Are IBB and VYM in the same category?

IBB is a thematic ETF and VYM 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 VYM?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and VYM +18.0%.

Which is cheaper, IBB or VYM?

VYM is cheaper, by 0.40 percentage points a year. That is about $40 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 90% of VYM by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IBB vs VYM: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IBB returned +37.5% to VYM's +18.0%, and VYM charges 0.04% to IBB's 0.44%.

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Net assets: $11.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Biotechnology ETF, and $78.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF.

IBB on its own →VYM on its own →

At a glance

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

+18.0%

VYM total return, 1 year

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

0.04%

VYM expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VYM costs 0.40 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 19.5 points; VYM is 7.0 times larger.

IBB vs VYM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	VYM
Return
Measure	IBB	VYM
Total return, 1 year	+37.5%	+18.0%
Benchmark
Measure	IBB	VYM
What it tracks	Biotech	FTSE High Dividend Yield Index
Cost and size
Measure	IBB	VYM
Expense ratio	0.44%	0.04%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$11.2bn	$78.9bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	99%
Holdings
Measure	IBB	VYM
Holdings in common	2%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	50%	26.2%

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 VYM 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 VYM

AMGEN INC 8.20% 0.89%

GILEAD SCIENCES 8.56% 0.79%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IBB

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 7.53%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 5.64%

MODERNA 5.29%

NATERA 3.85%

ARGENX SE ADR 3.42%

ILLUMINA INC 2.93%

BIOGEN 2.58%

REVOLUTION MEDICINES 2.50%

Only in VYM

Broadcom Inc 6.93%

JPMorgan Chase & Co 3.75%

ExxonMobil Holdings Corp 2.84%

Johnson & Johnson 2.71%

AbbVie Inc 1.96%

Cisco Systems Inc 1.80%

Chevron Corp 1.61%

Caterpillar Inc 1.56%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF VYM Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Biotech Tracks an index of US high dividend

Total return, 1 year +37.5% +18.0%

Expense ratio 0.44% 0.04%

Already in the S&P 500 40.2% 89.5%

Holdings 245 595

Net assets, IBB as of Oct 27, 2026 and VYM as of Sep 30, 2026 $11.0bn $78.9bn

IBB and VYM 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.

VYM

VYM tracks an index of US high dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 90% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 595 positions, with the top ten at 26.2%.

Questions people ask

Are IBB and VYM in the same category?: IBB is a thematic ETF and VYM 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 VYM?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and VYM +18.0%.
Which is cheaper, IBB or VYM?: VYM is cheaper, by 0.40 percentage points a year. That is about $40 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IBB and VYM overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 90% of VYM by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs VTV IBB vs IWD IBB vs SCHD CGDV vs IBB VYM vs XBI AIRR vs VYM GDX vs VYM REMX vs VYM

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IBB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IBB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IBB ↗

VYM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VYM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VYM ↗

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

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