VOX vs XTL

VOXBVanguard Communication Services ETF

XTLCState Street SPDR S&P Telecom ETF

In short

VOX Communication services across the whole cap range, not just the S&P 500 slice: Vanguard's index reaches down into mid- and small-cap media and telecom, roughly 120 names, at nine basis points. Running since 2004.

XTL Telecom, not "communication services." XTL's index sticks to carriers and the equipment makers behind them, and weights them close to equally, so a small-cap gear supplier can count for as much as a national wireless giant.

Stated mandate

VOX The fund seeks to track a benchmark index measuring the investment return of communication-services stocks.

XTL The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return performance of the S&P Telecom Select Industry Index.

Why people hold it

• VOX 0.09% a year, a basis point off the cheapest rivals (XLC, FCOM) and well under the 0.37% median for this group of funds.
• Tracks an MSCI investable-market index: large, mid and small caps, roughly 120 stocks. S&P 500-based rivals like XLC start and stop at large caps.vanguard.comssga.com
• Full replication where possible, holding each stock at about its index weight, with sampling used only if regulatory limits get in the way.vanguard.com

• XTL Modified equal weighting spreads about 40 names across large, mid and small caps, so no single carrier dominates the basket.ssga.com
• Pure telecom mandate: alternative carriers, communications equipment, integrated telecom and wireless. No social media or streaming riding along under a sector label.ssga.com
• The 0.35% fee sits just under the median for its communication-services peer group, and below iShares' IYZ at 0.37%.
• Live since 2011, with a record spanning multiple telecom build-out cycles and enough regular trading for ordinary retail-size orders.

Worth knowing

• VOX The sector is top-heavy, so the index applies RIC caps: no issuer above 25%, and all issuers over 5% capped at 50% combined. A few giants still set the pace.msci.com
• A single US sector and a non-diversified fund, so it rides media, entertainment and telecom rather than the broad market. Distributions come quarterly.vanguard.com

• XTL Broad communication-services rivals XLC, FCOM and VOX charge under 0.10%. The narrower, equal-weighted build costs several times that.
• Equal weighting puts real money into small and mid cap equipment makers, so price swings tend to run wider than a mega-cap carrier basket.ssga.com
• About 40 stocks inside one industry means single-company news lands harder here. Distributions arrive quarterly.

Full VOX profile⁠

Full XTL profile⁠