Are GARP and IBB in the same category?

GARP 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, GARP or IBB?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GARP returned +18.0% and IBB +37.5%.

Which is cheaper, GARP or IBB?

GARP is cheaper, by 0.29 percentage points a year. That is about $29 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 94% of GARP and 40% of IBB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

GARP vs IBB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GARP returned +18.0% to IBB's +37.5%, and GARP charges 0.15% to IBB's 0.44%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $3.6bn for iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF and $11.0bn for iShares Biotechnology ETF.

GARP on its own →IBB on its own →

At a glance

+18.0%

GARP total return, 1 year

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

0.15%

GARP expense ratio

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

GARP costs 0.29 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 19.5 points; IBB is 3.1 times larger.

GARP vs IBB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GARP	IBB
Return
Measure	GARP	IBB
Total return, 1 year	+18.0%	+37.5%
Drawdown
Measure	GARP	IBB
Below its high	7.0%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GARP	IBB
What it tracks	MSCI USA Quality GARP Select Index	Biotech
Cost and size
Measure	GARP	IBB
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.44%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$3.6bn	$11.0bn
Active share vs the S&P 500		99%
Holdings
Measure	GARP	IBB
Holdings in common	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	43.5%	50%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, GARP 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 GARP IBB

ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS 0.11% 2.11%

NATERA 0.10% 3.85%

UNITED THERAPEUTICS 0.08% 1.71%

INCYTE CORP 0.07% 1.63%

NEUROCRINE BIOSCIENCES 0.05% 1.02%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in GARP

MICROSOFT 5.67%

APPLE 5.66%

NVIDIA 5.18%

VISA CLASS A 5.13%

META PLATFORMS CLASS A 4.72%

MICRON TECHNOLOGY 4.61%

LAM RESEARCH 3.31%

CATERPILLAR INC 3.29%

Only in IBB

GILEAD SCIENCES 8.56%

AMGEN INC 8.20%

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 7.53%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 5.64%

MODERNA 5.29%

ARGENX SE ADR 3.42%

ILLUMINA INC 2.93%

BIOGEN 2.58%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

GARP iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Thematic ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI USA Quality GARP Biotech

Total return, 1 year +18.0% +37.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.3% (PBUS) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +4.7 pts vs PBUS not measured

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.44%

Already in the S&P 500 94.4% 40.2%

Holdings 131 245

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $3.6bn $11.0bn

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

Alert

About each fund

GARP

GARP tracks the MSCI USA Quality GARP. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 131 positions, with the top ten at 43.5%. It sat 7.0% below its high of Oct 6, 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 GARP and IBB in the same category?: GARP 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, GARP or IBB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GARP returned +18.0% and IBB +37.5%.
Which is cheaper, GARP or IBB?: GARP is cheaper, by 0.29 percentage points a year. That is about $29 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do GARP and IBB overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 94% of GARP and 40% of IBB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

GARP vs XBI AIRR vs GARP GARP vs GDX GARP vs LYTE FBCG vs IBB IBB vs ONEQ IBB vs SPYG IBB vs XOVR

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

GARP and IBB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

GARP and IBB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for GARP ↗

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

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