GDOC vs VHT

GDOCDGoldman Sachs Future Health Care Equity ETF

VHTAVanguard Health Care ETF

In short

GDOC Goldman's stock-pickers hunting the next wave of health care: genomics, precision medicine, tech-enabled procedures, digital care. About 40 names, chosen globally, versus the index giants that just own the whole sector.

VHT The whole US health care sector in one ticket: roughly 400 stocks, an index that reaches well past the megacaps, and a nine-basis-point fee. Trading since 2004, it is one of the category's originals.

Stated mandate

GDOC The Fund seeks long-term capital growth by investing primarily in health care companies advancing new treatments and technologies, including genomics, precision medicine, technology-enabled procedures, and digital healthcare.

VHT The fund seeks to track a benchmark index measuring the investment return of health care stocks.

Why people hold it

• GDOC Actively run around a theme, not a sector index: companies advancing new treatments and technologies across genomics, precision medicine, procedures and digital health.
• Roughly 40 holdings with a global mandate, so individual picks carry real weight and the manager can shop outside the US.
• Plain 1940 Act ETF wrapper from a major issuer, trading since 2021. No leverage, no derivatives gymnastics, no K-1.

• VHT Costs 0.09% a year while the typical fund in its health care peer group charges 0.50%. Same sector, a fraction of the toll.
• Roughly 400 holdings drawn from an investable-market index, so mid and small health care companies count too, not just the sector's giants.vanguard.com
• Two decades old, now a multi-billion-dollar fund, moderately traded, and it has hugged its benchmark closely. Pays out quarterly.
• On cost, tracking and tradability together, it stands among the strongest builds in a 24-fund health care cohort.

Worth knowing

• GDOC At 0.75% a year, it costs more than the cohort's 0.50% median and roughly eight times index staples like VHT (0.09%) and XLV (0.08%).
• A small fund that trades lightly, so spreads can run wider than the sector's household-name ETFs.
• Concentrated innovation focus means the ride can look nothing like broad health care, and payouts come annually or semiannually. Growth is the stated mission, not income.

• VHT FHLC and XLV each shave a basis point off the fee. If the fee line is your only tiebreaker, VHT is not the final word.
• One sector, one news cycle. Drug pricing rules, patent expirations and regulatory decisions can move the entire basket at once.vanguard.com
• Cap-weighted with a 25/50 diversification rule, so no single name can dominate outright, but the largest pharma and insurer positions still steer most of the ride.vanguard.com

Full GDOC profile⁠

Full VHT profile⁠