PBE vs XBI: which is really different?
PBE and XBI hold 29% of their weight in the same names, and XBI returned +45.0% over the year. Invesco Biotechnology & Genome ETF and State Street(R) SPDR(R) S&P(R) Biotech ETF.
XBI costs 0.24 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.4 points; XBI is far larger, $9.9bn against $410m.
| PBE | XBI | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.59% | 0.35% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026 | $410m | $9.9bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +37.6% | +45.0% |
| What it tracks | Biotech | Biotech |
| Holdings in common | 29% | |
| S&P 500, total return, 1 year | +17.3% | |
| Against the S&P 500, 1 year | ahead by 20.3 pts | ahead by 27.7 pts |
| Below its all-time high | 11.1%, high on Feb 8, 2021 | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 8, 2026.
31% of PBE's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 69% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.
13% of XBI's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 87% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.
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, PBE and XBI hold 29% 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
29% in common
29% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.
Performance, window by window
| Total return | vs the S&P 500 | vs the Nasdaq-100 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | PBE | XBI | PBE | XBI | PBE | XBI |
| 3 months | +6.3% | −3.3% | +2.9 pts | −6.7 pts | +2.6 pts | −7.0 pts |
| 6 months | +24.1% | +18.9% | +8.9 pts | +3.8 pts | +0.9 pts | −4.3 pts |
| 1 year | +37.6% | +45.0% | +20.3 pts | +27.7 pts | +14.0 pts | +21.4 pts |
| 3 years | +72.5% | +114.6% | −13.2 pts | +28.8 pts | −34.7 pts | +7.3 pts |
| Since launch PBE Jun 2005 · XBI Feb 2006 | +594.8% | +890.7% | −263.2 pts | +92.2 pts | −1,663.5 pts | −1,164.7 pts |
Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
As of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PBE in plain words
By weight, 31% of PBE'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 48% of the fund across 32 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 the fund returned +37.6% with distributions reinvested against +17.3% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 20.3 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 PBE and XBI hold the same stocks?
- By their latest filings, 29% 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.
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.
ETFIQ, PBE against XBI, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/pbe-vs-xbi
ETFIQ. (Oct 9, 2026). PBE against XBI. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/pbe-vs-xbi
[PBE against XBI (ETFIQ, Oct 9, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/pbe-vs-xbi)
Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.