XLC
Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund
Published by Radif Partners · Updated
Overview
Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLC) tracks the Communication Services Select Sector index and holds its constituents directly, a physical replication managed by SPDR. Dividends are paid out to holders rather than reinvested, so XLC suits investors seeking regular income. The fund is domiciled in US, which determines the withholding tax treatment applied to its dividends. Annual charges come to 0.09% of assets, and the fund holds 22.5B under management. Over five years the fund returned 6.5% a year on average, against 18.4% over three years. It is not eligible for the French PEA, but can be held in a securities account, a UK ISA or a German Depot. Its risk level is rated medium. Launched on 2018-06-18, the fund is denominated in USD and has 8 years of track record. Because XLC distributes, every payment is taxable in the year it is received, against the dividend allowance in a general account, while it stays sheltered inside an ISA or a SIPP. Domicile in US sets the withholding the fund itself suffers on the dividends it receives, a cost absent from the stated fee but present in the return.
At 0.09%, this fund sits among the cheapest in its category: of 43 comparable funds, only a tenth match it or do better. On £10,000 that is about 9 a year against 40 for the median fund, close to 310 of difference over a decade. Once fees are at the floor, they stop being where the difference lies: it moves to replication quality, read in the tracking difference, and to your broker's dealing cost, which can exceed the fee saving if you buy in small amounts.
Replication is physical: the fund actually holds the constituents of Communication Services Select Sector, which makes its contents verifiable line by line in the issuer's report. Two points deserve attention. Securities lending first, practised by most physical funds to reduce costs: it earns a few hundredths of a point and creates an exposure to the borrower, covered by collateral, with the annual report stating the proportion lent. Rebalancing second: every change in the index's composition forces the fund to buy and sell, and those internal costs are not in the 0.09% headline. That is why two funds at the same price do not track their index with the same fidelity.
The fund is domiciled in the United States, and for a European investor that is the point to settle before any other. A US fund is outside UCITS regulation: most European brokers cannot offer it to a retail client for want of a key information document, so access depends on the investor's status. Two tax consequences follow as well: dividends paid to a non-resident bear US withholding, reduced by treaty where a W-8BEN is in place, and US securities held directly fall within US estate tax above a threshold that is low for a non-resident. An Irish-domiciled equivalent avoids both questions.
Income is distributed: the fund pays out the dividends it receives, usually one to four times a year. For a holder living off the portfolio that is what is wanted, since the income arrives without selling. For someone still accumulating it is a tax disadvantage in a taxable account: each payment is taxed in the year received, so the amount reinvested is reduced before it starts working again. Reinvesting by hand also costs a dealing commission each time and often leaves cash idle for want of the price of a whole unit. An accumulating class on the same index, where one exists, settles the question.
With 22.5 billion in assets and 8 years of history, this fund has the size and the record that make closure unlikely and the spread narrow. Three checks remain, once a year, none of which depends on the market. The ongoing charge, which an issuer revises without notice and whose gap to a competitor can invert. The tracking difference, the only figure that says whether replication stays faithful. And the methodology of Communication Services Select Sector, which can change its selection or weighting rules without the fund's name moving, in which case what you hold has changed with nothing to announce it.
Communication Services Select Sector is a broad index, and that is the building block most portfolios have reason to own before any other, for a simple reason: it requires no forecast. Two points deserve checking before calling it diversified. Cap weighting concentrates the portfolio on the largest companies, so the top ten holdings can make up a substantial share, and that concentration grows without any rule changing. And the geographic scope matters: a developed-world index leaves out emerging markets, while a broad US index is not global exposure despite the international revenue of the companies it holds.
Over one year the fund shows -4.5% against 6.5% annualised over five years: the recent year lags the long average. Before drawing a conclusion, two possible causes have to be separated, because they have different consequences: a fall in the index tracked, which affects every fund replicating it, or a deterioration specific to the fund, which shows in the tracking difference rather than in the return.
0.09%
22.5B
22,529M USDMedium
98
Physical
Distributing
USD
US
Communication Services Select Sector
SPDR
2018-06-18 (8 years)
Contextual Analysis
Fund Size
With 22.5B in assets, this is a large fund, good liquidity and tight spreads.
Fee Positioning
A TER of 0.09% is among the lowest on the market, excellent value.
Track Record
Launched in 2018-06-18, this fund has 8 years of history, enough to evaluate consistency.
Risk Profile
Medium risk, good risk/return balance for a 5+ year horizon.
Performance
Returns Summary
| Period | Ann. Return | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Month (est.) | – | -0.4% |
| 3 Months (est.) | – | -1.2% |
| 6 Months (est.) | – | -2.3% |
| YTD (est.) | – | -1.9% |
| 1 Year | -4.5% | -4.5% |
| 3 Years | +18.4% | +65.9% |
| 5 Years | +6.5% | +37.3% |
| Since inception (8y) | +6.8% | +69.2% |
Key Facts
Fund Profile
Themes & Zones
Holdings
Risk
How to Buy This ETF
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About this ETF
The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund tracks the Communication Services Select Sector index. It is managed by SPDR using physical replication and follows a distributing distribution policy. The fund is denominated in USD and domiciled in US. It has a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.09%.
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Frequently asked questions
What do XLC's 0.09% charges actually cost?
They are taken from the fund's value continuously and never billed separately: on £1,000 invested that is about £0.90 a year and roughly £9 over ten years at a constant amount. That is the only cost of the fund itself. Your broker's commission and the spread between buying and selling price come on top, and they weigh most on small frequent purchases.
Does XLC pay dividends?
Yes: the fund distributes and pays out the dividends it receives, on a calendar set by SPDR. The payment is taxable in the year you receive it in most accounts, even if reinvested at once, and reinvesting by hand costs a commission each time. An accumulating class on the same index avoids that friction for anyone who does not need the income.
What currency risk comes with XLC?
The fund is denominated in USD, but the trading currency is not the risk: what counts is the currency in which the companies held earn their revenue. A euro-based investor therefore carries the gap between the euro and those currencies, and that gap appears in no return published in local currency. A hedged share class answers a different question, at a cost that varies with the interest rate gap.
How do you buy XLC, and on which venue?
Through any broker that lists ISIN US81369Y8600. The same strategy often exists in several share classes with different fees and distribution policies, and what counts is the class you buy rather than the one you read about: check the ISIN, not the name. A limit order avoids paying the spread of a thin order book, particularly outside the trading hours of the underlying markets.
Is XLC genuinely diversified?
Less so than the number of holdings suggests. Communication Services Select Sector weights its constituents by market capitalisation, so the largest companies make up a share of the fund far above their number, and that concentration deepens without any rule changing. The useful check is the weight of the top ten holdings, published monthly by SPDR: that figure says how many companies the outcome actually depends on.
This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Displayed performance is simulated.