Are USMV and XBI in the same category?

USMV 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, USMV or XBI?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USMV returned +10.8% and XBI +41.2%.

Which is cheaper, USMV or XBI?

USMV is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 93% of USMV and 13% of XBI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USMV vs XBI: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USMV returned +10.8% to XBI's +41.2%, and USMV charges 0.15% to XBI's 0.35%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $24.1bn for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF and $10.3bn for State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF.

USMV on its own →XBI on its own →

At a glance

+10.8%

USMV total return, 1 year

+41.2%

XBI total return, 1 year

0.15%

USMV expense ratio

0.35%

XBI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

USMV costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 30.4 points; USMV is 2.3 times larger.

USMV vs XBI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USMV	XBI
Return
Measure	USMV	XBI
Total return, 1 year	+10.8%	+41.2%
Drawdown
Measure	USMV	XBI
Below its all-time high		8.9%, high on Feb 8, 2021
Benchmark
Measure	USMV	XBI
What it tracks	MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index	Biotech
Cost and size
Measure	USMV	XBI
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$24.1bn	$10.3bn
Active share vs the S&P 500		98%
Holdings
Measure	USMV	XBI
Holdings in common	5%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	14.8%	18%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, USMV and XBI hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

5% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first USMV XBI

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 1.34% 1.46%

GILEAD SCIENCES 0.91% 1.60%

ABBVIE 0.78% 1.67%

ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS 0.50% 1.29%

UNITED THERAPEUTICS 0.44% 1.71%

INCYTE CORP 0.43% 1.35%

NEUROCRINE BIOSCIENCES 0.41% 1.38%

AMGEN INC 0.37% 1.68%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 0.07% 1.48%

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%

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 1.44%

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%

SPYRE THERAPEUTICS INC 1.67%

EXELIXIS INC 1.64%

IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC 1.62%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

USMV iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor 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 USA Min Vol Factor Biotech

Total return, 1 year +10.8% +41.2%

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 93.0% 13.2%

Holdings 176 165

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $24.1bn $10.3bn

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

Alert

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%.

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 USMV and XBI in the same category?: USMV 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, USMV or XBI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USMV returned +10.8% and XBI +41.2%.
Which is cheaper, USMV or XBI?: USMV is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do USMV and XBI overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 93% of USMV and 13% of XBI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs USMV BITO vs USMV CGBL vs USMV HGER vs USMV RDVY vs XBI SPMO vs XBI DFUS vs XBI DGRW vs XBI

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USMV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

USMV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for USMV ↗

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.

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

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