Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
AVUS vs XBI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVUS returned +18.0% to XBI's +41.2%, and AVUS charges 0.15% to XBI's 0.35%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $14.8bn for Avantis U.S. Equity ETF and $10.3bn for State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF.
Pair scorecard
AVUS costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 23.2 points; AVUS is 1.4 times larger.
| Measure | AVUS | XBI |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +18.0% | +41.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 8.9%, high on Feb 8, 2021 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Biotech |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.35% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $14.8bn | $10.3bn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 98% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 30.0% | 18% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 4, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026 · 368 weekly returnsAVUS returned more: +183.7% to +96.3%. AVUS swung less: 19.5% to 31.0%. AVUS fell less at its worst: −35.1% to −61.5%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | AVUS | XBI | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +183.7% | +96.3% | AVUS | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +15.9% | +10.0% | AVUS | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +158.5% | +94.7% | AVUS | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 19.5% | 31.0% | AVUS | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 13.6% | 20.8% | AVUS | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −35.1% | −61.5% | AVUS | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.71 | 0.37 | AVUS | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.02 | 0.55 | AVUS | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.45 | 0.16 | AVUS | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 368 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, AVUS and XBI hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
AVUS and XBI on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
AVUS and XBI do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. AVUS follows No index, actively managed and XBI follows Biotech.
- Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 AVUS returned +18.0% and XBI +41.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 23.2 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000.
AVUS is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,943 positions, with the top ten at 30.0%.
XBI
By weight, 13% of XBI's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 98%. The top ten holdings are 18% of the fund across 165 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +41.2% with distributions reinvested. It sits 8.9% below its all-time high of Feb 8, 2021.
Questions people ask
- Are AVUS and XBI in the same category?
- AVUS is a stock ETF and XBI 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, AVUS or XBI?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVUS returned +18.0% and XBI +41.2%.
- Which is cheaper, AVUS or XBI?
- AVUS is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 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, AVUS against XBI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avus-vs-xbi
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). AVUS against XBI. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avus-vs-xbi
[AVUS against XBI (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avus-vs-xbi)
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