IEZ vs XOP

IEZCiShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF

XOPAState Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF

In short

IEZ The picks-and-shovels corner of energy. IEZ owns the US equipment makers, drillers and service contractors that get paid when oil companies spend, rather than the producers pumping the barrels. Roughly 30 names, running since 2006.

XOP Most oil funds lean hard on a couple of supermajors. XOP goes the other way: a modified equal-weighted basket of roughly 50 drillers, refiners and producers, reset every quarter, so a small-cap operator can count about as much as a giant. Running since 2006.

Stated mandate

IEZ The fund seeks to follow an index of U.S. companies operating in the oil equipment and services sector.

XOP The fund seeks, before fees and expenses, to track the total return performance of the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index.

Why people hold it

• IEZ Owns the service side of oil rather than the barrels: the index tracks US oil equipment and services companies, so the integrated majors most energy funds lean on sit outside it.ishares.com
• Live since 2006 under the iShares roof, with a multi-hundred-million-dollar asset base and active daily trading.
• Costs 0.37% a year, level with the typical fund in this energy cohort, and distributes quarterly.

• XOP Modified equal weighting, reset quarterly, means no single supermajor dominates and large, mid and small-cap names sit side by side.ssga.comspglobal.com
• A 0.35% expense ratio, below the typical charge among oil and gas E&P peers.
• Actively traded, and one of the smoother tickers to get into and out of in the energy aisle.
• Wider net than the name suggests: the index also reaches integrated oil and gas plus refining and marketing companies, not just pure explorers.ssga.com

Worth knowing

• IEZ About 30 stocks in one cyclical niche. Service and equipment revenue follows drilling budgets, so swings tend to run sharper than a broad energy fund's.
• Cheaper doors exist in the same cohort: OIH at 0.35% and PBOG at 0.13%, though each tracks a different slice of energy.
• On our overall read it lands in the lower half of its energy peer group, where several rivals chase similar ground under different index rules.

• XOP Equal weighting lifts smaller drillers in the mix, so swings in both directions tend to run sharper than in cap-weighted energy funds.ssga.com
• One industry, one commodity complex: this rides crude and natural gas, with about 50 holdings and no ballast from outside the patch.
• Cheaper shelfmates exist. Peer PBOG lists a 0.13% expense ratio, though it tracks a different index and a different mix of names.

Full IEZ profile⁠

Full XOP profile⁠