Are URTH and XBI in the same category?

URTH 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, URTH or XBI?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, URTH returned +13.1% and XBI +41.2%.

Which is cheaper, URTH or XBI?

URTH is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 69% of URTH and 13% of XBI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

URTH vs XBI: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, URTH returned +13.1% to XBI's +41.2%, and URTH charges 0.24% to XBI's 0.35%.

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Net assets: $8.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI World ETF, and $10.3bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF.

URTH on its own →XBI on its own →

At a glance

+13.1%

URTH total return, 1 year

+41.2%

XBI total return, 1 year

0.24%

URTH expense ratio

0.35%

XBI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

URTH costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 28.1 points; XBI is 1.2 times larger.

URTH vs XBI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	URTH	XBI
Return
Measure	URTH	XBI
Total return, 1 year	+13.1%	+41.2%
Drawdown
Measure	URTH	XBI
Below its all-time high		8.9%, high on Feb 8, 2021
Benchmark
Measure	URTH	XBI
What it tracks	MSCI World Index	Biotech
Cost and size
Measure	URTH	XBI
Expense ratio	0.24%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$8.8bn	$10.3bn
Active share vs the S&P 500		98%
Holdings
Measure	URTH	XBI
Holdings in common	2%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	27.2%	18%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, URTH and XBI hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

2% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first URTH XBI

ABBVIE 0.56% 1.67%

AMGEN INC 0.26% 1.68%

GILEAD SCIENCES 0.22% 1.60%

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 0.14% 1.46%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 0.09% 1.48%

NATERA 0.06% 1.82%

BIOGEN 0.04% 1.75%

ERSTE GROUP BANK AG 0.04% 0.11%

ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS 0.03% 1.29%

REVOLUTION MEDICINES 0.03% 1.31%

UNITED THERAPEUTICS 0.03% 1.71%

INCYTE CORP 0.02% 1.35%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in URTH

APPLE 5.60%

NVIDIA 5.50%

MICROSOFT 4.12%

AMAZON.COM INC 2.69%

ALPHABET CLASS A 2.07%

BROADCOM INC 1.70%

ALPHABET CLASS C 1.62%

META PLATFORMS CLASS A 1.49%

Only in XBI

MODERNA INC 2.24%

TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP 1.86%

HALOZYME THERAPEUTICS INC 1.75%

SPYRE THERAPEUTICS INC 1.67%

EXELIXIS INC 1.64%

IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC 1.62%

ORUKA THERAPEUTICS INC 1.53%

TG THERAPEUTICS INC 1.51%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

URTH iShares MSCI World 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 MSCI World Biotech

Total return, 1 year +13.1% +41.2%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.4% (ACWI) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.3 pts vs ACWI not measured

Expense ratio 0.24% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 69.1% 13.2%

Holdings 1254 165

Net assets, URTH as of Oct 28, 2026 and XBI as of Oct 27, 2026 $8.9bn $10.3bn

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

Alert

About each fund

URTH

URTH tracks the MSCI World. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.24% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 69% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,254 positions, with the top ten at 27.2%.

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 URTH and XBI in the same category?: URTH 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, URTH or XBI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, URTH returned +13.1% and XBI +41.2%.
Which is cheaper, URTH or XBI?: URTH is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do URTH and XBI overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 69% of URTH and 13% of XBI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs URTH BITO vs URTH PDBC vs URTH CGBL vs URTH ACWI vs XBI VT vs XBI AVDV vs XBI VYMI vs XBI

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

URTH filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

URTH prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for URTH ↗

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

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