PUI vs XLU

PUIDInvesco Dorsey Wright Utilities Momentum ETF

XLUAState Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF

In short

PUI Utilities, ranked by price trend. Since 2005 PUI has run on Dorsey Wright's relative-strength screen: a concentrated set of utilities picked for momentum, reshuffled quarterly, while the category's giants own the sector by size.

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

PUI The mandate follows a modified market-capitalization-weighted index of utility-sector stocks selected for strong relative-strength characteristics, with the methodology emphasizing momentum.

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

Why people hold it

• PUI The technical take on the sector: the index picks utility stocks on relative strength, not size, and the fund and index are rebalanced and reconstituted quarterly.invesco.com
• One of the longest-running factor plays in utilities, listed in 2005 and still built on the same Dorsey Wright Utilities Technical Leaders Index.
• Tight rules: normally at least 90% of assets in index constituents, from an index holding no fewer than 30 utility names. Distributions come quarterly.invesco.com

• 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

• PUI 0.60% net of a waiver through August 31, 2028 (0.82% before it), above the category median and above cap-weighted utilities like XLU at 0.08% or FUTY at 0.084%.
• Among the smaller and less-traded funds in its category, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads and more attention to how orders get entered.
• Concentration is the mechanism: a few dozen momentum leaders can look very different from the full sector, and the quarterly reshuffle keeps turnover coming.invesco.com

• 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 PUI profile⁠

Full XLU profile⁠