Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
XLG vs XLY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XLG returned +6.4% to XLY's −3.6%; 10% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $11.9bn for Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF and $22.4bn for State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF.
Pair scorecard
XLY costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.0 points; XLY is 1.9 times larger.
| Measure | XLG | XLY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +6.4% | −3.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.8%, high on Jan 12, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 Top 50 Index | Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.20% | 0.08% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $11.9bn | $22.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 10% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 60.3% | 68.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 20, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,118 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: XLG against IVV, May 20, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026; XLY against SPY, Dec 31, 1998 to Oct 23, 2026.
XLG returned slightly more: +882.5% to +799.0%. XLG swung less: 17.0% to 21.5%. XLG fell less at its worst: −51.7% to −58.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | XLG | XLY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +882.5% | +799.0% | XLG (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +11.2% | +10.8% | XLG (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +572.4% | +588.2% | XLY (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.0% | 21.5% | XLG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.8% | 14.5% | XLG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −51.7% | −58.4% | XLG | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.7% | 118.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 98.5% | 106.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.95 | 1.10 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.95 | 0.77 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.61 | 0.50 | XLG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.87 | 0.74 | XLG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.108 | 0.087 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.22 | 0.18 | XLG | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IVV | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.5% a year | +0.7% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.68 | 0.34 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.0% to +2.1% | −3.2% to +4.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.02 | 0.14 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.8% | 10.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,118 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, XLG and XLY hold 10% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
10% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
XLG and XLY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
XLG and XLY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. XLG follows S&P 500 Top 50 Index and XLY follows Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index.
- Holdings in common. 10% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 XLG returned +6.4% and XLY −3.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 10.0 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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XLG
XLG tracks the S&P 500 top 50. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +6.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 98% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 53 positions, with the top ten at 60.3%.
XLY
XLY tracks an index of Consumer discretionary. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. 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 48 positions, with the top ten at 68.5%. It sat 6.8% below its high of Jan 12, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, XLG or XLY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, XLG returned +6.4% and XLY −3.6%.
- Which is cheaper, XLG or XLY?
- XLY is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 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.
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ETFIQ, XLG against XLY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/xlg-vs-xly
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