Are IBB and SPYG in the same category?

IBB is a thematic ETF and SPYG 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 SPYG?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and SPYG +12.2%.

Which is cheaper, IBB or SPYG?

SPYG is cheaper, by 0.40 percentage points a year. That is about $40 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 100% of SPYG by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IBB vs SPYG: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IBB returned +37.5% to SPYG's +12.2%, and SPYG charges 0.04% to IBB's 0.44%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $11.0bn for iShares Biotechnology ETF and $55.9bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF.

IBB on its own →SPYG on its own →

At a glance

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

+12.2%

SPYG total return, 1 year

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

0.04%

SPYG expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPYG costs 0.40 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 25.3 points; SPYG is 5.1 times larger.

IBB vs SPYG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	SPYG
Return
Measure	IBB	SPYG
Total return, 1 year	+37.5%	+12.2%
Drawdown
Measure	IBB	SPYG
Below its high		4.1%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IBB	SPYG
What it tracks	Biotech	S&P 500 Growth Index
Cost and size
Measure	IBB	SPYG
Expense ratio	0.44%	0.04%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$11.0bn	$55.9bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	99%
Holdings
Measure	IBB	SPYG
Holdings in common	1%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	50%	59.6%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IBB and SPYG hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

1% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IBB SPYG

AMGEN INC 8.20% 0.46%

GILEAD SCIENCES 8.56% 0.29%

ILLUMINA INC 2.93% 0.06%

INCYTE CORP 1.63% 0.06%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IBB

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 7.53%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 5.64%

MODERNA 5.29%

NATERA 3.85%

ARGENX SE ADR 3.42%

BIOGEN 2.58%

REVOLUTION MEDICINES 2.50%

BEONE MEDICINES AG 2.15%

Only in SPYG

NVIDIA CORP 14.61%

MICROSOFT CORP 10.93%

APPLE INC 7.01%

ALPHABET INC CL A 5.21%

BROADCOM INC 4.51%

ALPHABET INC CL C 4.17%

META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A 3.79%

AMAZON.COM INC 3.65%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF SPYG State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Biotech Tracks the S&P 500 Growth

Total return, 1 year +37.5% +12.2%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +12.1% (IVW)

Gap to its benchmark not measured +0.1 pts vs IVW

Expense ratio 0.44% 0.04%

Already in the S&P 500 40.2% 100.0%

Holdings 245 152

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $11.0bn $55.9bn

IBB and SPYG 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.

SPYG

SPYG tracks the S&P 500 Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +12.1% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 152 positions, with the top ten at 59.6%. It sat 4.1% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Are IBB and SPYG in the same category?: IBB is a thematic ETF and SPYG 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 SPYG?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and SPYG +12.2%.
Which is cheaper, IBB or SPYG?: SPYG is cheaper, by 0.40 percentage points a year. That is about $40 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IBB and SPYG overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 100% of SPYG by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs QQQM IBB vs IWF IBB vs VUG IBB vs ONEQ SPYG vs XBI BITO vs SPYG PDBC vs SPYG CGBL vs SPYG

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IBB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IBB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IBB ↗

SPYG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

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