Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
AVEM vs IBB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVEM returned +17.9% to IBB's +37.5%, and AVEM charges 0.33% to IBB's 0.44%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $27.3bn for Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF and $11.0bn for iShares Biotechnology ETF.
Pair scorecard
AVEM costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 19.6 points; AVEM is 2.5 times larger.
| Measure | AVEM | IBB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +17.9% | +37.5% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 10.2%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Biotech |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.33% | 0.44% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $27.3bn | $11.0bn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 99% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 28.7% | 50% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Sep 27, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026 · 369 weekly returnsAVEM and IBB returned about the same: +113.9% and +113.0%. AVEM swung less: 19.6% to 22.7%. AVEM fell slightly less at its worst: −34.8% to −37.5%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | AVEM | IBB | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +113.9% | +113.0% | Tie | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +11.3% | +11.2% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +79.6% | +109.2% | IBB | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 19.6% | 22.7% | AVEM | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.1% | 15.3% | AVEM (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −34.8% | −37.5% | AVEM (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.50 | 0.46 | AVEM (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.70 | 0.68 | AVEM (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.32 | 0.30 | AVEM (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 369 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, AVEM and IBB hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
AVEM and IBB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
AVEM and IBB do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. AVEM follows No index, actively managed and IBB follows Biotech.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 AVEM returned +17.9% and IBB +37.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 19.6 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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AVEM
AVEM is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.9% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.33% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 4,088 positions, with the top ten at 28.7%. It sat 10.2% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
IBB
By weight, 40% of IBB's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 99%. The top ten holdings are 50% of the fund across 245 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +37.5% with distributions reinvested.
Questions people ask
- Are AVEM and IBB in the same category?
- AVEM is a stock ETF and IBB is a thematic ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, AVEM or IBB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVEM returned +17.9% and IBB +37.5%.
- Which is cheaper, AVEM or IBB?
- AVEM is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, AVEM against IBB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avem-vs-ibb
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). AVEM against IBB. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avem-vs-ibb
[AVEM against IBB (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avem-vs-ibb)
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