IYZ vs VOX

IYZCiShares U.S. Telecommunications ETF

VOXBVanguard Communication Services ETF

In short

IYZ One of the original sector ETFs, trading since 2000 and still literal about telecom: U.S. phone, internet and communication companies, with index caps that stop any one carrier from swallowing the portfolio.

VOX Communication services across the whole cap range, not just the S&P 500 slice: Vanguard's index reaches down into mid- and small-cap media and telecom, roughly 120 names, at nine basis points. Running since 2004.

Stated mandate

IYZ The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. equities in the telecommunications sector and provides diversified access to U.S. companies offering phone, internet, and communication services.

VOX The fund seeks to track a benchmark index measuring the investment return of communication-services stocks.

Why people hold it

• IYZ Running since 2000, through the fiber build-out, the wireless wars and the streaming rewrite. Quarter-century histories are rare in sector ETFs.
• Literal about telecom by mandate: U.S. companies selling phone, internet and communication services, not the wider media-and-internet basket its broad peers carry.ishares.com
• The index trims at each quarterly rebalance: no single issuer above 22.5%, and issuers over 4.5% capped at 45% combined. The giant carriers get pruned by rule, not by hope.sec.gov
• Actively traded with BlackRock's iShares plumbing behind it, and cash goes out on a quarterly schedule.

• VOX 0.09% a year, a basis point off the cheapest rivals (XLC, FCOM) and well under the 0.37% median for this group of funds.
• Tracks an MSCI investable-market index: large, mid and small caps, roughly 120 stocks. S&P 500-based rivals like XLC start and stop at large caps.vanguard.comssga.com
• Full replication where possible, holding each stock at about its index weight, with sampling used only if regulatory limits get in the way.vanguard.com

Worth knowing

• IYZ The fee is a step up: 0.37% versus single-digit basis points on the broad communication services trackers in this group (XLC, FCOM, VOX). That is the toll for the narrower cut.
• Concentrated by design: roughly two dozen holdings, and the cap rules still leave room for one issuer to sit near 22.5% of the fund.ishares.comsec.gov
• One sector, one country. It rides U.S. telecom, so its path can look nothing like a total-market fund's in either direction.

• VOX The sector is top-heavy, so the index applies RIC caps: no issuer above 25%, and all issuers over 5% capped at 50% combined. A few giants still set the pace.msci.com
• A single US sector and a non-diversified fund, so it rides media, entertainment and telecom rather than the broad market. Distributions come quarterly.vanguard.com

Full IYZ profile⁠

Full VOX profile⁠