Are IBB and VONG in the same category?

IBB is a thematic ETF and VONG 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 VONG?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and VONG +1.1%.

Which is cheaper, IBB or VONG?

VONG is cheaper, by 0.38 percentage points a year. That is about $38 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 96% of VONG by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IBB vs VONG: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IBB returned +37.5% to VONG's +1.1%, and VONG charges 0.06% to IBB's 0.44%.

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Net assets: $11.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Biotechnology ETF, and $47.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF.

IBB on its own →VONG on its own →

At a glance

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

+1.1%

VONG total return, 1 year

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

0.06%

VONG expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VONG costs 0.38 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 36.4 points; VONG is 4.2 times larger.

IBB vs VONG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	VONG
Return
Measure	IBB	VONG
Total return, 1 year	+37.5%	+1.1%
Drawdown
Measure	IBB	VONG
Below its high		4.8%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IBB	VONG
What it tracks	Biotech	Russell 1000 Growth Index
Cost and size
Measure	IBB	VONG
Expense ratio	0.44%	0.06%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$11.2bn	$47.1bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	99%
Holdings
Measure	IBB	VONG
Holdings in common	1%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	50%	57.6%

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 VONG hold 1% 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

1% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IBB VONG

AMGEN INC 8.20% 0.47%

NATERA 3.85% 0.17%

REVOLUTION MEDICINES 2.50% 0.12%

ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS 2.11% 0.10%

INSMED 1.42% 0.07%

MEDPACE HOLDINGS 1.06% 0.04%

HALOZYME THERAPEUTICS 1.01% 0.04%

NEUROCRINE BIOSCIENCES 1.02% 0.04%

ASCENDIS PHARMA 1.06% 0.03%

BRIDGEBIO PHARMA 0.85% 0.03%

MADRIGAL PHARMACEUTICALS 0.66% 0.03%

TEMPUS AI CLASS A 0.54% 0.03%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IBB

GILEAD SCIENCES 8.56%

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 7.53%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 5.64%

MODERNA 5.29%

ARGENX SE ADR 3.42%

ILLUMINA INC 2.93%

BIOGEN 2.58%

BEONE MEDICINES AG 2.15%

Only in VONG

NVIDIA Corp 15.63%

Apple Inc 7.65%

Alphabet Inc 5.88%

Microsoft Corp 5.59%

Broadcom Inc 4.79%

Alphabet Inc 4.75%

Meta Platforms Inc 3.83%

Micron Technology Inc 3.52%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF VONG Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Biotech Tracks the Russell 1000 Growth

Total return, 1 year +37.5% +1.1%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +0.9% (IWF)

Gap to its benchmark not measured +0.2 pts vs IWF

Expense ratio 0.44% 0.06%

Already in the S&P 500 40.2% 95.5%

Holdings 245 373

Net assets, IBB as of Oct 27, 2026 and VONG as of Sep 30, 2026 $11.0bn $47.1bn

IBB and VONG 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.

VONG

VONG tracks the Russell 1000 Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.1% with distributions reinvested, against +0.9% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 373 positions, with the top ten at 57.6%. It sat 4.8% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Are IBB and VONG in the same category?: IBB is a thematic ETF and VONG 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 VONG?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and VONG +1.1%.
Which is cheaper, IBB or VONG?: VONG is cheaper, by 0.38 percentage points a year. That is about $38 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IBB and VONG overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 96% of VONG by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs QQQ IBB vs XOVR IBB vs SPYG IBB vs SCHG VONG vs XBI AIRR vs VONG GDX vs VONG LYTE vs VONG

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IBB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IBB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IBB ↗

VONG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VONG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VONG ↗

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

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