PSCI vs XLI

PSCICInvesco S&P SmallCap Industrials ETF

XLIAState Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF

In short

PSCI Industrials ETFs usually mean large-cap machinery and aerospace. PSCI works the other end of the market: about 100 small US industrial companies from the S&P SmallCap 600, indexed the same way since 2010.

XLI One of the original 1998 sector SPDRs: the S&P 500's industrial engine (defense primes, machinery, railroads, freight) in about 80 large-cap names for 0.08% a year.

Stated mandate

PSCI The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the investment results of the S&P SmallCap 600 Capped Industrials Index.

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

Why people hold it

• PSCI Costs 0.29% a year, under the typical industrials sector fund and less than Invesco's own equal-weight RSPN at 0.40%.
• A small-cap industrials sleeve in one ticker: about 100 names set by an S&P index, not by a stock picker.
• Has followed the S&P SmallCap 600 Capped Industrials Index closely since its 2010 launch, so the index is a good read on the fund.
• Pays out quarterly, so income arrives on a set schedule rather than in lumps.

• XLI Charges 0.08% a year against a peer-group median of 0.38%, putting it at the bottom of the fee table with FIDU and a hair under VIS.
• Launched in December 1998 as one of the first US sector funds. Decades of live history, a multi-billion-dollar asset base, and very heavy daily trading.
• Plain index fund, no factor tilts or screens: it owns the industrial sector of the S&P 500 as defined, and has tracked that index closely.ssga.com
• Rates in the top quartile of the broad industrials funds we cover, one of the stronger implementations in the group.

Worth knowing

• PSCI One of the less traded funds in the industrials group and one of the smaller ones, so spreads can run wider than the category heavyweights.
• Small companies in a single cyclical sector move harder in both directions than broad large-cap industrials funds.
• XLI (0.08%) and VIS (0.09%) charge less, but they hold large-cap industrials, not the small-cap end PSCI covers.

• XLI S&P 500 only, so mid and small caps are out. VIS and FIDU reach further down the cap ladder; PSCI covers small-cap industrials exclusively.ssga.com
• About 80 stocks weighted by market value, so the aerospace, defense and machinery giants at the top drive most of the move. RSPN spreads it evenly for 0.40%.
• One sector, one economy: industrials swing with the business cycle, and this is a concentrated slice rather than a diversified core holding. Pays quarterly.

Full PSCI profile⁠

Full XLI profile⁠