JXI vs XLU

JXIBiShares Global Utilities ETF

XLUAState Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF

In short

JXI Almost every utilities ETF stops at the US border. JXI doesn't: it holds the utilities slice of the S&P Global 1200, so overseas power, gas and water operators sit alongside the American names. Running since 2006.

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

JXI The Fund seeks to track an index representing global 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

• JXI The passport is the point: its index is the utilities cut of the S&P Global 1200, large-cap power, gas and water worldwide. Cohort rivals XLU, VPU and FUTY stay inside the US.sec.gov
• Capped by design. Issuers above 5% of the index are held to 25% in aggregate, so two or three giants can't swallow a roughly 60-stock portfolio.sec.gov
• No mystery in the mandate: a plain global utilities benchmark since 2006, with the index and its capping rules spelled out in iShares' filings.sec.gov

• 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

• JXI You pay for the border crossing. The 0.37% fee sits at the category median, but US-only peers XLU and FUTY charge 0.08% and VPU 0.09%.
• Thinly traded next to the big US utility funds, so the bid-ask spread and your order type do more of the work.
• Cash comes in lumps: distributions are paid on an annual or semiannual schedule rather than quarterly.

• 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 JXI profile⁠

Full XLU profile⁠