How much of a theme is already the index
By their latest holdings filings, the typical thematic ETF has 32% of its weight in stocks the S&P 500 already holds, and 53 of 234 funds are more than sixty percent index names.
Across 27 themes and 289 funds, the median fee is 0.60%; measured against only the part of each fund that differs from the S&P 500, the median fee for the difference is 0.60%.
94 pairs of funds hold portfolios that are more than half identical by weight; holding both is close to holding one of them twice.
Thematic ETFs are often sold as a way to step outside the S&P 500, but the holdings themselves tell a more mixed story. Across 234 funds, the typical thematic ETF carries 32% of its weight in stocks the S&P 500 already holds, and 53 of those 234 funds are more than sixty percent index names. Active share, the measure of how different a portfolio is from a benchmark, varies widely by theme even where overlap is high.
The theme-by-theme figures show how much this differs by category. Semiconductors funds have a median of 81% of weight already in the S&P 500 and a median active share of 82%, the highest in-index share on the list alongside a one-year return of +102.0% and 10 of 10 funds beating the S&P 500 over that period. Digital infrastructure and data centers sit at 64% in the index. At the other end, clean energy funds show a median of 10% in the S&P 500, electric vehicles and batteries 9%, and cannabis funds at 0%, meaning those portfolios are built almost entirely from names the index does not carry, with active share readings of 99%, 98% and 100% respectively.
Fees sit alongside these figures without moving in step with them. The median fee across 27 themes and 289 funds is 0.60%, and when fees are measured only against the part of each portfolio that differs from the S&P 500, the median fee for that difference is also 0.60%. Within individual themes some gaps appear: broad innovation and megatrends carries a 0.50% median fee against a 0.60% fee for the difference, and metaverse and immersive tech shows 0.60% against 0.80%. Genomics and biotech innovation and food and agriculture show the fee for the difference at or below the headline fee.
Overlap between funds is a separate pattern from overlap with the index. The data finds 94 pairs of funds more than half identical to each other by portfolio weight, meaning holding both is close to holding one of them twice. The closest pairs are concentrated in semiconductors, where SOXQ and SOXX overlap 83% and SHOC and SMH overlap 82%, and in blockchain and crypto equities, where BKCH and DAPP overlap 72% and WGMI and MNRS overlap 71%. Fees within these pairs are not always matched: FTXL and SOXQ overlap 78% while charging 0.60% and 0.19% respectively, and BITQ and DAPP overlap 71% with fees of 0.85% and 0.52%.
Taken together, the tables show that a theme's distance from the S&P 500 is not a single number but a range that depends on the category, and that fee levels do not consistently track how much of a fund's portfolio differs from the benchmark. Readers can look up any individual fund's in-index weight, active share, and fee for the difference, along with its pairing overlaps, on the live desk.
By theme, largest assets first
| Theme | Funds | Median in the S&P 500 | Median active share | Median fee | Median fee for the difference | Beat the S&P 500, one year | Median total return, one year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semiconductors | 10 | 81% | 82% | 0.30% | 0.40% | 10 of 10 | +102.0% |
| Defense | 19 | 37% | 98% | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0 of 11 | +11.2% |
