Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU)
$182.41+1.31%close of Oct 16, 2026
Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by Vanguard. This fund owns shares of about 70 US utility companies that provide electricity, gas, and water. It charges 0.09% a year. From January 2004 to October 2026 it returned about 9.4% a year, and its worst drop was −46.3%.
Written by the Tactfolio research team. Fund facts checked October 17, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.
- Yearly fee
- 0.09%
- about $9 on $10,000
- 1-year return
- −5.9%
- to Oct 16, 2026
- Return per year
- 9.4%
- since January 2004
- Worst drop
- −46.3%
- since 2004
- Below its high
- −9.6%
- now
- Volatility
- 18.2%
- yearly swings
- Issuer
- Vanguard
- Tracks
- MSCI US Investable Market Utilities 25/50 Index
- Started trading
- January 26, 2004
- Type
- US stocks, ETF
- Holdings
- 68 holdings as of September 30, 2026
- Expense ratio
- 0.09% a year
How has VPU done since 2004?#
From January 2004 to October 2026, VPU returned about 9.4% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 10.8% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $76,341 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.
| Period | VPU | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 month | 2.7% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | −6.5% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | −7.8% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | 0.6% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | −5.9% | 16.8% |
| 3 years per year | 15.5% | 22.0% |
| 5 years per year | 8.1% | 12.8% |
| 10 years per year | 9.1% | 15.4% |
| Since 2004 per year | 9.4% | 10.8% |
Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.
VPU returns by month and year#
VPU rose in 181 of its 273 months (66%). Its best month was March 2021, at 10.3%. Its worst was February 2009, at −12.9%.
| Year | Total | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 0.6% | 1.6 | 9.5 | −3.1 | 2.2 | −4.8 | 2.3 | −2.3 | −4.4 | −5.8 | 6.7 | ||
| 2025 | 16.5% | 2.8 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 3.5 | 0.5 | 5.0 | −1.4 | 4.4 | 1.9 | 1.8 | −5.1 |
| 2024 | 23.0% | −3.3 | 1.4 | 7.0 | 1.6 | 8.7 | −5.3 | 6.8 | 4.5 | 6.2 | −1.2 | 4.2 | −8.0 |
| 2023 | −7.4% | −1.6 | −5.7 | 4.6 | 1.5 | −5.6 | 1.4 | 2.4 | −6.3 | −5.6 | 0.8 | 5.1 | 2.4 |
| 2022 | 1.1% | −3.4 | −1.9 | 9.8 | −4.4 | 4.5 | −5.1 | 5.7 | 0.3 | −11.2 | 2.5 | 7.0 | −0.9 |
| 2021 | 17.4% | −1.0 | −5.5 | 10.3 | 3.8 | −2.3 | −1.8 | 3.9 | 3.7 | −6.2 | 5.1 | −1.6 | 9.4 |
| 2020 | −0.7% | 6.1 | −10.0 | −10.1 | 3.2 | 4.3 | −4.8 | 7.2 | −2.5 | 0.6 | 4.9 | 1.4 | 0.9 |
| 2019 | 24.9% | 3.7 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 0.9 | −0.9 | 3.3 | −0.2 | 4.8 | 4.1 | −0.9 | −2.0 | 3.1 |
| 2018 | 4.4% | −3.1 | −4.1 | 4.0 | 2.5 | −0.3 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 1.2 | −0.4 | 1.2 | 3.9 | −4.1 |
| 2017 | 12.4% | 1.2 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 4.0 | −2.4 | 2.7 | 2.9 | −2.4 | 3.9 | 2.9 | −5.9 |
| 2016 | 17.6% | 4.7 | 1.8 | 8.2 | −1.9 | 1.6 | 7.7 | −0.9 | −5.4 | 0.5 | 0.9 | −4.5 | 4.8 |
| 2015 | −4.8% | 2.2 | −5.9 | −0.7 | −0.6 | 0.4 | −6.1 | 5.5 | −3.6 | 2.7 | 2.0 | −2.1 | 2.2 |
| 2014 | 25.9% | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.8 | −0.7 | 4.6 | −6.9 | 5.2 | −2.6 | 8.4 | 0.8 | 2.6 |
| 2013 | 14.9% | 5.2 | 2.3 | 5.5 | 5.6 | −8.2 | 1.0 | 4.4 | −5.3 | 1.4 | 4.0 | −2.1 | 1.2 |
| 2012 | 1.8% | −3.6 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 3.9 | 2.8 | −3.7 | 1.4 | 1.3 | −3.8 | 0.1 |
| 2011 | 19.0% | 1.5 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 1.6 | −0.3 | −1.1 | 1.8 | −0.4 | 4.0 | 1.1 | 3.3 |
| 2010 | 7.1% | −4.5 | −1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | −5.9 | −0.8 | 7.3 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 1.3 | −2.4 | 3.2 |
| 2009 | 11.3% | −1.2 | −12.9 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 5.4 | 4.2 | 0.5 | 1.7 | −3.3 | 4.6 | 5.5 |
| 2008 | −28.0% | −7.0 | −3.7 | 0.6 | 5.3 | 3.9 | −1.4 | −6.3 | −0.5 | −11.4 | −11.2 | 2.7 | −1.5 |
| 2007 | 17.0% | −0.1 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 1.0 | −5.1 | −4.2 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 6.5 | −0.3 | 0.1 |
| 2006 | 21.7% | 2.8 | 0.8 | −3.8 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 4.9 | 2.6 | −2.0 | 5.4 | 3.0 | 0.8 |
| 2005 | 14.6% | 1.1 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 5.4 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 3.8 | −6.7 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| 2004 | 20.6% | 1.2 | 1.2 | −3.5 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 2.8 |
Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.
