SMH vs XSD

SMHAVanEck Semiconductor ETF

XSDAState Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF

In short

SMH Chip exposure, undiluted. SMH tracks roughly 25 of the largest, most liquid US-listed semiconductor names (foreign chipmakers included) and trades like a household ticker in its category.

XSD The chip fund that spreads the bet. XSD tracks a modified equal weighted index of US semiconductor stocks, roughly 50 names across large, mid and small caps, sized similarly instead of ranked by market value.

Stated mandate

SMH The Fund aims to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25 Index.

XSD The fund seeks to track the total return of the S&P Semiconductor Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• SMH The index rule is simple: the 25 largest, most liquid US-listed chip stocks, each earning over half its revenue from semiconductors or semi equipment. No tech-adjacent filler.marketvector.com
• Depositary receipts count, so US-listed foreign chipmakers are in scope. That reaches parts of the supply chain a domestic-only screen leaves out.sec.gov
• Single-name weights are capped at 20%, so the giants of the industry carry real weight rather than being trimmed toward sector-average size.marketvector.com
• One of the most actively traded funds in its peer group, a multi-billion-dollar book, and VanEck has run it since 2011.

• XSD Modified equal weighting starts every holding at a similar size, so one mega-cap chipmaker does not set the tone for the whole fund.ssga.com
• Reaches into small and mid cap chip names, not just the giants. SMH, by contrast, holds the 25 largest US listed semiconductor companies.ssga.comvaneck.com
• Live since 2006 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, with a long public record through the industry's boom and bust stretches.
• A clean, rules-based build: one index, one sub-industry, US listed stocks, and quarterly distributions. Not much guesswork about what you own.

Worth knowing

• SMH Fees sit mid-pack: 0.35% matches the semiconductor cohort median but runs above SOXQ at 0.19% and CHPS at 0.15%.
• Roughly 25 names with a 20% cap is concentration by design: the largest holdings drive most of the fund's day-to-day movement.marketvector.com
• Built as a single-industry chip sleeve, not an income holding. Distributions come once or twice a year.

• XSD The 0.35% fee sits right at the middle of the semiconductor pack. SOXQ (0.19%) and CHPS (0.15%) charge less for chip exposure.
• One cyclical industry, about 50 stocks, and equal weighting parks far more of the fund in smaller chipmakers than a market-cap index would.ssga.com
• Moderately traded rather than a volume monster, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the category's busiest funds.

Full SMH profile⁠

Full XSD profile⁠