Are EWT and IBB in the same category?

EWT 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, EWT or IBB?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWT returned +69.9% and IBB +37.5%.

Which is cheaper, EWT or IBB?

IBB is cheaper, by 0.15 percentage points a year. That is about $15 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do EWT and IBB overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EWT and 40% of IBB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

EWT vs IBB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EWT returned +69.9% to IBB's +37.5%, and IBB charges 0.44% to EWT's 0.59%.

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Net assets: $12.0bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF, and $11.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Biotechnology ETF.

EWT on its own →IBB on its own →

At a glance

+69.9%

EWT total return, 1 year

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

0.59%

EWT expense ratio

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IBB costs 0.15 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 32.4 points; EWT is 1.1 times larger.

EWT vs IBB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EWT	IBB
Return
Measure	EWT	IBB
Total return, 1 year	+69.9%	+37.5%
Drawdown
Measure	EWT	IBB
Below its high	7.7%, high on Oct 5, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	EWT	IBB
What it tracks	MSCI Taiwan 25/50 Index	Biotech
Cost and size
Measure	EWT	IBB
Expense ratio	0.59%	0.44%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$11.8bn	$11.0bn
Active share vs the S&P 500		99%
Holdings
Measure	EWT	IBB
Holdings in common	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	47.7%	50%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, EWT and IBB hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first EWT IBB

Only in one fund ↓

Only in EWT

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 22.12%

MEDIATEK 6.03%

HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY 3.31%

DELTA ELECTRONICS 3.25%

ASE TECHNOLOGY HOLDING 2.86%

NAN YA PLASTICS CORP 2.54%

UNIMICRON TECHNOLOGY 2.04%

ELITE MATERIAL 1.88%

Only in IBB

GILEAD SCIENCES 8.56%

AMGEN INC 8.20%

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 7.53%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 5.64%

MODERNA 5.29%

NATERA 3.85%

ARGENX SE ADR 3.42%

ILLUMINA INC 2.93%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

EWT iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Thematic ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI Taiwan Biotech

Total return, 1 year +69.9% +37.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +16.3% (EEM) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +53.6 pts vs EEM not measured

Expense ratio 0.59% 0.44%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 40.2%

Holdings 79 245

Net assets, EWT as of Oct 28, 2026 and IBB as of Oct 27, 2026 $12.0bn $11.0bn

EWT and IBB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

EWT

EWT tracks the MSCI Taiwan. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +69.9% with distributions reinvested, against +16.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.59% 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 79 positions, with the top ten at 47.7%. It sat 7.7% below its high of Oct 5, 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 EWT and IBB in the same category?: EWT 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, EWT or IBB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWT returned +69.9% and IBB +37.5%.
Which is cheaper, EWT or IBB?: IBB is cheaper, by 0.15 percentage points a year. That is about $15 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do EWT and IBB overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EWT and 40% of IBB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

EWT vs XBI BITO vs EWT BOND vs EWT EWT vs PDBC FXI vs IBB IBB vs INDA IBB vs ILF FLKR vs IBB

Where to next

EWT on its own →IBB on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →EWT dividend history →EWT holdings →IBB dividend history →IBB holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

EWT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

EWT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for EWT ↗

IBB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IBB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IBB ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, EWT against IBB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ewt-vs-ibb

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.