Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
XLF vs XLFI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XLF returned +7.6% to XLFI's +5.7%, and XLF charges 0.08% to XLFI's 0.35%.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about XLF and XLFI
Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $51.6bn for State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF and $12m for State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR Premium Income ETF.
Pair scorecard
XLF costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.9 points; XLF is far larger, $51.6bn against $12m.
| Measure | XLF | XLFI |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +7.6% | +5.7% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 5.9% | fell 5.4% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 10.9% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 63% of the Oct 5, 2026 payment | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.8%, high on Sep 3, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Financial Select Sector Index | Benchmark: Financials sector, measured through XLF |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.08% | 0.35% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $51.6bn | $12m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 57.4% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Aug 8, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 63 weekly returnsXLF and XLFI returned about the same: +9.9% and +9.8%. XLFI swung less: 11.0% to 13.1%. XLFI fell less at its worst: −11.7% to −13.8%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | XLF | XLFI | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +9.9% | +9.8% | Tie | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +8.1% | +8.0% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +7.8% | −4.3% | XLF | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 13.1% | 11.0% | XLFI | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 9.3% | 8.0% | XLFI | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −13.8% | −11.7% | XLFI | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.36 | 0.41 | XLFI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.51 | 0.56 | XLFI (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.59 | 0.69 | XLFI | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 63 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, XLF and XLFI hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
XLF and XLFI on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
XLF and XLFI do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. XLF follows Financial Select Sector Index and XLFI is measured against Financials sector through XLF.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- Cost. XLF charges 0.08% of assets a year and XLFI 0.35%, a gap of 0.27 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
XLF
XLF tracks an index of Financials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +7.6% 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 77 positions, with the top ten at 57.4%. It sat 3.8% below its high of Sep 3, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
XLFI
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XLFI paid 10.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 5.4%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +5.7%. Financials sector (XLF) returned +7.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 1.9 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 10.9%, paid monthly. State Street estimates that 63% of the distribution paid Oct 5, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
Questions people ask
- Are XLF and XLFI in the same category?
- XLF is a stock ETF and XLFI is an option-income ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, XLF or XLFI?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, XLF returned +7.6% and XLFI +5.7%.
- Which is cheaper, XLF or XLFI?
- XLF is cheaper, by 0.27 percentage points a year. That is about $27 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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, XLF against XLFI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/xlf-vs-xlfi
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). XLF against XLFI. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/xlf-vs-xlfi
[XLF against XLFI (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/xlf-vs-xlfi)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.