Which returned more over the last year, FXH or IXJ?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FXH returned +21.5% and IXJ +20.8%.

Which is cheaper, FXH or IXJ?

IXJ is cheaper, by 0.23 percentage points a year. That is about $23 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do FXH and IXJ overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 59% of FXH and 71% of IXJ by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FXH vs IXJ: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FXH returned +21.5% to IXJ's +20.8%; 26% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.1bn for First Trust Health Care AlphaDEX Fund and $4.5bn for iShares Global Healthcare ETF.

FXH on its own →IXJ on its own →

At a glance

+21.5%

FXH total return, 1 year

+20.8%

IXJ total return, 1 year

0.61%

FXH expense ratio

0.38%

IXJ expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IXJ costs 0.23 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.7 points; IXJ is 4.1 times larger.

FXH vs IXJ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FXH	IXJ
Return
Measure	FXH	IXJ
Total return, 1 year	+21.5%	+20.8%
Benchmark
Measure	FXH	IXJ
What it tracks	StrataQuant Health Care Index	S&P Global 1200 Health Care Index
Cost and size
Measure	FXH	IXJ
Expense ratio	0.61%	0.38%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.1bn	$4.5bn
Holdings
Measure	FXH	IXJ
Holdings in common	26%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	24.7%	47.5%

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

Risk and return

May 18, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,014 weekly returns

FXH IXJ

Return

Total return edge FXH +601.0% +402.3%

Annualized edge FXH +10.5% +8.6%

Price return edge FXH +581.6% +255.4%

Risk

Volatility edge IXJ 18.5% 16.6%

Max drawdown edge IXJ (slight) −41.9% −39.7%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge FXH 0.55 0.49

Sortino edge FXH 0.77 0.68

Calmar edge FXH 0.25 0.22

Reading

FXH returned more: +601.0% to +402.3%. IXJ swung less: 16.6% to 18.5%. IXJ fell slightly less at its worst: −39.7% to −41.9%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FXH vs IXJ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FXH	IXJ	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+601.0%	+402.3%	FXH	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.5%	+8.6%	FXH	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+581.6%	+255.4%	FXH	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	18.5%	16.6%	IXJ	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	13.2%	12.0%	IXJ (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−41.9%	−39.7%	IXJ (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.55	0.49	FXH	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.77	0.68	FXH	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.25	0.22	FXH	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,014 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

26%

By the books each fund has filed, FXH and IXJ hold 26% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

26% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FXH IXJ

Eli Lilly and Company 2.04% 10.85%

Amgen Inc. 1.96% 2.82%

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company 1.82% 1.46%

AbbVie Inc. 1.41% 5.35%

Medtronic Plc 1.92% 1.34%

Elevance Health Inc. 1.40% 1.06%

Abbott Laboratories 0.96% 2.07%

Pfizer Inc. 0.96% 1.98%

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 1.98% 0.93%

The Cigna Group 2.53% 0.92%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated 0.92% 1.53%

HCA Healthcare, Inc. 1.36% 0.77%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FXH

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. 2.68%

Caris Life Sciences, Inc. 2.53%

Globus Medical, Inc. (Class A) 2.49%

Medpace Holdings, Inc. 2.48%

Guardant Health, Inc. 2.30%

Natera, Inc. 2.29%

Exelixis, Inc. 2.06%

Tempus AI, Inc. (Class A) 2.03%

Only in IXJ

MERCK & CO INC 4.06%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 3.93%

NOVARTIS AG 3.31%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 3.08%

GILEAD SCIENCES 2.29%

NOVO NORDISK CLASS B 1.43%

CVS HEALTH 1.36%

MCKESSON CORP 1.31%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FXH First Trust Health Care AlphaDEX Fund IXJ iShares Global Healthcare ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust iShares

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +21.5% +20.8%

Expense ratio 0.61% 0.38%

Already in the S&P 500 59.2% 70.9%

Holdings 72 110

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.1bn $4.5bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-B775824111

FXH and IXJ are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

What each follows. FXH follows StrataQuant Health Care Index and IXJ follows S&P Global 1200 Health Care Index.
Holdings in common. 26% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
Cost. FXH charges 0.61% of assets a year and IXJ 0.38%, a gap of 0.23 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

FXH

FXH tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +21.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.61% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 59% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 72 positions, with the top ten at 24.7%.

IXJ

IXJ tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +20.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.38% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 71% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 110 positions, with the top ten at 47.5%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FXH or IXJ?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FXH returned +21.5% and IXJ +20.8%.
Which is cheaper, FXH or IXJ?: IXJ is cheaper, by 0.23 percentage points a year. That is about $23 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FXH and IXJ overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 59% of FXH and 71% of IXJ by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FXH vs IHE FXH vs IHF FXH vs VHT FXH vs XLV IXJ vs PPH IXJ vs IYH IXJ vs VHT IXJ vs XLV

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FXH filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FXH prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FXH ↗

IXJ filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IXJ prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IXJ ↗

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, FXH against IXJ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fxh-vs-ixj

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