ETF Versus

VWO vs XLK

Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund vs State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF

Last updated: 2026-04-02

VWO Vanguard

Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund (VWO) is an exchange-traded fund issued by Vanguard that provides exposure to stocks in emerging market economies with higher growth potential. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.06%. The fund offers an attractive dividend yield of 2.76%. Launched in 2005, the fund has a 21-year track record.

AUM: $107.3B ER: 0.06% Yield: 2.76% Since: Mar 4, 2005
XLK

State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) is an exchange-traded fund that provides exposure to us sector - technology securities. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.08%. The fund offers a modest dividend yield of 0.57%. Launched in 1998, the fund has a 28-year track record.

AUM: $82.2B ER: 0.08% Yield: 0.57% Since: Dec 16, 1998

Quick Verdict

VWO has a slightly lower expense ratio (0.06% vs 0.08%), saving about $40 per $10,000 over 10 years. Over the past year, XLK has significantly outperformed with a 29.7% return vs 19.4%. Income investors may prefer VWO for its higher yield (2.8% vs 0.6%).

Key Metrics

Metric VWO XLK
Expense Ratio 0.06% 0.08%
Dividend Yield 2.8% 0.6%
Fund Family Vanguard N/A
Category Emerging Markets US Sector - Technology

Performance Chart

Indexed to 100 at start (5-year comparison)

65 96 127 158 189 220 2021-04 2022-06 2023-09 2024-12 2026-04
VWO +3.0%
XLK +95.1%

Performance Comparison

Period VWO XLK Difference
1 Month -5.29% -3.32% -1.97%
3 Months -1.31% -6.51% +5.20%
6 Months -1.06% -5.23% +4.17%
YTD -1.31% -6.51% +5.20%
1 Year +19.38% +29.73% -10.35%
3 Years +33.62% +78.96% -45.34%
5 Years +3.00% +95.13% -92.13%

Fee Impact Over Time

Estimated fee cost difference assuming 8% annual returns

Investment Period VWO Fees XLK Fees You Save
$10.000 10 years $120 $159 $40
$10.000 20 years $515 $686 $171
$10.000 30 years $1.664 $2.212 $549
$50.000 10 years $598 $797 $199
$50.000 30 years $8.318 $11.061 $2.743
$100.000 30 years $16.637 $22.123 $5.486

Risk Metrics

Based on 5 years of daily returns

Metric VWO XLK
Annualized Volatility 17.3% 24.7%
Max Drawdown -35.9% -34.0%
Sharpe Ratio -0.14 0.49

Dividend Comparison

Metric VWO XLK
Annual Dividend (per share) $1.45 $0.77
Dividend Yield 2.68% 0.57%
Distribution Frequency Quarterly Quarterly

Top Holdings

0 of top 8 holdings overlap (0% overlap in top holdings)

VWO Top Holdings

NameWeight
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited!tpe/233012.71%
Tencent Holdings Limited!hkg/07003.44%
Alibaba Group Holding Limited!hkg/99882.74%
HDFC Bank Limited!nse/HDFCBANK0.93%
Reliance Industries Limited!nse/RELIANCE0.88%
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.!tpe/23170.78%
MediaTek Inc.!tpe/24540.76%
China Construction Bank Corporation!hkg/09390.75%

XLK Top Holdings

NameWeight
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA15.50%
Apple Inc.AAPL13.63%
Microsoft CorporationMSFT10.05%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO5.37%
Micron Technology, Inc.MU3.39%
Palantir Technologies Inc.PLTR2.98%
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.AMD2.95%
Cisco Systems, Inc.CSCO2.73%
Applied Materials, Inc.AMAT2.42%
Lam Research CorporationLRCX2.38%

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose VWO if...

you want the lowest fees and plan to buy and hold long-term. Over decades, the expense ratio difference compounds significantly.

Choose XLK if...

recent performance momentum matters to your strategy. Note that past performance doesn't guarantee future results.

Choose VWO if...

you prioritize dividend income and want higher regular distributions from your portfolio.

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