Are IWC and XBI in the same category?

IWC 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, IWC or XBI?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWC returned +16.5% and XBI +41.2%.

Which is cheaper, IWC or XBI?

XBI is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 92% of IWC and 13% of XBI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IWC vs XBI: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWC returned +16.5% to XBI's +41.2%, and XBI charges 0.35% to IWC's 0.60%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.2bn for iShares Micro-Cap ETF and $10.3bn for State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF.

IWC on its own →XBI on its own →

At a glance

+16.5%

IWC total return, 1 year

+41.2%

XBI total return, 1 year

0.60%

IWC expense ratio

0.35%

XBI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XBI costs 0.25 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 24.7 points; XBI is 8.6 times larger.

IWC vs XBI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IWC	XBI
Return
Measure	IWC	XBI
Total return, 1 year	+16.5%	+41.2%
Drawdown
Measure	IWC	XBI
Below its high	9.5%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Below its all-time high		8.9%, high on Feb 8, 2021
Benchmark
Measure	IWC	XBI
What it tracks	Russell Microcap Index	Biotech
Cost and size
Measure	IWC	XBI
Expense ratio	0.60%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.2bn	$10.3bn
Active share vs the S&P 500		98%
Holdings
Measure	IWC	XBI
Holdings in common	9%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	5.9%	18%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IWC and XBI hold 9% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

9% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IWC XBI

CAREDX 0.88% 0.92%

SELLAS LIFE SCIENCES GROUP INC 0.60% 0.68%

VIRIDIAN THERAPEUTICS ORS 0.59% 0.59%

NURIX THERAPEUTICS 0.63% 0.58%

HYPERLIQUID STRATEGIES INC 0.46% 0.58%

ABSCI CORP 0.39% 0.52%

FIRST TRACKS BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC 0.37% 0.39%

PRECIGEN 0.29% 0.35%

REPLIMUNE GROUP 0.26% 0.32%

ZENAS BIOPHARMA 0.24% 0.28%

RIGEL PHARMACEUTICALS 0.23% 0.24%

VERASTEM INC 0.21% 0.23%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IWC

PENGUIN SOLUTIONS INC 0.73%

OUSTER 0.53%

INTERFACE 0.52%

STRIVE INC CLASS A 0.50%

PORCH GROUP 0.44%

XERIS BIOPHARMA HOLDINGS 0.44%

DIME COMMERCIAL BANCSHARES 0.43%

LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS HOLDINGS 0.43%

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

IWC iShares Micro-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 Russell Microcap Biotech

Total return, 1 year +16.5% +41.2%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.3% (IWV) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +3.2 pts vs IWV not measured

Expense ratio 0.60% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 91.7% 13.2%

Holdings 1365 165

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.2bn $10.3bn

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

Alert

About each fund

IWC

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.5% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.

IWC tracks the Russell Microcap. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.60% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,365 positions, with the top ten at 5.9%. It sat 9.5% 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 IWC and XBI in the same category?: IWC 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, IWC or XBI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWC returned +16.5% and XBI +41.2%.
Which is cheaper, IWC or XBI?: XBI is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IWC and XBI overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 92% of IWC and 13% of XBI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs IWC BITO vs IWC AGG vs IWC BND vs IWC IJT vs XBI VTWO vs XBI IWM vs XBI VB vs XBI

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IWC filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IWC prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IWC ↗

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

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