Which returned more over the last year, USMV or VHT?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USMV returned +10.8% and VHT +25.0%.

Which is cheaper, USMV or VHT?

VHT is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do USMV and VHT overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 93% of USMV and 86% of VHT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USMV vs VHT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USMV returned +10.8% to VHT's +25.0%; 13% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $24.1bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF, and $19.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Health Care ETF.

USMV on its own →VHT on its own →

At a glance

+10.8%

USMV total return, 1 year

+25.0%

VHT total return, 1 year

0.15%

USMV expense ratio

0.09%

VHT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VHT costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 14.2 points; USMV is 1.2 times larger.

USMV vs VHT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USMV	VHT
Return
Measure	USMV	VHT
Total return, 1 year	+10.8%	+25.0%
Benchmark
Measure	USMV	VHT
What it tracks	MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index	MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Health Care 25/50
Cost and size
Measure	USMV	VHT
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$23.2bn	$19.1bn
Holdings
Measure	USMV	VHT
Holdings in common	13%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	14.8%	51.8%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Oct 28, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 782 weekly returns

USMV VHT

Return

Total return edge VHT +423.5% +578.7%

Annualized edge VHT +11.6% +13.6%

Price return edge VHT +295.7% +442.1%

Risk

Volatility edge USMV 13.4% 16.2%

Max drawdown edge VHT −30.6% −25.6%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge Tie 0.76 0.76

Sortino edge Tie 1.09 1.12

Calmar edge VHT 0.38 0.53

Reading

VHT returned more: +578.7% to +423.5%. USMV swung less: 13.4% to 16.2%. VHT fell less at its worst: −25.6% to −30.6%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: USMV vs VHT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USMV	VHT	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+423.5%	+578.7%	VHT	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+11.6%	+13.6%	VHT	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+295.7%	+442.1%	VHT	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	13.4%	16.2%	USMV	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	9.3%	11.1%	USMV	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−30.6%	−25.6%	VHT	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.76	0.76	Tie	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	1.09	1.12	Tie	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.38	0.53	VHT	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 782 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

13%

By the books each fund has filed, USMV and VHT hold 13% 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

13% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first USMV VHT

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 1.44% 8.79%

MCKESSON CORP 1.43% 1.40%

MERCK & CO INC 1.37% 5.02%

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 1.34% 1.85%

GILEAD SCIENCES 0.91% 2.59%

ELI LILLY 0.84% 12.95%

ABBVIE 0.78% 6.46%

CENCORA 1.25% 0.78%

ABBOTT LABORATORIES 0.70% 2.41%

ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS 0.50% 0.46%

CENTENE CORP 0.47% 0.43%

UNITEDHEALTH GROUP 0.40% 4.66%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in USMV

MICROSOFT 1.61%

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 1.54%

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CLASS B 1.50%

CHUBB 1.50%

MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC 1.48%

AMPHENOL CORP CLASS A 1.47%

NVIDIA 1.47%

WELLTOWER 1.41%

Only in VHT

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc 3.51%

Pfizer Inc 2.27%

Intuitive Surgical Inc 2.01%

Danaher Corp 1.97%

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co 1.78%

CVS Health Corp 1.53%

Stryker Corp 1.33%

Moderna Inc 0.91%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

USMV iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF VHT Vanguard Health Care ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor Tracks an index of Health Care

Total return, 1 year +10.8% +25.0%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +25.4% (FHLC)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.4 pts vs FHLC

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.09%

Already in the S&P 500 93.0% 85.5%

Holdings 176 414

Net assets, USMV as of Oct 27, 2026 and VHT as of Sep 30, 2026 $24.1bn $19.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-FC9A2BCD8B

USMV and VHT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. USMV follows MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index and VHT follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Health Care 25/50.
Holdings in common. 13% 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 USMV returned +10.8% and VHT +25.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 14.2 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

USMV

USMV tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 176 positions, with the top ten at 14.8%.

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, USMV or VHT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USMV returned +10.8% and VHT +25.0%.
Which is cheaper, USMV or VHT?: VHT is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do USMV and VHT overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 93% of USMV and 86% of VHT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

USMV vs XLV USMV vs XLI USMV vs XRT USMV vs XLC CGGR vs VHT DFUS vs VHT DGRW vs VHT AVUS vs VHT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USMV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

USMV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for USMV ↗

VHT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VHT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VHT ↗

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, USMV against VHT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/usmv-vs-vht

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