IBBQ vs SBIO

IBBQAInvesco Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF

SBIOCALPS Medical Breakthroughs ETF

In short

IBBQ The broad Nasdaq biotech benchmark, bought cheap. IBBQ tracks the whole listed biotech and pharma field, roughly 300 names, for 0.19% a year, well under half the typical fee in its category.

SBIO SBIO goes at biotech through a purpose-built medical breakthroughs index instead of the household benchmarks, spreading roughly 100 drug developers across one basket. A specialist route, priced at the category's middle.

Stated mandate

IBBQ The Fund tracks the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and normally invests at least 90% of its assets in index constituents. The index covers Nasdaq-listed companies classified as biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies.

SBIO The fund seeks investment results that generally track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the S-Network Medical Breakthroughs Index (PMBI).

Why people hold it

• IBBQ At 0.19% a year, the lowest fee among its closest biotech rivals and less than half the category median.
• Holds roughly 300 Nasdaq-listed biotech and pharma companies, so one failed trial or one blockbuster is a slice of the fund, not the whole story.invesco.com
• Rules first: normally at least 90% of assets sit in Nasdaq Biotechnology Index constituents. No manager guessing which pipeline pays off.invesco.com
• Stands in the top quartile of the biotech and genomics funds we grade, keeping company with far larger rivals like XBI and IBB.

• SBIO Tracks the S-Network Medical Breakthroughs Index, a dedicated rules-based basket rather than the standard biotech benchmarks most funds in the group follow.
• Roughly 100 holdings, so no single drug readout carries the whole fund.
• The 0.50% expense ratio sits right at the median for biotech and genomics funds. No premium charged for the narrower mandate.
• Trading since 2014, giving it a decade-plus of live operating history through several biotech cycles.

Worth knowing

• IBBQ Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so bid-ask spreads can widen. Limit orders matter more here than in a heavily traded fund.
• One sector, and a jumpy one: biotech and pharma prices move on trial data and regulatory decisions, a rougher ride than a broad-market fund.invesco.com
• Launched in 2021, so a shorter live record and a smaller asset base than the category's long-standing funds.

• SBIO Thinly traded next to the giants of the category, so spreads and limit orders matter more here than with the household names.
• Several funds in the same biotech cohort screen stronger overall, and some cost less: IBBQ at 0.19% and XBI at 0.35% versus SBIO's 0.50%.
• Not an income vehicle. Whatever this fund does, it does through the share prices of the drug developers it holds.

Full IBBQ profile⁠

Full SBIO profile⁠