CHAT Tops XLK in One-Year Gains but Carries Higher Fees and Risk

Strong short-term returns for the actively managed CHAT force investors to choose between targeted generative-AI upside and XLK's low-cost, large-cap steadiness.

Overview

The Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF (CHAT) is an active fund focused on generative-AI companies while State Street's XLK is a passive ETF that tracks large technology names in the S&P 500.
CHAT posted a one-year total return of about 133.7% versus XLK's roughly 64.1% in the most recent fund disclosures, showing much stronger recent performance for the thematic play.
Those higher returns come with higher costs and smaller scale: CHAT charges a 0.75% expense ratio and has about $2.1 billion in assets, while XLK charges 0.08% and holds about $124.5 billion.
CHAT shows greater price sensitivity and loss risk, with a beta near 1.83 and a three-year max drawdown of about 31.3%, compared with XLK's beta near 1.33 and a 25.7% drawdown.
The funds differ in holdings and yield profiles: XLK is concentrated in mega-cap names like Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft, while CHAT spreads positions across AI-focused firms and paid $1.68 per share over the past 12 months versus XLK's $0.76, which may matter for income and liquidity decisions.