| Artificial intelligence | 47 | 58% | 81% | 0.70% | 0.80% | 21 of 26 | +41.3% |
| Electrification and the grid | 14 | 27% | 99% | 0.60% | 0.60% | 9 of 11 | +67.6% |
| Infrastructure | 9 | 48% | 97% | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0 of 7 | +16.3% |
| Cloud and software | 8 | 45% | 92% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 3 of 7 | +16.5% |
| Cybersecurity | 7 | 30% | 99% | 0.50% | 0.50% | 7 of 7 | +31.4% |
| Broad innovation and megatrends | 31 | 51% | 86% | 0.50% | 0.60% | 15 of 29 | +24.0% |
| Nuclear and uranium | 9 | 16% | 100% | 0.70% | 0.70% | 0 of 8 | +14.6% |
| Internet and e-commerce | 15 | 29% | 95% | 0.70% | 0.70% | 0 of 14 | −9.7% |
| Robotics and automation | 12 | 19% | 94% | 0.70% | 0.70% | 6 of 8 | +26.8% |
| Clean energy | 17 | 10% | 99% | 0.60% | 0.60% | 10 of 15 | +25.3% |
| Quantum computing | 3 | 36% | 84% | 0.50% | 0.50% | 1 of 1 | +58.6% |
| Water | 7 | 38% | 100% | 0.50% | 0.60% | 0 of 6 | −2.8% |
| Space | 8 | 15% | 99% | 0.80% | 0.80% | 2 of 2 | +29.1% |
| Digital infrastructure and data centers | 9 | 64% | 94% | 0.50% | 0.60% | 6 of 8 | +39.8% |
| Blockchain and crypto equities | 13 | 19% | 98% | 0.70% | 0.70% | 6 of 12 | +19.9% |
| Electric vehicles and batteries | 13 | 9% | 98% | 0.50% | 0.50% | 7 of 11 | +40.5% |
| Genomics and biotech innovation | 4 | 18% | 98% | 0.50% | 0.50% | 3 of 4 | +76.9% |
| Cannabis | 4 | 0% | 100% | 0.80% | 0.80% | 0 of 4 | +7.5% |
| Food and agriculture | 6 | 36% | 100% | 0.60% | 0.50% | 5 of 5 | +21.7% |
| Fintech and digital payments | 4 | 39% | 96% | 0.70% | 0.80% | 0 of 4 | −12.1% |
| Gaming, esports and betting | 7 | 16% | 100% | 0.60% | 0.60% | 0 of 7 | −15.1% |
| Metaverse and immersive tech | 4 | 46% | 78% | 0.60% | 0.80% | 2 of 4 | +14.9% |
| Healthcare innovation and GLP-1 | 5 | 27% | 99% | 0.50% | 0.60% | 3 of 5 | +25.7% |
| Longevity and aging | 1 | 45% | 95% | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0 of 1 | +14.6% |
| Pets and consumer themes | 3 | 16% | 100% | · | · | 0 of 2 | −11.3% |
Same portfolio, two names: pairs more than half identical
| Pair | Weight overlap | Theme | Fee, first | Fee, second |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOXQ and SOXX | 83% | Semiconductors | 0.19% | · |
| SHOC and SMH | 82% | Semiconductors | 0.40% | 0.35% |
| FTXL and SOXQ | 78% | Semiconductors | 0.60% | 0.19% |
| SPAM and PSWD | 76% | Cybersecurity | 0.35% | 0.20% |
| SMH and SOXX | 74% | Semiconductors | 0.35% | · |
| BUG and WCBR | 74% | Cybersecurity | 0.50% | 0.45% |
| BKCH and DAPP | 72% | Blockchain and crypto equities | 0.50% | 0.52% |
| WGMI and MNRS | 71% | Blockchain and crypto equities | 0.75% | 0.59% |
| WEED and UX | 71% | Cannabis | 0.41% | 0.77% |
| WDEF and XDEF | 71% | Defense | 0.45% | 0.35% |
| BITQ and DAPP | 71% | Blockchain and crypto equities | 0.85% | 0.52% |
| BITQ and BKCH | 71% | Blockchain and crypto equities | 0.85% | 0.50% |
| SHOC and SOXX | 70% | Semiconductors | 0.40% | · |
| HERO and NERD | 70% | Gaming, esports and betting | 0.50% | 0.50% |
| FIW and PHO | 70% | Water | 0.50% | 0.59% |
Method. Holdings from each fund’s latest public SEC N-PORT filing (issuer daily files for ARK and First Trust); in-index weight and active share computed by ETFIQ against the IVV and QQQM books; fees from prospectus XBRL; returns from Tiingo end-of-day prices with distributions reinvested. Themes are ETFIQ’s editorial taxonomy. Medians across funds. Data file: https://etfiq.com/data/thematic.json. Rebuilt every trading night. ETFIQ is an independent publisher and makes no recommendations. Standards