{"url":"https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500","section":"learn","title":"Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500? | ETFIQ","description":"As of Nov 4, 2026, 127 of 329 theme ETFs beat the S&P 500 over a full year, and 32% of the median theme fund is already in it. Plain words, dated numbers.","as_of":"Nov 4, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500#article","headline":"Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500?","description":"As of Nov 4, 2026, 127 of 329 theme ETFs beat the S&P 500 over a full year, and 32% of the median theme fund is already in it.","url":"https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500","mainEntityOfPage":"https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500","dateModified":"2026-11-04","datePublished":"2026-11-04","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ETFIQ Research","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ETFIQ Research","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"about":"Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500?","inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500#questions","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How is ahead measured?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"By total return minus the S&P 500\u2019s total return over the same year."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why compare with the S&P 500?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It is the broad market most theme funds are set against. ETFIQ also shows a Nasdaq-100 comparison where it fits."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Where do I see each fund?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"On the themes page and each fund page."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Learn","item":"https://etfiq.com/learn/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500?","item":"https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500?","description":"As of Nov 4, 2026, 127 of 329 theme ETFs beat the S&P 500 over a full year, and 32% of the median theme fund is already in it. Plain words, dated numbers.","url":"https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500","dateModified":"2026-11-04","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".lede",".faq"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":2008,"truncated":false,"content":"ETFIQ / Learn / Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500? \n \n Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500?\n Data as of Nov 4, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.\n As of Nov 4, 2026, 127 of 329 theme ETFs beat the S&P 500 over a full year, and 32% of the median theme fund is already in it.\n \n In plain words\n Theme funds pick companies by an idea instead of market size, and many readers compare them with the S&P 500 to see whether the idea paid off. ETFIQ makes that comparison for every theme fund over the same year.\n Of 329 theme funds with a full year, 127 finished ahead of the index. The median theme fund also has 32% of its weight in companies the S&P 500 owns, so some of the result comes from the same large firms. A fund that mostly copies the index adds little new; 130 pairs of theme funds are close enough to be called twins.\n Questions\n How is ahead measured? By total return minus the S&P 500\u2019s total return over the same year.\n Why compare with the S&P 500? It is the broad market most theme funds are set against. ETFIQ also shows a Nasdaq-100 comparison where it fits.\n Where do I see each fund? On the themes page and each fund page.\n Where to next\n Themes Screener: filter every ETF Compare two ETFs What is ETF holdings overlap? What is ETF concentration? What is a thematic ETF? All ETF explainers How ETFIQ computes these numbers \n Cite this page. ETFIQ, Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500 Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. The underlying files are at Open data .\n Other forms Plain ETFIQ, Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500 APA ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500?. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500 Markdown [Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500? (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500)","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, Do theme ETFs beat the S&P 500?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/do-theme-etfs-beat-the-s-and-p-500"}