RWR vs XLRE: Which ETF Is Better in 2026?
A metric-by-metric comparison of State Street SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF (RWR) and State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) — both Real Estate funds — using ETFValuer's daily-updated rankings.
Educational content — not financial advice. Data as of July 25, 2026. ~5 minute read.
The Verdict
RWR and XLRE compete directly — both are Real Estate funds chasing the same job in a portfolio. That makes this a genuine either/or: the index each tracks, what it costs, and how it has handled drawdowns are what separate them, not the broad exposure they give you.
On ETFValuer's overall model — which blends return, risk-adjusted performance, cost, drawdown, size and volatility — RWR scores higher: 68.8 (Grade B) versus 58.3 for XLRE. That doesn't make XLRE a bad fund; it means RWR currently edges it out on this specific mix of factors. Read the metric-by-metric breakdown below before deciding which matters more for your own portfolio.
Head-to-Head: Every Metric
| RWR | XLRE | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Real Estate | Real Estate |
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.08% |
| Fund size (AUM) | $1.8B | $8.1B |
| Dividend yield | 2.92% | 3.19% |
| 1-year return | +24.85% | +10.93% |
| 3-year return | +43.38% | +33.29% |
| Volatility | 14.38% | 14.39% |
| Max drawdown | -18.85% | -16.57% |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.38 | 0.41 |
| ETFValuer score | 68.8 | 58.3 |
| Grade | B | C |
| Overall rank | #129 | #277 |
Bold marks the better value in each row. "Better" is directional only (e.g. lower cost, higher return) — it isn't a recommendation by itself. See the full methodology.
Cost
XLRE is the cheaper fund, charging 0.08% a year versus 0.25% for RWR — a gap of 0.17 percentage points (about $17.00/year on a $10,000 position) that compounds meaningfully over a multi-decade holding period. See the ETF Fee Calculator for the exact dollar impact at your investment size and horizon.
What RWR's Fees Cost You
RWR charges an expense ratio of 0.25% a year, deducted automatically from the fund's value. Small percentages compound into real money — adjust the figures below to see the impact on your own numbers.
Assumes a constant gross return and no additional contributions — a simplification, but it isolates exactly what the expense ratio costs. Try the full fee calculator to model contributions and compare any two funds.
Performance & Risk
Over the trailing 3 years, RWR returned +43.38% versus +33.29% for XLRE — a gap of about 10.1 percentage points. On risk, XLRE has held up better historically, with a shallower max drawdown (-16.57% vs. -18.85%). RWR currently has the better risk-adjusted return (Sharpe ratio of 1.38 vs. 0.41), meaning it delivered more return per unit of volatility taken on.
How Closely Do They Track Each Other?
Over the last 3.0 years of daily returns (752 shared trading days), RWR and XLRE show a high correlation of 0.970 — closely related, but not identical. Holding both would add very little diversification: when one falls, the other almost always falls with it. Treat these as alternatives to each other, not as complements in the same portfolio.
| Measure | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Daily return correlation | 0.970 | High — closely related, but not identical |
| R-squared | 94.1% | 94.1% of RWR's daily moves are explained by XLRE's |
| Tracking error (annualised) | 4.19% | Typical yearly spread between the two funds' returns |
| Annualised return over 3.0y | RWR +12.43% · XLRE +9.64% | RWR ahead by 2.79 points a year |
Correlation alone understates how far these can drift. Across every rolling 12-month window in the period, RWR finished as much as +13.8 points ahead of XLRE at the best extreme and -5.2 points at the worst — a 19.0-point spread between the best and worst year of relative performance. Two funds can correlate tightly day to day and still deliver very different outcomes over any single year you happen to hold them.
Calculated from daily total returns over the trailing 3-year window, recomputed every day this site refreshes. Correlation of 1.00 means the two funds moved in lockstep; 0.00 means their daily moves were unrelated.
Holdings Overlap
RWR and XLRE hold 8 of the same companies among their top 10 positions. Those shared names make up 46.5% of RWR and 48.6% of XLRE. That's heavy duplication — owning both largely doubles down on the same companies rather than spreading risk. Most investors should pick one.
| Shared Holding | RWR Weight | XLRE Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Welltower Inc | 9.91% | 10.18% |
| Prologis Inc | 10.12% | 9.07% |
| Equinix Inc | 4.66% | 7.11% |
| Digital Realty Trust Inc | 4.62% | 4.63% |
| Simon Property Group Inc | 4.56% | 4.57% |
| Realty Income Corp | 4.38% | 4.39% |
| Ventas Inc | 4.12% | 4.40% |
| Public Storage | 4.18% | 4.19% |
Compares the top 10 reported holdings from each fund's most recent SEC N-PORT-P filing, so it understates total overlap — funds tracking similar indexes overlap far more deeply than the top 10 alone can show. Search any company across all tracked funds with the Stock Overlap tool.
Which One Should You Pick?
Lean RWR if…
- You care about return per unit of risk — its Sharpe ratio of 1.38 beats 0.41
- You weight recent results heavily — it returned 43.4% over 3 years against 33.3%
Lean XLRE if…
- You want the lower running cost — 0.08% vs 0.25%, about $17 a year less on a $10,000 position
- You want the deeper, more liquid market ($8B in assets vs $2B) and the tighter spread (0.607% vs 0.885%)
Whichever you pick, holding both at full weight is usually the wrong answer — see the overlap and correlation sections above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is RWR or XLRE better?
On ETFValuer's overall model — which blends return, risk-adjusted performance, cost, drawdown, size and volatility — RWR scores higher: 68.8 (Grade B) versus 58.3 for XLRE. That doesn't make XLRE a bad fund; it means RWR currently edges it out on this specific mix of factors. Read the metric-by-metric breakdown below before deciding which matters more for your own portfolio.
Which has the lower expense ratio, RWR or XLRE?
XLRE currently has the lower expense ratio (0.08% vs. 0.25%).
Can I hold both RWR and XLRE?
You can, though the benefit is limited. At a correlation of 0.97, RWR and XLRE fall together far more often than not, so owning both adds complexity and a second expense ratio without much real diversification. Most investors are better served picking one.
Go deeper on either fund
Full daily-updated metrics, holdings context, and category peers.