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FBT vs XBI: which is really different?

FBT and XBI hold 26% of their weight in the same names, and XBI returned +45.0% over the year. First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund and State Street(R) SPDR(R) S&P(R) Biotech ETF.

XBI costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.9 points; XBI is 3.4 times larger.

FBTXBI
Expense ratio0.55%0.35%
Net assets, FBT as of Oct 9, 2026 and XBI as of Oct 8, 2026$2.9bn$9.9bn
Total return, 1 year+42.1%+45.0%
What it tracksBiotechBiotech
Holdings in common26%
S&P 500, total return, 1 year+17.3%
Against the S&P 500, 1 yearahead by 24.9 ptsahead by 27.7 pts
Below its all-time high11.1%, high on Feb 8, 2021

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 8, 2026.

23.9%
FBT in the S&P 500
12.7%
XBI in the S&P 500
+42.1%
FBT total return, 1 year
+45.0%
XBI total return, 1 year
FBT · 1 year to Oct 9, 202676% of its weight is outside the S&P 500
76% of its weight is outside the S&P 50024% of FBT's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 76% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.24%76%in the S&P 500of its weight outside the S&P 500active share 99% · top ten 40% of the fund · 30 holdings as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026 · Nasdaq-100: 16% in76% of its weight is outside the S&P 50024% of FBT's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 76% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.24%76%inoutside the S&P 500active share 99% · Nasdaq-100: 16% in

24% of FBT's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 76% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.

XBI · 1 year to Oct 9, 202687% of its weight is outside the S&P 500
87% of its weight is outside the S&P 50013% of XBI's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 87% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.13%87%inof its weight outside the S&P 500active share 98% · top ten 17% of the fund · 165 holdings as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026 · Nasdaq-100: 9% in87% of its weight is outside the S&P 50013% of XBI's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 87% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.13%87%inof its weight outside the S&P 500active share 98% · Nasdaq-100: 9% in

13% of XBI's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 87% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.

ETFIQ Off-Index Score · FBT scores higherHow much of it is not the index it is sold as an alternative to?
0.1, the lowest in this set92.3, the highest

A percentile among the 391 thematic ETFs with a holdings filing. All thematic ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, FBT and XBI hold 26% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Oct 8, 2026.

half

26% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding FBT XBI
Natera, Inc. 4.62% 1.79%
United Therapeutics Corporation 3.11% 1.59%
Amgen Inc. 3.58% 1.58%
Biogen Inc. 3.50% 1.57%
Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. 4.60% 1.55%
Exelixis, Inc. 3.33% 1.53%
Gilead Sciences, Inc. 3.61% 1.53%
TG Therapeutics, Inc. 2.98% 1.48%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated 3.31% 1.47%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 3.55% 1.39%
Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. 2.54% 1.38%
Incyte Corporation 3.08% 1.36%
Only in FBT
Illumina, Inc. 4.44%
Corcept Therapeutics Inc. 4.12%
Genmab A/S (ADR) 3.97%
BeOne Medicines Ltd. (ADR) 3.74%
NeoGenomics, Inc. 3.62%
Repligen Corporation 3.62%
Bio-Techne Corporation 3.24%
BioNTech SE (ADR) 3.21%
Only in XBI
MODERNA INC 2.20%
TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP 1.84%
ABBVIE INC 1.65%
IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC 1.54%
PROTAGONIST THERAPEUTICS INC 1.46%
KRYSTAL BIOTECH INC 1.43%
CRISPR THERAPEUTICS AG 1.41%
PTC THERAPEUTICS INC 1.40%

26% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

Performance, window by window

Total returnvs the S&P 500vs the Nasdaq-100
WindowFBTXBIFBTXBIFBTXBI
3 months+6.3%−3.3%+3.0 pts−6.7 pts+2.7 pts−7.0 pts
6 months+31.5%+18.9%+16.4 pts+3.8 pts+8.3 pts−4.3 pts
1 year+42.1%+45.0%+24.9 pts+27.7 pts+18.6 pts+21.4 pts
3 years+81.0%+114.6%−4.8 pts+28.8 pts−26.3 pts+7.3 pts
Since launch
FBT Jun 2006 · XBI Feb 2006
+1,276.7%+890.7%+470.4 pts+92.2 pts−925.8 pts−1,164.7 pts

Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →

On the same fields

FBT
First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund · Holds 30 stocks in biotech, 24% of its weight in S&P 500 companies
XBI
State Street(R) SPDR(R) S&P(R) Biotech ETF · Holds 165 stocks in biotech, 13% of its weight in S&P 500 companies
Issuer First Trust State Street
Theme Biotech Biotech
In the S&P 500 23.9% 12.7%
Active share vs the S&P 500 99.1% 98.4%
In the Nasdaq-100 16.4% 8.5%
Holdings 30 165
Top ten, share of the fund 40.0% 16.9%
Expense ratio 0.55% 0.35%
Fee for the differing part 0.55% 0.36%
Total return, 1 year +42.1% +45.0%
vs the S&P 500 +24.9 pts +27.7 pts
vs the Nasdaq-100 +18.6 pts +21.4 pts
Below its high −3.1% −11.1%
Net assets, FBT as of Oct 9, 2026 and XBI as of Oct 8, 2026 $2.9bn $9.9bn

As of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

FBT in plain words

By weight, 24% of FBT's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 99%. The top ten holdings are 40% of the fund across 30 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 the fund returned +42.1% with distributions reinvested against +17.3% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 24.9 pts.

XBI in plain words

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 17% of the fund across 165 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 the fund returned +45.0% with distributions reinvested against +17.3% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 27.7 pts. It sits 11.1% below its all-time high of Feb 8, 2021.

Questions people ask

Do FBT and XBI hold the same stocks?
By their latest filings, 26% of their books are the same securities at the same weight, which is a meaningful overlap. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.
Which is more different from the S&P 500, FBT or XBI?
FBT has 24% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XBI has 13%, so FBT differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, FBT or XBI?
FBT charges 0.55% a year and XBI charges 0.35%, so XBI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
FBT vs PBPHFBT vs IBBFBT vs BBHFBT vs PBEXBI vs BBHXBI vs BBCXBI vs PBPHXBI vs PBE
FBT on its own →XBI on its own →How every figure is computed →Standards and sources →
Where these figures came from
FBT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗FBT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗First Trust page for FBT ↗XBI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗XBI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗State Street website ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation.

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed.

Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

Cite this page

ETFIQ, FBT against XBI, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/fbt-vs-xbi

Open data

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