IDU vs XLU

IDUBiShares U.S. Utilities ETF

XLUAState Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF

In short

IDU Utilities, but drawn from the Russell 1000 and FTSE Russell's sector map, which files waste and disposal services under utilities. Live since 2000, roughly 50 large and mid-cap names, quarterly payouts.

XLU One of the original sector ETFs (1998), XLU is the plain way to own the S&P 500's utilities: roughly 30 electric, gas and water names, eight basis points a year, and one of the deepest trading markets in the category.

Stated mandate

IDU The fund seeks to track an index composed of U.S. equities in the utilities sector.

XLU The fund seeks to track, before expenses, the price and yield performance of the Utilities Select Sector Index.

Why people hold it

• IDU Its index uses FTSE Russell's classification, which places waste and disposal services inside utilities, so the basket can reach past pure power and gas names.ishares.comstoxx.com
• Built from a subset of the Russell 1000, so mid-cap utilities sit alongside the giants, not just the mega-cap slice.ishares.com
• Trading since 2000 with a billion-dollar-plus asset base, it has tracked its index closely and pays quarterly.
• The 22.5/45 in the index name is a diversification cap, trimming the largest utility positions rather than letting one name run the show.ishares.com

• XLU 0.08% a year, against a utilities-fund median closer to 0.37%. Only FUTY matches it; VPU sits a basis point behind.
• Among the most actively traded funds in its category, with a market that has been running since 1998.
• A straight index build: it holds the utilities slice of the S&P 500 and tracks that index closely. Pays quarterly.ssga.com
• Cheap, liquid and tightly run, it stands among the strongest implementations in the broad utilities group.

Worth knowing

• IDU At 0.37%, the fee sits near the category median but well above XLU at 0.08%, FUTY at 0.084% and VPU at 0.09%. No waiver is in place.
• One sector, about 50 holdings: the fund rises and falls with regulated utilities, and the cap still leaves top names carrying real weight.ishares.com
• That different sector map cuts both ways: the mix can diverge from utilities funds built on other classification systems.stoxx.com

• XLU About 30 names, all S&P 500 members. The largest utilities carry real weight, and mid and small caps sit outside the mandate; FUTY and VPU cast a wider net.ssga.com
• One sector, one country. It moves with US utilities rather than the broad market, and that concentration cuts both ways.
• Cash lands quarterly, not monthly, which matters if you are timing income.

Full IDU profile⁠

Full XLU profile⁠