XLE calculator
Historical growth of Energy Select Sector SPDR using Energy Select Sector Index return series. Dividends reinvested at year-end; expense ratio drag negligible at 0.09%.
$10,000 invested in XLE at inception (1998) with dividends reinvested through end of 2024 would be worth approximately $97,035 nominal ($49,639 in 1998 dollars). Annualized nominal: 8.78%; real: 6.11%.
Uses annual S&P 500 total return (with dividends reinvested) and CPI-U inflation, 1928–2024. Source: Damodaran (NYU Stern) + Shiller CAPE + BLS. Excludes fees, taxes, and bid/ask. Real return = nominal ÷ cumulative CPI.
XLE at a glance
| Full name | Energy Select Sector SPDR |
| Provider | State Street |
| Expense ratio | 0.09% |
| Inception | 1998 |
| Assets under management | $40B |
| Dividend yield | 3.20% |
| Return series used | Energy Select Sector Index |
The rules of sector funds
Sector ETFs concentrate into one industry, which converts market risk into industry-cycle risk: semiconductors and energy have both delivered triple-digit rallies and 60%+ drawdowns within the same decade. Sector funds are trading and tilting tools, not core holdings — the standard guidance is to cap any single sector at 5–10% of a portfolio and to expect tracking well away from the broad-market series this calculator uses as a proxy.
What 0.09% costs over 30 years
Expense ratios compound against you exactly the way returns compound for you. On a $10,000 position growing at a 10% gross return for 30 years, XLE's 0.09% fee quietly consumes about $4,233 of the final balance. That is the lowest fee in its category on this site — fee drag is one variable you fully control.
XLE vs same-category peers
| Fund | ER | Yield | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| XLE (this page) | 0.09% | 3.2% | 1998 |
| SMH | 0.35% | 0.5% | 2000 |
| SOXX | 0.35% | 0.8% | 2001 |
| XLK | 0.09% | 0.7% | 1998 |
| XLF | 0.09% | 1.7% | 1998 |
How this calculator works
For each start year, we apply the year-by-year total return of the Energy Select Sector Index to the entered starting amount, compounding annually with dividends reinvested at year-end. This mirrors what an actual buy-and-hold XLE holder would have experienced, before fees and taxes. Expense ratio is intentionally excluded from the historical result to keep the underlying series comparable across ETFs; for a full lifetime fee estimate at 0.09%, use the projection tab in our fund fee analyzer.