XLU, the largest of the utilities ETF, tracks the S&P 500 utilities sector and is top heavy with over 60% of assets in its top 10 holdings.
Given the homogeneous nature of the utilities space and that most utilities ETFs track cap-weighted indices, the various ETF options have very similar track records.
Nevertheless, there are some slight differences that investors can still jump on. For instance, Vanguard Utilities ETF (NYSEArca: VPU) is the cheapest with a 0.10% expense ratio. VPU also includes a broader group of utilities companies, including more small- and mid-cap exposure. The ETF has a 3.63% 12-month yield.
For more alternative indexing methodologies, the First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEArca: FXU) selects components based on growth factors including three, six and 12-month price appreciation, sales to price and one year sales growth, and, separately, on value factors including book value to price, cash flow to price and return on assets. FXU has a 3.90% 12-month yield.
Additionally, the Guggenheim S&P Equal Weight Utilities ETF (NYSEArca: RYU), the equal-weight equivalent of XLU, has a 3.67% 12-month yield.
Max Chen contributed to this article.