Are IBB and VT in the same category?

IBB is a thematic ETF and VT 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 VT?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and VT +13.5%.

Which is cheaper, IBB or VT?

VT 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 VT overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 55% of VT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IBB vs VT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IBB returned +37.5% to VT's +13.5%, and VT 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 $81.8bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Total World Stock Index ETF.

IBB on its own →VT on its own →

At a glance

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

+13.5%

VT total return, 1 year

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

0.06%

VT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VT costs 0.38 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 24.0 points; VT is 7.3 times larger.

IBB vs VT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	VT
Return
Measure	IBB	VT
Total return, 1 year	+37.5%	+13.5%
Benchmark
Measure	IBB	VT
What it tracks	Biotech	FTSE Global All Cap Index
Cost and size
Measure	IBB	VT
Expense ratio	0.44%	0.06%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$11.2bn	$81.8bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	99%
Holdings
Measure	IBB	VT
Holdings in common	1%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	50%	22.5%

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 VT 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 VT

AMGEN INC 8.20% 0.19%

GILEAD SCIENCES 8.56% 0.16%

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 7.53% 0.11%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 5.64% 0.06%

MODERNA 5.29% 0.06%

ARGENX SE ADR 3.42% 0.05%

NATERA 3.85% 0.05%

ILLUMINA INC 2.93% 0.04%

REVOLUTION MEDICINES 2.50% 0.03%

BIOGEN 2.58% 0.03%

ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS 2.11% 0.03%

INSMED 1.42% 0.02%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IBB

BIONTECH SE ADR 0.58%

GRAIL INC 0.44%

IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC 0.40%

KODIAK SCIENCES 0.37%

ADAPTIVE BIOTECHNOLOGIES 0.30%

LEGEND BIOTECH ADR REP 0.25%

ARCUTIS BIOTHERAPEUTICS 0.24%

CAREDX 0.23%

Only in VT

NVIDIA Corp 4.54%

Apple Inc 4.11%

Microsoft Corp 3.25%

Amazon.com Inc 2.06%

Alphabet Inc 1.73%

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd 1.62%

Broadcom Inc 1.39%

Meta Platforms Inc 1.36%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF VT Vanguard Total World Stock Index ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Biotech Tracks an index of Total World Stock

Total return, 1 year +37.5% +13.5%

Expense ratio 0.44% 0.06%

Already in the S&P 500 40.2% 54.7%

Holdings 245 10194

Net assets, IBB as of Oct 27, 2026 and VT as of Sep 30, 2026 $11.0bn $81.8bn

IBB and VT 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.

VT tracks an index of Total World Stock. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 55% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 10,194 positions, with the top ten at 22.5%.

Questions people ask

Are IBB and VT in the same category?: IBB is a thematic ETF and VT 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 VT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and VT +13.5%.
Which is cheaper, IBB or VT?: VT 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 VT overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 55% of VT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

ACWI vs IBB IBB vs URTH IBB vs VGK EWJ vs IBB VT vs XBI AIRR vs VT GDX vs VT LYTE vs VT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IBB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IBB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IBB ↗

VT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VT ↗

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

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