IHE vs PBPH

IHEBiShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF

PBPHBPortfolio Building Block World Pharma and Biotech Index ETF

In short

IHE The domestic purist of pharma funds: about 60 US drug and vaccine makers, weighted by size, no foreign names riding along. Running since 2006, it is the plain cap-weighted take on Big Pharma.

PBPH Most biotech funds stop at the US border. PBPH buys the developed world's drug complex, pharma and biotech together, through a plain index fund charging 0.13%.

Stated mandate

IHE The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. companies in the pharmaceuticals sector, giving investors targeted exposure to domestic drug manufacturers and vaccine producers.

PBPH The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the BITA Global Pharma and Biotech Select Index.

Why people hold it

• IHE Costs 0.37% a year against a 0.57% median for pharma funds, landing within a basis point or two of the cheapest options in the group.
• Tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Select Pharmaceuticals Index: domestic drug and vaccine makers only, not the US-listed foreign pharma that PPH's index also picks up.vaneck.com
• Trading since 2006 under the iShares banner, now a billion-dollar-plus fund with moderate daily volume and quarterly distributions.
• Sits in the upper half of its pharma peer group on our review, one of the sturdier implementations of a simple, cheap, index-following mandate.

• PBPH 0.13% a year, in a global thematic aisle where the typical fund charges several times that. Fee drag is about as small as this shelf gets.
• Pharma and biotech under one ticker, global rather than US-only, so overseas drugmakers sit alongside the American names.portfoliobuildingblocketfs.com
• Straight index replication inside an ordinary 1940 Act fund. Published rules do the picking, not a manager's hunch.
• Cheap build plus workable trading puts it among the stronger implementations in its global thematic peer group.

Worth knowing

• IHE Cap weighting across about 60 names puts the largest US drug makers in the driver's seat; XPH uses modified equal weight to spread dollars across large, mid and small caps.ssga.com
• Pharma only. No biotech, devices or insurers, and the fund is non-diversified, making it a narrow slice of health care.ishares.com
• The 0.37% fee undercuts the category median but not the floor: XPH at 0.35% and PPH at 0.36% shade it slightly.

• PBPH One industry, one storyline. Drug pricing rules, patent cliffs and trial readouts swing this basket in ways the broad market does not feel.
• Launched in late 2025, so there is no long live record showing how closely it hugs the index across a full cycle.
• Cash comes back once or twice a year, not monthly. This is an exposure holding, not an income schedule.

Full IHE profile⁠

Full PBPH profile⁠