SOXQ vs XSD

SOXQAInvesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF

XSDAState Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF

In short

SOXQ SOXQ owns the semiconductor industry's landmark benchmark, the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index, for 0.19% a year. About 30 US-listed chip names, at roughly half the fee of the typical semiconductor fund.

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

SOXQ The Fund seeks to track the investment results, before fees and expenses, of the PHLX Semiconductor Sector 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

• SOXQ Charges 0.19% a year against a semiconductor-fund median near 0.35%. Same industry, less friction.
• Undercuts the category's best-known tickers on fee: SMH at 0.35% and SOXX at 0.33%.
• Tracks the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index, a focused basket of roughly 30 US chip companies. No stock-picking, no theme drift.
• A multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund, and one of the stronger builds in the semiconductor cohort.

• 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

• SOXQ About 30 stocks in one industry. That concentration puts it among the more volatile funds in its peer group, in both directions.
• Not the absolute cheapest chip ETF: CHPS runs 0.15%, though it tracks a different index.
• Launched in 2021, so its record is shorter than the decade-plus histories of the category's older funds.

• 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 SOXQ profile⁠

Full XSD profile⁠