State Street's XLF or ProShares' UYG: Which Financial ETF Is Right for Long-Term Investors?

Sara Appino, The Motley Fool

Sat, July 18, 2026 astatine 9:56 AM CDT 4 min read

The prime betwixt State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEMKT:XLF) and ProShares - Ultra Financials (NYSEMKT:UYG) hinges connected whether an capitalist seeks standard, low-cost assemblage vulnerability oregon amplified regular returns done leverage.

Investors seeking to summation vulnerability to the fiscal assemblage mostly take betwixt modular scale tracking oregon amplified regular results. The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF provides wide entree to the fiscal conception of the S&P 500, whereas the ProShares - Ultra Financials seeks to treble the regular show of the aforesaid sector. This examination looks astatine however their antithetic mechanics interaction full returns and hazard profiles.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Beta measures terms volatility comparative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from monthly returns implicit the disposable money past (up to 5 years). The 1-yr instrumentality represents full instrumentality implicit the trailing 12 months. Dividend output is the trailing-12-month organisation yield.

The outgo quality betwixt these 2 funds is stark. The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF charges a thin 0.08%, portion the ProShares - Ultra Financials is overmuch much costly with a 0.94% disbursal ratio. This higher interest reflects the complexity of the leveraged strategy, which besides results successful a importantly higher trailing-12-month dividend output for the ProShares fund.

Performance & hazard examination

What's wrong

The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEMKT:XLF) focuses connected fiscal services, insurance, and banking. Its largest positions see JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) astatine 11.64%, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKB) astatine 11.21%, and Visa (NYSE:V) astatine 7.38%. The portfolio reflects 98% successful fiscal services and 2% successful technology. It holds 76 securities. The money was launched successful 1998. State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF has paid $0.81 per stock implicit the trailing 12 months, which connected its caller ~$56.75 stock terms works retired to a 1.40% yield.

The ProShares - Ultra Financials (NYSEMKT:UYG) targets regular concern returns that are treble the regular fluctuations of the S&P Financial Select Sector Index. Its largest positions see JPMorgan Chase astatine 6.78%, Berkshire Hathaway astatine 6.67%, and ProShares Genius Money Market ETF (NYSEMKT:IQMM) astatine 4.86%. Similar to its peer, it allocates 98% to fiscal services and 2% to technology. It holds 84 positions and carries a regular leverage reset quirk. The money was launched successful 2007. ProShares - Ultra Financials has paid $10.67 per stock implicit the trailing 12 months, which connected its caller ~$95.19 stock terms works retired to an 11.50% yield.