Are IJR and XBI in the same category?

IJR is a stock ETF and XBI is a thematic ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.

Which returned more over the last year, IJR or XBI?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IJR returned +17.5% and XBI +41.2%.

Which is cheaper, IJR or XBI?

IJR is cheaper, by 0.29 percentage points a year. That is about $29 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do IJR and XBI overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of IJR and 13% of XBI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IJR vs XBI: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IJR returned +17.5% to XBI's +41.2%, and IJR charges 0.06% to XBI's 0.35%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $104.6bn for iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF and $10.3bn for State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF.

IJR on its own →XBI on its own →

At a glance

+17.5%

IJR total return, 1 year

+41.2%

XBI total return, 1 year

0.06%

IJR expense ratio

0.35%

XBI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IJR costs 0.29 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 23.7 points; IJR is 10.2 times larger.

IJR vs XBI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IJR	XBI
Return
Measure	IJR	XBI
Total return, 1 year	+17.5%	+41.2%
Drawdown
Measure	IJR	XBI
Below its high	6.8%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Below its all-time high		8.9%, high on Feb 8, 2021
Benchmark
Measure	IJR	XBI
What it tracks	S&P SmallCap 600	Biotech
Cost and size
Measure	IJR	XBI
Expense ratio	0.06%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$104.6bn	$10.3bn
Active share vs the S&P 500		98%
Holdings
Measure	IJR	XBI
Holdings in common	3%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	5.3%	18%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IJR and XBI hold 3% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

3% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IJR XBI

PROTAGONIST THERAPEUTICS 0.52% 1.42%

TG THERAPEUTICS 0.46% 1.51%

ALKERMES 0.42% 1.43%

PTC THERAPEUTICS 0.29% 1.34%

VERACYTE 0.23% 1.16%

ARCUTIS BIOTHERAPEUTICS 0.21% 0.95%

ACADIA PHARMACEUTICALS 0.15% 0.49%

ADMA BIOLOGICS 0.14% 0.50%

VERICEL 0.13% 0.47%

XENCOR 0.12% 0.39%

SAREPTA THERAPEUTICS 0.11% 0.55%

ARCUS BIOSCIENCES 0.11% 0.37%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IJR

GLAUKOS 0.61%

PAYCOM SOFTWARE 0.57%

MATCH GROUP INC 0.57%

VIASAT INC 0.55%

SM ENERGY 0.53%

RYMAN HOSPITALITY PROPERTIES REIT 0.51%

JACKSON FINANCIAL CLASS A 0.48%

LIFE TIME GROUP HOLDINGS 0.48%

Only in XBI

MODERNA INC 2.24%

TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP 1.86%

NATERA INC 1.82%

BIOGEN INC 1.75%

HALOZYME THERAPEUTICS INC 1.75%

UNITED THERAPEUTICS CORP 1.71%

AMGEN INC 1.68%

ABBVIE INC 1.67%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IJR iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF XBI State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Thematic ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks the S&P SmallCap 600 Biotech

Total return, 1 year +17.5% +41.2%

Its benchmark over the same days +17.6% (SPSM) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs SPSM not measured

Expense ratio 0.06% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 13.2%

Holdings 642 165

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $104.6bn $10.3bn

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

Alert

About each fund

IJR

IJR tracks the S&P SmallCap 600. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.5% with distributions reinvested, against +17.6% for its benchmark, the S&P SmallCap 600. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 642 positions, with the top ten at 5.3%. It sat 6.8% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

XBI

By weight, 13% of XBI's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 98%. The top ten holdings are 18% of the fund across 165 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +41.2% with distributions reinvested. It sits 8.9% below its all-time high of Feb 8, 2021.

Questions people ask

Are IJR and XBI in the same category?: IJR is a stock ETF and XBI is a thematic ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, IJR or XBI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IJR returned +17.5% and XBI +41.2%.
Which is cheaper, IJR or XBI?: IJR is cheaper, by 0.29 percentage points a year. That is about $29 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IJR and XBI overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of IJR and 13% of XBI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs IJR IJR vs REMX IJR vs LYTE AIRR vs IJR VTWO vs XBI IJT vs XBI IWC vs XBI VB vs XBI

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IJR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IJR prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IJR ↗

XBI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XBI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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, IJR against XBI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ijr-vs-xbi

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