Are IBB and URTH in the same category?

IBB is a thematic ETF and URTH 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 URTH?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and URTH +13.1%.

Which is cheaper, IBB or URTH?

URTH 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 URTH overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 69% of URTH by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IBB vs URTH: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IBB returned +37.5% to URTH's +13.1%, and URTH charges 0.24% to IBB's 0.44%.

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Net assets: $11.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Biotechnology ETF, and $8.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI World ETF.

IBB on its own →URTH on its own →

At a glance

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

+13.1%

URTH total return, 1 year

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

0.24%

URTH expense ratio

Pair scorecard

URTH costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 24.4 points; IBB is 1.3 times larger.

IBB vs URTH: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	URTH
Return
Measure	IBB	URTH
Total return, 1 year	+37.5%	+13.1%
Benchmark
Measure	IBB	URTH
What it tracks	Biotech	MSCI World Index
Cost and size
Measure	IBB	URTH
Expense ratio	0.44%	0.24%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$11.0bn	$8.8bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	99%
Holdings
Measure	IBB	URTH
Holdings in common	1%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	50%	27.2%

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

What they share

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

AMGEN INC 8.20% 0.26%

GILEAD SCIENCES 8.56% 0.22%

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 7.53% 0.14%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 5.64% 0.09%

ARGENX SE ADR 3.42% 0.06%

NATERA 3.85% 0.06%

ILLUMINA INC 2.93% 0.05%

BIOGEN 2.58% 0.04%

ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS 2.11% 0.03%

GENMAB SPONSORED ADR 1.72% 0.03%

REVOLUTION MEDICINES 2.50% 0.03%

UNITED THERAPEUTICS 1.71% 0.03%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IBB

MODERNA 5.29%

BEONE MEDICINES AG 2.15%

CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES INTERNA 1.18%

EXELIXIS INC 1.09%

ASCENDIS PHARMA 1.06%

MEDPACE HOLDINGS 1.06%

HALOZYME THERAPEUTICS 1.01%

BRIDGEBIO PHARMA 0.85%

Only in URTH

APPLE 5.60%

NVIDIA 5.50%

MICROSOFT 4.12%

AMAZON.COM INC 2.69%

ALPHABET CLASS A 2.07%

BROADCOM INC 1.70%

ALPHABET CLASS C 1.62%

META PLATFORMS CLASS A 1.49%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF URTH iShares MSCI World ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Biotech Tracks the MSCI World

Total return, 1 year +37.5% +13.1%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +13.4% (ACWI)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.3 pts vs ACWI

Expense ratio 0.44% 0.24%

Already in the S&P 500 40.2% 69.1%

Holdings 245 1254

Net assets, IBB as of Oct 27, 2026 and URTH as of Oct 28, 2026 $11.0bn $8.9bn

IBB and URTH 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.

URTH

URTH tracks the MSCI World. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.24% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 69% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,254 positions, with the top ten at 27.2%.

Questions people ask

Are IBB and URTH in the same category?: IBB is a thematic ETF and URTH 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 URTH?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and URTH +13.1%.
Which is cheaper, IBB or URTH?: URTH 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 URTH overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 69% of URTH by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

ACWI vs IBB IBB vs VT AVDV vs IBB IBB vs VYMI URTH vs XBI BITO vs URTH PDBC vs URTH CGBL vs URTH

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IBB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IBB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IBB ↗

URTH filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

URTH prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for URTH ↗

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

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