How risky is VPU compared with the S&P 500?#
Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.
- Beta 0.45. When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, VPU tended to move about 0.45%.
- Correlation 0.45. VPU moved with the S&P 500 some of the time.
- Up and down months. In months the S&P 500 rose, VPU rose 65% as much on average. In months it fell, VPU fell 60% as much.
| Measure | VPU | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| Return per year | 8.3% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 17.1% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −25.1% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.56 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 0.78 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.33 | 0.52 |
Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.
Is VPU above its 200-day average?#
VPU closed 3.7% below its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds VPU only above that average would be out of it today.
- vs 200-day average
- −3.7%
- below it
- 50-day vs 200-day
- −4.4%
- trend falling
- vs 52-week high
- −9.6%
- high of $201.72
A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as the 10-month moving average strategy hold a fund only while it is above one. You can build that rule for VPU and backtest it in a minute.
What was VPU’s worst drop?#
A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. VPU’s worst fall was −46.3%, from December 10, 2007 to March 9, 2009. It got back to that high on June 6, 2012. On October 16, 2026 it was 9.6% below its highest close.
| Drop | From the high | To the bottom | Back to the high |
|---|---|---|---|
| −46.3% | Dec 10, 2007 | Mar 9, 200915 months | Jun 6, 20123.2 years |
| −36.4% | Feb 18, 2020 | Mar 23, 202034 days | Aug 12, 202117 months |
| −25.1% | Sep 12, 2022 | Oct 2, 202313 months | Aug 1, 202410 months |
| −16.2% | Jan 29, 2015 | Sep 4, 20157 months | Mar 8, 20166 months |
| −15.6% | Feb 27, 2026 | Sep 28, 20267 months | Not yet |
Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.
What does VPU hold?#
This fund owns shares of about 70 US utility companies that provide electricity, gas, and water. It holds only one part of the stock market. Its ten biggest companies make up about half of the fund.
It tracks the MSCI US Investable Market Utilities 25/50 Index. It had 68 holdings as of September 30, 2026, according to Vanguard.
What is the VPU expense ratio?#
VPU charges 0.09% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.09% fee comes to about $9 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 52% charge more.
You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.
Which Tactfolio strategies hold VPU?#
No classic strategy holds VPU yet. You can add it to your own rules in the builder and see how they would have done.
How does VPU compare with similar ETFs?#
Funds that can stand in for VPU:
- XLU: State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF, 0.08% a year
- XLP: State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF, 0.08% a year
- VDC: Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF, 0.09% a year
- SCHH: Schwab U.S. REIT ETF, 0.07% a year
See all 7 VPU alternatives, compared on the same dates as VPU.
Test VPU in your own rules#
Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the builder, add VPU, and see how a rule such as “hold it only above its 200-day average” would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.
The details#
Prices come from Tactfolio’s stored daily prices for VPU and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.
Fund facts come from Vanguard. We checked them on October 17, 2026. Read what a backtest simulates and how to read drawdown and CAGR for more on these measures.
Common questions#
What is the expense ratio of VPU?#
VPU charges 0.09% a year, according to Vanguard as of October 17, 2026. That is about $9 a year for every $10,000 you hold.
When did VPU start trading?#
VPU started trading on January 26, 2004. It is run by Vanguard.
What does VPU track?#
VPU tracks the MSCI US Investable Market Utilities 25/50 Index. This fund owns shares of about 70 US utility companies that provide electricity, gas, and water.
How much has VPU returned per year?#
From January 2004 to October 2026, VPU returned about 9.4% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −46.3%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.
Is VPU above its 200-day moving average?#
On October 16, 2026, VPU closed 3.7% below its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.
Which strategies use VPU?#
None of Tactfolio’s classic strategies hold VPU yet. You can test it in your own rules in the builder.