Are IBB and VBK in the same category?

IBB is a thematic ETF and VBK 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 VBK?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and VBK +10.3%.

Which is cheaper, IBB or VBK?

VBK is cheaper, by 0.39 percentage points a year. That is about $39 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 10% of VBK by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IBB vs VBK: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IBB returned +37.5% to VBK's +10.3%, and VBK charges 0.05% to IBB's 0.44%.

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Net assets: $11.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Biotechnology ETF, and $22.8bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF.

IBB on its own →VBK on its own →

At a glance

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

+10.3%

VBK total return, 1 year

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

0.05%

VBK expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VBK costs 0.39 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 27.2 points; VBK is 2.0 times larger.

IBB vs VBK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	VBK
Return
Measure	IBB	VBK
Total return, 1 year	+37.5%	+10.3%
Drawdown
Measure	IBB	VBK
Below its high		8.0%, high on Aug 17, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IBB	VBK
What it tracks	Biotech	Morningstar US Small Cap Growth Index
Cost and size
Measure	IBB	VBK
Expense ratio	0.44%	0.05%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$11.2bn	$22.8bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	99%
Holdings
Measure	IBB	VBK
Holdings in common	14%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	50%	12.2%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Feb 6, 2004 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,185 weekly returns

IBB VBK

Return

Total return edge IBB (slight) +738.4% +672.8%

Annualized edge IBB (slight) +9.8% +9.4%

Price return edge IBB +702.6% +567.7%

Risk

Volatility edge Tie 22.5% 22.3%

Max drawdown edge IBB −37.5% −57.8%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IBB (slight) 0.45 0.43

Sortino edge IBB (slight) 0.64 0.62

Calmar edge IBB 0.26 0.16

Reading

IBB returned slightly more: +738.4% to +672.8%. IBB and VBK swung about the same: 22.5% and 22.3%. IBB fell less at its worst: −37.5% to −57.8%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: IBB vs VBK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	VBK	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+738.4%	+672.8%	IBB (slight)	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+9.8%	+9.4%	IBB (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+702.6%	+567.7%	IBB	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	22.5%	22.3%	Tie	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	15.7%	15.7%	Tie	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−37.5%	−57.8%	IBB	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.45	0.43	IBB (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.64	0.62	IBB (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.26	0.16	IBB	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,185 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

14%

By the books each fund has filed, IBB and VBK hold 14% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

14% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IBB VBK

NATERA 3.85% 1.61%

REVOLUTION MEDICINES 2.50% 1.19%

ILLUMINA INC 2.93% 1.18%

INCYTE CORP 1.63% 0.60%

ROIVANT SCIENCES LTD 1.33% 0.53%

NEUROCRINE BIOSCIENCES 1.02% 0.41%

MEDPACE HOLDINGS 1.06% 0.40%

EXELIXIS INC 1.09% 0.39%

TWIST BIOSCIENCE 0.71% 0.37%

HALOZYME THERAPEUTICS 1.01% 0.36%

INSMED 1.42% 0.36%

BIOMARIN PHARMACEUTICAL 0.74% 0.33%

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%

ARGENX SE ADR 3.42%

BIOGEN 2.58%

BEONE MEDICINES AG 2.15%

Only in VBK

SLCMT1142 2.09%

Twilio Inc 1.28%

Everpure Inc 1.18%

Okta Inc 1.00%

EMCOR Group Inc 0.95%

Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd 0.94%

TechnipFMC PLC 0.76%

nVent Electric PLC 0.74%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF VBK Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Biotech Tracks an index of Small-Cap Growth

Total return, 1 year +37.5% +10.3%

Expense ratio 0.44% 0.05%

Already in the S&P 500 40.2% 10.2%

Holdings 245 554

Net assets, IBB as of Oct 27, 2026 and VBK as of Sep 30, 2026 $11.0bn $22.8bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-8742CEA402

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

What each follows. IBB follows Biotech and VBK follows Morningstar US Small Cap Growth Index.
Holdings in common. 14% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IBB returned +37.5% and VBK +10.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 27.2 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.

VBK

VBK tracks an index of Small-Cap Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.05% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 10% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 554 positions, with the top ten at 12.2%. It sat 8.0% below its high of Aug 17, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Are IBB and VBK in the same category?: IBB is a thematic ETF and VBK 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 VBK?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and VBK +10.3%.
Which is cheaper, IBB or VBK?: VBK is cheaper, by 0.39 percentage points a year. That is about $39 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IBB and VBK overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 10% of VBK by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs IWO IBB vs IJS IBB vs MDY IBB vs VXF VBK vs XBI BITO vs VBK CGBL vs VBK HGER vs VBK

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IBB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IBB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IBB ↗

VBK filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VBK prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VBK ↗

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

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