FHLC vs XLV

FHLCAFidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF

XLVAState Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR 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.

XLV Live since 1998, XLV is the original way to own health care: about 60 S&P 500 names, a 0.08% fee, and one of the busiest tickers in the sector. Big pharma and device makers, not small-cap biotech.

Stated mandate

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

XLV The fund seeks to track, before expenses, the price and yield performance of the Health Care Select Sector Index, which represents the health care sector of the S&P 500 Index.

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

• XLV 0.08% a year against a cohort median of 0.50%. That ties it with FHLC as the cheapest in the group and edges VHT at 0.09%.
• One of the most actively traded funds in its category, which generally keeps bid-ask spreads thin whether you trade 10 shares or 10,000.
• Launched December 1998 as one of the first US sector funds, and it has tracked its S&P 500 health care index closely ever since.
• Covers the whole sector in one line: pharma, devices, providers, biotech, life-science tools and health tech. Pays quarterly.ssga.com

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.

• XLV Cap-weighted and about 60 names deep, so the largest drug and device makers carry most of the weight.ssga.com
• S&P 500 members only. Mid- and small-cap health care names sit outside the mandate.
• One sector, one set of headlines: drug pricing rules, patent expirations and policy shifts move the whole basket together.

Full FHLC profile⁠

Full XLV profile⁠