Category Review
Health care funds trail the S&P 500 this year
Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF
$81.73−1.12 (−1.35%)
- 0.08%
- $3.5B
- +23.1%
- 1.23%
- 0.2M sh
- $82.87
- low $67.77high $85.46
The ETF.net FHLC Grade
A
Score 84 out of 100
- 1 of 25
Score 84 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A98 out of 100Rank 1 of 25Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A81 out of 100Rank 2 of 11Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.A80 out of 100Rank 1 of 24Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A84 out of 100Rank 4 of 25Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.B57 out of 100Rank 15 of 25Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A77 out of 100Rank 6 of 25
Our read on FHLC
AHealth care, whole market. FHLC tracks an MSCI index that runs from mega-cap pharma down to small-cap biotech and device makers, roughly 400 names, for 0.08% a year.
The fund seeks to track the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Health Care Index before fees and expenses.
Why people hold it
- Charges 0.08% a year against a 0.50% median for broad health care ETFs. Only XLV matches that sticker; VHT sits a hair above.
- The IMI index it follows reaches for about 99% of US free-float market value, so smaller biotech and device names ride along with the pharma giants.msci.com
- Mirrors its benchmark closely, one of the tighter tracking jobs among broad health care funds. Distributions come quarterly.
- Fidelity has run it since 2013, and it has grown into a multi-billion-dollar fund with a plain vanilla index mandate.institutional.fidelity.com
Worth knowing
- One sector, one country. Drug-pricing politics, patent cliffs and FDA rulings move the whole portfolio at once.
- Free-float cap weighting means a handful of mega-cap insurers and drugmakers carry most of the weight; that long tail of small names counts for less than it looks.msci.com
- Moderately traded rather than the category's volume leader, so spreads matter more on large or hurried orders.
FHLC Holdings
- Stocks
- 345
- 52%
- LLY
Sectors
- Health Care99.3%
- Technology0.6%
- Financials0.0%
Geography
- United States97.30%
- Ireland2.14%
- United Kingdom0.37%
- Canada0.07%
- Switzerland0.07%
- Netherlands0.04%
FHLC Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
FHLC$12,312
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | FHLC |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +12.7% |
| 1 month | +3.5% |
| 3 months | +6.0% |
| 1 year | +23.1% |
| 3 years | +12.7% |
| 5 years | +7.2% |
| 10 years | +11.2% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | FHLC |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +12.7% | |
| 2025 | +15.4% | |
| 2024 | +2.5% | |
| 2023 | +2.6% | |
| 2022 | −5.5% | |
| 2021 | +20.4% | |
| 2020 | +18.2% |
FHLC in the news
FHLC Dividends
- 1.23%
- $1.02
- $0.25 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
FHLC Risk
- 14.2%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.56
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −17.7%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.59
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FHLC Cost
0.08%
FHLC0.08%
- The middle half of Health Care (Broad) funds
- Median 0.50%
No Health Care (Broad) fund charges less.
Other funds in Health Care (Broad)
- AXLVState Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETFExpense ratio 0.08%1 year return +23.0%
- AVHTVanguard Health Care ETFExpense ratio 0.09%1 year return +23.1%
- AXHSState Street SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETFExpense ratio 0.35%1 year return +37.8%
- AIYHiShares U.S. Healthcare ETFExpense ratio 0.37%1 year return +22.7%
- BIXJiShares Global Healthcare ETFExpense ratio 0.38%1 year return +15.9%