GDOC vs XLV

GDOCDGoldman Sachs Future Health Care Equity ETF

XLVAState Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR 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.

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

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.

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 GDOC profile⁠

Full XLV profile⁠