FHLC vs IHI

FHLCAFidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF

IHIBiShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF

In short

FHLC Health 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.

IHI Medical devices only: pacemakers, insulin pumps, surgical robots. No pharma, no insurers, no hospitals riding along. iShares has run this narrow slice since 2006, and it costs less than the typical thematic fund.

Stated mandate

FHLC The fund seeks to track the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Health Care Index before fees and expenses.

IHI The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. equities focused on the medical devices sector, providing targeted exposure to domestic medical-equipment manufacturers and distributors.

Why people hold it

• FHLC 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.fidelity.com

• IHI At 0.37% a year, it undercuts the typical fund in its thematic peer group, which sits closer to 0.56%.
• Tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Select Medical Equipment Index: roughly 50 US device makers and distributors, and nothing else wearing a lab coat.ishares.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so entering and exiting rarely means wrestling with the spread.
• Live since 2006 and one of the sturdier builds in its thematic cohort, with no structural quirks flagged.

Worth knowing

• FHLC 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.

• IHI About 50 names means a handful of big device makers carry most of the weight. Single-company news lands harder here than in a broad healthcare fund.
• One narrow slice of one sector, all US-listed. It can travel a long way from the broad market in either direction.
• Distributions arrive quarterly, but the mandate is device-maker stock exposure, not a yield engine.

Full FHLC profile⁠

Full IHI profile⁠