MXI vs XME

MXICiShares Global Materials ETF

XMEBState Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF

In short

MXI Most materials funds stop at the US border. MXI doesn't: it tracks a global materials index, putting overseas miners, chemical makers and packagers next to the American names, and has done so since 2006.

XME Not the chemicals-heavy materials fund. XME holds roughly 40 miners and steelmakers on a modified equal weight, so a small copper name carries about the weight of a giant. Ore, coal and metal, since 2006.

Stated mandate

MXI The fund seeks to track an index made up of global equities from the materials sector.

XME The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return performance of the S&P Metals and Mining Select Industry Index.

Why people hold it

• MXI Global by design. The fund tracks the S&P Global 1200 Materials Index, so companies listed outside the US carry real weight instead of appearing as an afterthought.ishares.com
• Running since 2006 under the iShares banner, with roughly 90 holdings spread across the sector rather than a top-heavy handful of megacaps.
• The 0.37% fee sits near the middle of the materials-fund pack, and here it buys worldwide coverage rather than a US-only slice of the sector.

• XME Pure play on the metals and mining slice: aluminum, coal, copper, gold, precious metals, silver and steel sub-industries, not the whole materials sector.ssga.com
• Modified equal weighting spreads exposure across large, mid and small caps, so the biggest miners don't set the tone for the whole portfolio.ssga.com
• One of the more actively traded funds in its corner of the market, and a multi-billion-dollar fund that has been running since 2006.
• 0.35% expense ratio, slightly under the median for the materials funds we grade, which is unusual for a narrow industry sleeve.

Worth knowing

• MXI The US-only options (XLB, VAW, FMAT) charge a fraction of this fee. The global mandate is what the extra cost is buying.
• Trading is thin next to the big US sector funds, so spreads can widen. That bites hardest on large or hurried orders.
• One sector, and a commodity-linked one: the whole portfolio rides global industrial demand with nothing else to cushion it.

• XME Broad materials funds cost far less: XLB at 0.08% and VAW at 0.09%. They also own a very different mix, chemicals and packaging included.
• About 40 names, many of them smaller miners, in one cyclical industry. Swings run wider than a diversified sector fund's.
• The portfolio's fortunes track commodity cycles in steel, coal, copper and gold rather than broad industrial demand.ssga.com

Full MXI profile⁠

Full XME profile⁠