TEK vs XLK

TEKFiShares Technology Opportunities Active ETF

XLKAState Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF

In short

TEK The stock-picker's option in a category ruled by cheap index trackers: roughly 50 global tech names, developed and emerging markets, at 0.75% net (0.77% gross) under a waiver running through June 30, 2028.

XLK A 1998 original: XLK owns the technology slice of the S&P 500, about 70 names, for eight basis points. Big, heavily traded, and top-heavy by design, with quarterly caps the only brake on the giants at the top.

Stated mandate

TEK The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through an actively managed portfolio of global technology companies, including established leaders and emerging disruptors.

XLK The fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the Technology Select Sector Index before expenses.

Why people hold it

• TEK Global by design: the prospectus allows US and non-US tech companies of any size, across developed and emerging markets, not only the US large caps that fill index trackers.sec.gov
• Roughly 50 stocks, so each pick carries weight, and BlackRock's own fundamental technology team does the choosing rather than an index committee.sec.gov
• Its definition of tech is wide: software, semiconductors, IT services, hardware, networking and interactive media all sit inside the mandate.sec.gov

• XLK Costs 0.08% a year against a roughly 0.40% median for broad tech funds, tying FTEC as the cheapest of the category's top-rated names and undercutting VGT's 0.09%.
• One of the largest and most actively traded funds in the tech aisle, so entering or exiting rarely means fighting the order book.
• Running since December 1998 and dead simple: the tech sector of the S&P 500, spanning software, semiconductors, hardware, communications equipment and IT services. Pays quarterly.ssga.com

Worth knowing

• TEK Active management costs: 0.75% net (0.77% gross, waived through June 30, 2028) runs above the category median, against 0.08% for XLK and 0.09% for VGT.
• A small, thinly traded fund next to the category's index heavyweights, so spreads can be wider and larger orders need more care.
• Launched in 2024, so the live record is short, and distributions arrive once or twice a year rather than quarterly.

• XLK Top-heavy by construction. About 70 stocks, and the index only trims its biggest weights at quarterly rebalances to stay inside fund diversification limits.spglobal.com
• The universe is S&P 500 tech only. Smaller tech companies outside the big index are out, and the Select Sector funds split the S&P 500 up, so some familiar names sit in other sector funds.ssga.com
• It is one sector with no ballast from the rest of the market, so a tech drawdown lands here in full.

Full TEK profile⁠

Full XLK profile⁠