{"url":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf","section":"learn","title":"What is a thematic ETF? | ETFIQ","description":"As of Nov 4, 2026, ETFIQ covers 427 thematic ETFs, with a median fee of 0.59% and a median 50% of the fund in its top ten holdings.","as_of":"Nov 4, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf#article","headline":"What is a thematic ETF?","description":"As of Nov 4, 2026, ETFIQ covers 427 thematic ETFs, with a median fee of 0.59% and a median 50% of the fund in its top ten holdings.","url":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf","mainEntityOfPage":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf","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":"What is a thematic ETF?","inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf#questions","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How is a theme chosen?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"ETFIQ assigns a theme from what a fund says it owns and what its filings show, not from its name alone."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Do theme funds beat the market?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Some do in a year and some do not. ETFIQ shows each fund against the S&P 500 with the window and the date."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the S&P 500 difference?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It is 100 minus the fund\u2019s weight overlap with the S&P 500. A higher number means a fund differs more from the index."}}]},{"@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":"What is a thematic ETF?","item":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"What is a thematic ETF?","description":"As of Nov 4, 2026, ETFIQ covers 427 thematic ETFs, with a median fee of 0.59% and a median 50% of the fund in its top ten holdings.","url":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf","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":1970,"truncated":false,"content":"ETFIQ / Learn / What is a thematic ETF? \n \n What is a thematic ETF?\n Data as of Nov 4, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.\n As of Nov 4, 2026, ETFIQ covers 427 thematic ETFs, with a median fee of 0.59% and a median 50% of the fund in its top ten holdings.\n \n In plain words\n A thematic ETF picks companies by an idea instead of a market index: a technology such as robots, a trend such as clean energy, or firms sharing a feature.\n Themes cost more and are more concentrated than the market: median fee 0.59% against 0.45% for stock ETFs, and 50% in the top ten against 36%. Many also own the same large companies as the S&P 500. ETFIQ measures how much of each fund is already in the index; a fund that mostly copies it adds little new exposure.\n Questions\n How is a theme chosen? ETFIQ assigns a theme from what a fund says it owns and what its filings show, not from its name alone.\n Do theme funds beat the market? Some do in a year and some do not. ETFIQ shows each fund against the S&P 500 with the window and the date.\n What is the S&P 500 difference? It is 100 minus the fund\u2019s weight overlap with the S&P 500. A higher number means a fund differs more from the index.\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 sector ETF? All ETF explainers How ETFIQ computes these numbers \n Cite this page. ETFIQ, What is a thematic ETF?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf 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, What is a thematic ETF?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf APA ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). What is a thematic ETF?. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf Markdown [What is a thematic ETF? (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf)","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, What is a thematic ETF?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-thematic-etf"}