Are IBB and SDY in the same category?

IBB is a thematic ETF and SDY 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 SDY?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and SDY +16.5%.

Which is cheaper, IBB or SDY?

SDY is cheaper, by 0.09 percentage points a year. That is about $9 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 84% of SDY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IBB vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IBB returned +37.5% to SDY's +16.5%, and SDY charges 0.35% to IBB's 0.44%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $11.0bn for iShares Biotechnology ETF and $21.9bn for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF.

IBB on its own →SDY on its own →

At a glance

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SDY costs 0.09 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 21.0 points; SDY is 2.0 times larger.

IBB vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	SDY
Return
Measure	IBB	SDY
Total return, 1 year	+37.5%	+16.5%
Benchmark
Measure	IBB	SDY
What it tracks	Biotech	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index
Cost and size
Measure	IBB	SDY
Expense ratio	0.44%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$11.0bn	$21.9bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	99%
Holdings
Measure	IBB	SDY
Holdings in common	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	50%	20.4%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IBB and SDY 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 IBB SDY

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 SDY

ACCENTURE PLC CL A 3.73%

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC 2.81%

CHEVRON CORP 2.15%

REALTY INCOME CORP 1.94%

PEPSICO INC 1.82%

MEDTRONIC PLC 1.79%

TARGET CORP 1.59%

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING 1.55%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Biotech Tracks the S&P Dividend

Total return, 1 year +37.5% +16.5%

Expense ratio 0.44% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 40.2% 84.4%

Holdings 245 156

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $11.0bn $21.9bn

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

Alert

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.

SDY

SDY tracks the S&P Dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% 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 156 positions, with the top ten at 20.4%.

Questions people ask

Are IBB and SDY in the same category?: IBB is a thematic ETF and SDY 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 SDY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and SDY +16.5%.
Which is cheaper, IBB or SDY?: SDY is cheaper, by 0.09 percentage points a year. That is about $9 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IBB and SDY overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 84% of SDY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs VOE DVY vs IBB IBB vs RSP COWZ vs IBB SDY vs XBI BITO vs SDY PDBC vs SDY CGBL vs SDY

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IBB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IBB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IBB ↗

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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 SDY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ibb-vs-sdy

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