FENY vs IXC

FENYAFidelity MSCI Energy Index ETF

IXCBiShares Global Energy ETF

In short

FENY One of the cheapest ways to own U.S. energy: 0.08% a year for roughly 110 energy stocks tracked through MSCI's full-market benchmark. No stock picking, no clever tilts, just the sector at cost.

IXC Most energy ETFs stop at the US border. IXC owns the global oil and gas complex instead, roughly 50 producers and distributors worldwide, and it has been doing that job since 2001.

Stated mandate

FENY Seeks investment returns that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Energy 25/50 Index. The fund invests at least 80% of assets in securities included in that index and uses representative sampling.

IXC The fund seeks to track an index of global energy-sector equities, offering exposure to companies involved in producing and distributing oil and gas.

Why people hold it

• FENY Costs 0.08% a year against a 0.45% median for broad energy funds. Only XLE matches it; VDE, IYE and ENFR all charge more.
• Tracks MSCI's USA IMI energy benchmark, a full-market read on the sector, so the basket runs roughly 110 names deep rather than a short list.
• Returns have lined up closely with the index it follows, and it trades actively. As implementations of broad energy go, this is one of the tidiest in the group.
• Running since 2013, so it has a long record through both oil booms and busts, and Fidelity has kept it plain vanilla the whole way.

• IXC Global by mandate, not by accident: the index covers energy companies producing and distributing oil and gas worldwide, so the portfolio is not fenced into the US market.ishares.com
• The benchmark is a capped version of the S&P Global 1200 Energy index, which limits how much any single supermajor can dominate the basket.ishares.com
• 0.37% a year, right at the median fee for its energy cohort, on a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively.
• Launched in 2001, so it has traded through multiple full oil cycles, and it sits in the upper half of its energy peer group.

Worth knowing

• FENY One sector, one country. Oil and gas prices set the mood here, and the swings run wider than a total-market fund's.
• The index weights by company size, so even with roughly 110 holdings a handful of giants carry most of the load.
• Distributions land quarterly, not monthly, which matters if you are pacing income.

• IXC One sector, about 50 stocks. This tracks the fortunes of oil and gas, and there is nowhere inside the fund to hide when those prices turn.
• Not the cheap seat in the cohort: peer PBOG charges 0.13% for a narrower integrated and E&P mandate.
• Distributions come on an annual or semiannual schedule, so any income arrives in lumps rather than a monthly drip.

Full FENY profile⁠

Full IXC profile⁠