IXJ vs VHT

IXJBiShares Global Healthcare ETF

VHTAVanguard Health Care ETF

In short

IXJ Most healthcare sector funds stop at the US border. IXJ tracks a global index instead: roughly 110 drugmakers, biotechs and device makers worldwide, and it has been doing it since 2001.

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

IXJ The fund seeks to track an index of global healthcare-sector equities, offering diversified access to pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical-device companies worldwide.

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

Why people hold it

• IXJ Global by charter. It tracks S&P's capped global health care index, so companies listed outside the US sit in the same basket as the American giants.ishares.com
• 0.38% a year, below the median fee in its broad healthcare peer group, for a portfolio of about 110 pharma, biotech and medical-device names.
• The word capped in the index name does real work: it limits how large any single mega-cap drugmaker can grow inside the fund.ishares.com
• Running since 2001 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund. That is a long operating record, not a launch-and-see product.

• 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

• IXJ The worldwide reach carries a price tag: peers XLV and FHLC (0.08%) and VHT (0.09%) charge a fraction of IXJ's 0.38%.
• One sector, one storyline. Patent cliffs, trial data and drug-pricing politics tend to move the whole basket at once.
• Trading is moderate rather than heavy, so bid-ask spreads are worth a glance on larger orders.

• 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 IXJ profile⁠

Full VHT profile⁠