Are IBB and VO in the same category?

IBB is a thematic ETF and VO 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 VO?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and VO +12.8%.

Which is cheaper, IBB or VO?

VO is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 91% of VO by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IBB vs VO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IBB returned +37.5% to VO's +12.8%, and VO charges 0.03% to IBB's 0.44%.

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Net assets: $11.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Biotechnology ETF, and $103.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF.

IBB on its own →VO on its own →

At a glance

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

+12.8%

VO total return, 1 year

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

0.03%

VO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VO costs 0.41 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 24.7 points; VO is 9.2 times larger.

IBB vs VO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	VO
Return
Measure	IBB	VO
Total return, 1 year	+37.5%	+12.8%
Drawdown
Measure	IBB	VO
Below its high		3.1%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IBB	VO
What it tracks	Biotech	Morningstar US Mid Cap Index (formerly CRSP US Mid Cap Index)
Cost and size
Measure	IBB	VO
Expense ratio	0.44%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$11.2bn	$103.4bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	99%
Holdings
Measure	IBB	VO
Holdings in common	2%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	50%	9.7%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IBB and VO hold 2% 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

2% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IBB VO

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 5.64% 0.38%

MODERNA 5.29% 0.34%

BIOGEN 2.58% 0.33%

ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS 2.11% 0.33%

INSMED 1.42% 0.12%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IBB

GILEAD SCIENCES 8.56%

AMGEN INC 8.20%

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 7.53%

NATERA 3.85%

ARGENX SE ADR 3.42%

ILLUMINA INC 2.93%

REVOLUTION MEDICINES 2.50%

BEONE MEDICINES AG 2.15%

Only in VO

Cloudflare Inc 1.11%

Valero Energy Corp 1.10%

Marathon Petroleum Corp 1.10%

Phillips 66 1.01%

Quanta Services Inc 0.95%

Vertiv Holdings Co 0.92%

Datadog Inc 0.91%

Howmet Aerospace Inc 0.89%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF VO Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Biotech Tracks an index of Mid-Cap

Total return, 1 year +37.5% +12.8%

Expense ratio 0.44% 0.03%

Already in the S&P 500 40.2% 91.1%

Holdings 245 273

Net assets, IBB as of Oct 27, 2026 and VO as of Sep 30, 2026 $11.0bn $103.4bn

IBB and VO 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.

VO tracks an index of Mid-Cap. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 91% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 273 positions, with the top ten at 9.7%. It sat 3.1% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Are IBB and VO in the same category?: IBB is a thematic ETF and VO 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 VO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and VO +12.8%.
Which is cheaper, IBB or VO?: VO is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IBB and VO overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 91% of VO by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs MDY IBB vs VXF IBB vs IJH IBB vs MOAT VO vs XBI AIRR vs VO GDX vs VO REMX vs VO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IBB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IBB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IBB ↗

VO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VO ↗

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

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