 4.9 times larger.

VO vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	VO	XLU
Return
Measure	VO	XLU
Total return, 1 year	+12.8%	−3.0%
Drawdown
Measure	VO	XLU
Below its high	3.1%, high on Aug 14, 2026	9.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	VO	XLU
What it tracks	Morningstar US Mid Cap Index (formerly CRSP US Mid Cap Index)	Utilities Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	VO	XLU
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$103.4bn	$21.3bn
Holdings
Measure	VO	XLU
Holdings in common	8%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	9.7%	58.7%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, VO and XLU hold 8% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

8% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first VO XLU

Constellation Energy Corp 0.84% 6.33%

American Electric Power Co Inc 0.64% 5.26%

Dominion Energy Inc 0.53% 4.26%

Sempra 0.50% 4.12%

Vistra Corp 0.46% 3.43%

Entergy Corp 0.46% 3.75%

Xcel Energy Inc 0.43% 3.62%

Exelon Corp 0.41% 3.42%

Consolidated Edison Inc 0.37% 3.16%

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc 0.33% 2.69%

WEC Energy Group Inc 0.32% 2.69%

Ameren Corp 0.27% 2.23%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in VO

Cloudflare Inc 1.11%

Valero Energy Corp 1.10%

Marathon Petroleum Corp 1.10%

Phillips 66 1.01%

Quanta Services Inc 0.95%

Vertiv Holdings Co 0.92%

Datadog Inc 0.91%

Howmet Aerospace Inc 0.89%

Only in XLU

NEXTERA ENERGY INC 12.76%

SOUTHERN CO 7.91%

DUKE ENERGY CORP 7.22%

ATMOS ENERGY CORP 2.15%

NISOURCE INC 1.55%

NRG ENERGY INC 1.49%

EVERGY INC 1.46%

ALLIANT ENERGY CORP 1.35%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

VO Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF XLU State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer Vanguard State Street

What it is Tracks an index of Mid-Cap Tracks an index of Utilities

Total return, 1 year +12.8% −3.0%

Expense ratio 0.03% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 91.1% 99.7%

Holdings 273 32

Net assets, VO as of Sep 30, 2026 and XLU as of Oct 27, 2026 $103.4bn $23.9bn

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

Alert

About each fund

VO tracks an index of Mid-Cap. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 91% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 273 positions, with the top ten at 9.7%. It sat 3.1% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

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, VO or XLU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VO returned +12.8% and XLU −3.0%.
Which is cheaper, VO or XLU?: VO is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do VO and XLU overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 91% of VO and 100% of XLU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

VO vs VPU VO vs XLK VO vs XHB VO vs XRT IJH vs XLU VXF vs XLU MDY vs XLU MOAT vs XLU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

VO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VO ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, VO against XLU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/vo-vs-xlu

Open data →

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