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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VOE returned +22.8% and XLU −3.0%.

Which is cheaper, VOE or XLU?

VOE is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 96% of VOE and 100% of XLU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

VOE vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VOE returned +22.8% to XLU's −3.0%; 11% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $22.8bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF, and $23.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF.

VOE on its own →XLU on its own →

At a glance

+22.8%

VOE total return, 1 year

−3.0%

XLU total return, 1 year

0.05%

VOE expense ratio

0.08%

XLU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VOE costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 25.8 points; VOE is 1.1 times larger.

VOE vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	VOE	XLU
Return
Measure	VOE	XLU
Total return, 1 year	+22.8%	−3.0%
Drawdown
Measure	VOE	XLU
Below its high		9.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	VOE	XLU
What it tracks	Morningstar US Mid Cap Value Index	Utilities Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	VOE	XLU
Expense ratio	0.05%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$22.8bn	$21.3bn
Holdings
Measure	VOE	XLU
Holdings in common	11%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	14.0%	58.7%

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

Risk and return

Sep 1, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,051 weekly returns

VOE XLU

Return

Total return edge VOE +515.4% +391.4%

Annualized edge VOE +9.4% +8.2%

Price return edge VOE +301.7% +144.6%

Risk

Volatility edge XLU 20.4% 18.3%

Max drawdown edge XLU −61.2% −45.2%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge VOE (slight) 0.46 0.43

Sortino edge VOE (slight) 0.65 0.61

Calmar edge XLU 0.15 0.18

Reading

VOE returned more: +515.4% to +391.4%. XLU swung less: 18.3% to 20.4%. XLU fell less at its worst: −45.2% to −61.2%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: VOE vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	VOE	XLU	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+515.4%	+391.4%	VOE	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+9.4%	+8.2%	VOE	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+301.7%	+144.6%	VOE	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	20.4%	18.3%	XLU	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	14.5%	13.1%	XLU	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−61.2%	−45.2%	XLU	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.46	0.43	VOE (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.65	0.61	VOE (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.15	0.18	XLU	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,051 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

11%

By the books each fund has filed, VOE and XLU hold 11% 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

11% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first VOE XLU

American Electric Power Co Inc 1.10% 5.26%

Dominion Energy Inc 0.91% 4.26%

Sempra 0.87% 4.12%

Entergy Corp 0.79% 3.75%

Xcel Energy Inc 0.75% 3.62%

Exelon Corp 0.70% 3.42%

Consolidated Edison Inc 0.64% 3.16%

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc 0.57% 2.69%

WEC Energy Group Inc 0.56% 2.69%

Ameren Corp 0.47% 2.23%

PG&E Corp 0.45% 2.12%

American Water Works Co Inc 0.44% 2.08%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in VOE

Valero Energy Corp 1.90%

Marathon Petroleum Corp 1.89%

Phillips 66 1.73%

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co 1.37%

Warner Bros Discovery Inc 1.25%

SLB Ltd 1.23%

Target Corp 1.21%

Cummins Inc 1.21%

Only in XLU

NEXTERA ENERGY INC 12.76%

SOUTHERN CO 7.91%

DUKE ENERGY CORP 7.22%

CONSTELLATION ENERGY 6.33%

VISTRA CORP 3.43%

ATMOS ENERGY CORP 2.15%

NISOURCE INC 1.55%

NRG ENERGY INC 1.49%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

VOE Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Value 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 Value Tracks an index of Utilities

Total return, 1 year +22.8% −3.0%

Expense ratio 0.05% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 96.0% 99.7%

Holdings 169 32

Net assets, VOE as of Sep 30, 2026 and XLU as of Oct 27, 2026 $22.8bn $23.9bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-CA9A475018

VOE and XLU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. VOE follows Morningstar US Mid Cap Value Index and XLU follows Utilities Select Sector Index.
Holdings in common. 11% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 VOE returned +22.8% and XLU −3.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 25.8 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

VOE

VOE tracks an index of Mid-Cap Value. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +22.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.05% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 169 positions, with the top ten at 14.0%.

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, VOE or XLU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VOE returned +22.8% and XLU −3.0%.
Which is cheaper, VOE or XLU?: VOE is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do VOE and XLU overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 96% of VOE and 100% of XLU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

VOE vs VPU VOE vs XLY VOE vs XLC VHT vs VOE RSP vs XLU DVY vs XLU COWZ vs XLU NOBL vs XLU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

VOE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VOE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VOE ↗

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

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