Are IBB and IWO in the same category?

IBB is a thematic ETF and IWO is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.

Which returned more over the last year, IBB or IWO?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and IWO +7.9%.

Which is cheaper, IBB or IWO?

IWO 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.

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

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IBB vs IWO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IBB returned +37.5% to IWO's +7.9%, and IWO charges 0.24% to IBB's 0.44%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $11.0bn for iShares Biotechnology ETF and $14.0bn for iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF.

IBB on its own →IWO on its own →

At a glance

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

+7.9%

IWO total return, 1 year

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

0.24%

IWO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IWO costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 29.6 points; IWO is 1.3 times larger.

IBB vs IWO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	IWO
Return
Measure	IBB	IWO
Total return, 1 year	+37.5%	+7.9%
Drawdown
Measure	IBB	IWO
Below its high		9.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IBB	IWO
What it tracks	Biotech	Russell 2000 Growth Index
Cost and size
Measure	IBB	IWO
Expense ratio	0.44%	0.24%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$11.0bn	$14.0bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	99%
Holdings
Measure	IBB	IWO
Holdings in common	15%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	50%	6.4%

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

Risk and return

Feb 23, 2001 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,339 weekly returns

IBB IWO

Return

Total return edge IBB (slight) +586.4% +566.5%

Annualized edge Tie +7.8% +7.6%

Price return edge IBB +557.1% +463.0%

Risk

Volatility edge IWO (slight) 24.3% 23.5%

Max drawdown edge IWO (slight) −59.2% −56.5%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge Tie 0.36 0.36

Sortino edge Tie 0.50 0.50

Calmar edge IWO (slight) 0.13 0.14

Reading

IBB returned slightly more: +586.4% to +566.5%. IWO swung slightly less: 23.5% to 24.3%. IWO fell slightly less at its worst: −56.5% to −59.2%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: IBB vs IWO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	IWO	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+586.4%	+566.5%	IBB (slight)	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+7.8%	+7.6%	Tie	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+557.1%	+463.0%	IBB	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	24.3%	23.5%	IWO (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	17.2%	16.6%	IWO (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−59.2%	−56.5%	IWO (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.36	0.36	Tie	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.50	0.50	Tie	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.13	0.14	IWO (slight)	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,339 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

15%

By the books each fund has filed, IBB and IWO hold 15% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

15% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IBB IWO

TWIST BIOSCIENCE 0.71% 0.71%

10X GENOMICS CLASS A 0.63% 0.61%

PROTAGONIST THERAPEUTICS 0.60% 0.58%

KRYSTAL BIOTECH 0.58% 0.56%

SPYRE THERAPEUTICS INC 0.55% 0.51%

PRAXIS PRECISION MEDICINES 0.49% 0.45%

KYMERA THERAPEUTICS 0.61% 0.41%

ALKERMES 0.50% 0.40%

VAXCYTE 0.61% 0.38%

RHYTHM PHARMACEUTICALS 0.42% 0.36%

COGENT BIOSCIENCES 0.35% 0.36%

ORUKA THERAPEUTICS 0.39% 0.32%

Only in one fund ↓

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%

Only in IWO

JFROG 0.74%

GLAUKOS 0.70%

MOOG INC CLASS A 0.68%

BRIGHTSPRING HEALTH SERVICES INC 0.66%

RYMAN HOSPITALITY PROPERTIES REIT 0.60%

INTERDIGITAL INC 0.58%

BRINKER INTERNATIONAL INC 0.57%

HEALTHEQUITY 0.57%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF IWO iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Biotech Tracks the Russell 2000 Growth

Total return, 1 year +37.5% +7.9%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +8.0% (VTWG)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.1 pts vs VTWG

Expense ratio 0.44% 0.24%

Already in the S&P 500 40.2% 0.0%

Holdings 245 1122

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $11.0bn $14.0bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-85A7028AE0

IBB and IWO do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. IBB follows Biotech and IWO follows Russell 2000 Growth Index.
Holdings in common. 15% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IBB returned +37.5% and IWO +7.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 29.6 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

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.

IWO

IWO tracks the Russell 2000 Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +7.9% with distributions reinvested, against +8.0% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.24% 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 1,122 positions, with the top ten at 6.4%. It sat 9.9% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Are IBB and IWO in the same category?: IBB is a thematic ETF and IWO is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, IBB or IWO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and IWO +7.9%.
Which is cheaper, IBB or IWO?: IWO 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.
How much do IBB and IWO overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 0% of IWO by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs VBK IBB vs SDY IBB vs VOE DVY vs IBB IWO vs XBI BITO vs IWO IWO vs PDBC CGBL vs IWO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IBB and IWO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

iShares page for IBB ↗

iShares page for IWO ↗

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

Open data →

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