PXE vs XOP

PXEDInvesco Energy Exploration & Production ETF

XOPAState Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF

In short

PXE The quant twist on US drillers. Rather than rank every exploration and production name by size, PXE's Intellidex index scores them on momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action and value, then holds about 30. Trading since 2005.

XOP Most oil funds lean hard on a couple of supermajors. XOP goes the other way: a modified equal-weighted basket of roughly 50 drillers, refiners and producers, reset every quarter, so a small-cap operator can count about as much as a giant. Running since 2006.

Stated mandate

PXE The fund is based on the Dynamic Energy Exploration & Production Intellidex Index, which covers 30 U.S. companies engaged in exploring for and producing natural resources used to generate energy.

XOP The fund seeks, before fees and expenses, to track the total return performance of the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index.

Why people hold it

• PXE The index screens US exploration and production companies on price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action and value, then holds about 30. Not a size-ranked roster.invesco.com
• Listed in 2005, it predates most of the E&P shelf and has traded through multiple oil booms and busts with the same rules-based approach.
• Portfolio makeup is the fund's strongest suit in this peer group: roughly 30 US energy names, spread across the field instead of anchored to one or two giants.
• Physical stock ownership, at least 90% of assets in index constituents, and cash gets passed along quarterly.invesco.com

• XOP Modified equal weighting, reset quarterly, means no single supermajor dominates and large, mid and small-cap names sit side by side.ssga.comspglobal.com
• A 0.35% expense ratio, below the typical charge among oil and gas E&P peers.
• Actively traded, and one of the smoother tickers to get into and out of in the energy aisle.
• Wider net than the name suggests: the index also reaches integrated oil and gas plus refining and marketing companies, not just pure explorers.ssga.com

Worth knowing

• PXE The screen costs: 0.63% net of a waiver through August 31, 2028 (0.67% gross), above the category median. XOP charges 0.35%, IEO 0.37%, PBOG 0.13%.
• Thinly traded next to the category's heavyweights, so the gap between bid and ask can be wider at the moment you buy or sell.
• About 30 stocks in one slice of one sector. Drilling economics swing with the oil price, and each holding carries real weight.

• XOP Equal weighting lifts smaller drillers in the mix, so swings in both directions tend to run sharper than in cap-weighted energy funds.ssga.com
• One industry, one commodity complex: this rides crude and natural gas, with about 50 holdings and no ballast from outside the patch.
• Cheaper shelfmates exist. Peer PBOG lists a 0.13% expense ratio, though it tracks a different index and a different mix of names.

Full PXE profile⁠

Full XOP profile⁠