PXI vs VDE

PXICInvesco Dorsey Wright Energy Momentum ETF

VDEAVanguard Energy ETF

In short

PXI Most energy ETFs rank holdings by size, so the majors sit on top. PXI ranks energy stocks by price strength and reshuffles quarterly. Fee: 0.60% net of a waiver through August 31, 2028.

VDE Energy without the mega-cap tunnel vision. VDE tracks an index of roughly 110 US energy stocks, large down to small cap, for 0.09% a year, and it has been running since 2004.

Stated mandate

PXI The fund seeks to track the Dynamic Energy Sector Intellidex Index by investing primarily in its constituent securities. The index selects energy companies using investment-merit criteria that include momentum measures.

VDE The fund seeks to track the MSCI US Investable Market Energy 25/50 Index, which represents large-, mid-, and small-cap U.S. energy-sector stocks.

Why people hold it

• PXI Different engine: a relative-strength screen picks a minimum of 30 energy names, so leadership can shift toward refiners, midstream or services as price trends shift.nasdaqomx.com
• Trading since October 2006, which covers several full oil booms and busts. Long track records are rare among momentum-screened sector funds.
• A few dozen energy stocks, rebuilt on a published quarterly schedule rather than a manager's hunch.invesco.com
• The portfolio build is the strong part of the story, and the fund lands in the upper half of the broad energy group.

• VDE Costs 0.09% a year, a fraction of what the typical energy sector fund charges.
• Casts a wider net than mega-cap-only energy funds: about 110 large-, mid- and small-cap US names, from the integrated majors to shale drillers and refiners.vanguard.com
• Hugs its benchmark closely and trades actively, which tends to keep spreads slim for everyday buys and sells.
• Live since 2004 and one of the strongest builds in the broad energy group, with a Vanguard fee structure that has only ratcheted downward.

Worth knowing

• PXI Costs 0.60% net of a waiver through August 31, 2028 (0.85% without it), above the energy category median. Plain index rivals XLE (0.08%) and VDE (0.09%) are far cheaper.
• Thinly traded with a modest asset base, so trading costs can matter more here than in the household-name energy funds.
• Momentum cuts both ways: the quarterly reshuffle buys what has been rising, and a concentrated energy-only book has no other sector to cushion a turn.

• VDE One sector, one storyline: this rides crude and natural gas prices, and it swings harder in both directions than a total-market fund.
• Cap-weighted, so a handful of US oil majors carry outsized weight despite the long holdings list; the index's 25/50 rules limit that concentration rather than erase it.vanguard.com
• Income arrives quarterly, not monthly, and moves with what energy companies choose to pay out.

Full PXI profile⁠

Full VDE profile⁠