Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PPH vs VHT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PPH returned +27.4% to VHT's +25.0%; 33% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about PPH and VHT
Net assets: $1.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF, and $19.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Health Care ETF.
Pair scorecard
VHT costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.4 points.
| Measure | PPH | VHT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +27.4% | +25.0% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MVIS US Listed Pharmaceutical 25 Index | MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Health Care 25/50 |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.36% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, PPH as of Oct 27, 2026 and VHT as of Sep 30, 2026 | $1.0bn | $19.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 33% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 71.6% | 51.8% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Feb 6, 2004 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,185 weekly returnsVHT returned more: +797.6% to +398.2%. PPH and VHT swung about the same: 16.7% and 16.4%. PPH and VHT fell about the same at their worst: −37.4% and −38.1%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PPH | VHT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +398.2% | +797.6% | VHT | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +7.3% | +10.1% | VHT | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +174.2% | +552.3% | VHT | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.7% | 16.4% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.8% | 11.6% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −37.4% | −38.1% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.40 | 0.56 | VHT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.56 | 0.79 | VHT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.19 | 0.27 | VHT | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,185 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, PPH and VHT hold 33% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
33% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
PPH and VHT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PPH and VHT are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. PPH follows MVIS US Listed Pharmaceutical 25 Index and VHT follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Health Care 25/50.
- Holdings in common. 33% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 PPH returned +27.4% and VHT +25.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.4 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
PPH
PPH tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +27.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.36% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 59% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 25 positions, with the top ten at 71.6%.
VHT
VHT tracks an index of Health Care. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +25.0% with distributions reinvested, against +25.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Health Care 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 86% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 414 positions, with the top ten at 51.8%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, PPH or VHT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PPH returned +27.4% and VHT +25.0%.
- Which is cheaper, PPH or VHT?
- VHT is cheaper, by 0.27 percentage points a year. That is about $27 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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, PPH against VHT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pph-vs-vht
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PPH against VHT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pph-vs-vht
[PPH against VHT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pph-vs-vht)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.