DRLL vs VDE

DRLLCStrive U.S. Energy ETF

VDEAVanguard Energy ETF

In short

DRLL A challenger take on US energy: roughly 40 US-listed energy stocks in one 2022-vintage fund, priced just under the typical energy ETF but well above the index giants it lines up against.

VDE Energy without the mega-cap tunnel vision. VDE tracks an index of roughly 110 US energy stocks, large down to small cap, for 0.09% a year, and it has been running since 2004.

Stated mandate

DRLL The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index made up of U.S.-listed equities in the energy sector.

VDE The fund seeks to track the MSCI US Investable Market Energy 25/50 Index, which represents large-, mid-, and small-cap U.S. energy-sector stocks.

Why people hold it

• DRLL Straight-ahead mandate: US-listed energy equities against a named capped energy index, and the portfolio has hugged that mandate rather than drifting into adjacent sectors.
• At 0.41%, it prices under the 0.45% median for energy sector funds.
• About 40 US-listed names keeps it a concentrated energy portfolio, not a diluted global sleeve.
• Distributions run on a quarterly schedule.

• VDE Costs 0.09% a year, a fraction of what the typical energy sector fund charges.
• Casts a wider net than mega-cap-only energy funds: about 110 large-, mid- and small-cap US names, from the integrated majors to shale drillers and refiners.vanguard.com
• Hugs its benchmark closely and trades actively, which tends to keep spreads slim for everyday buys and sells.
• Live since 2004 and one of the strongest builds in the broad energy group, with a Vanguard fee structure that has only ratcheted downward.

Worth knowing

• DRLL The fee gap is the trade-off: XLE and FENY charge 0.08% and VDE 0.09% for broad US energy, a fraction of DRLL's 0.41%.
• Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so spreads and limit orders carry more weight, especially on bigger tickets.
• One sector, one country. It rides the oil and gas cycle with no bonds or foreign names in the mix to soften the ride.

• VDE One sector, one storyline: this rides crude and natural gas prices, and it swings harder in both directions than a total-market fund.
• Cap-weighted, so a handful of US oil majors carry outsized weight despite the long holdings list; the index's 25/50 rules limit that concentration rather than erase it.vanguard.com
• Income arrives quarterly, not monthly, and moves with what energy companies choose to pay out.

Full DRLL profile⁠

Full VDE profile⁠