IYH vs XLV

IYHAiShares U.S. Healthcare ETF

XLVAState Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF

In short

IYH Healthcare in one ticker from the class of 2000: roughly 100 drug, biotech and device names drawn from the Russell 1000, with index caps that stop any single giant from running the show.

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

IYH The fund is designed to follow a healthcare-sector equity index focused on U.S. companies, while providing diversified exposure to pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and healthcare equipment.

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

• IYH The index is a Russell 1000 subset covering large and mid caps, so the fund reaches past mega-cap pharma into smaller device and biotech issuers.sec.gov
• Concentration has a documented ceiling: at each quarterly rebalance no single issuer tops 22.5%, and positions above 4.5% are capped at 45% combined.sec.gov
• At 0.37% with no waiver in the mix, the fee sits below the healthcare category median, and the fund has traded since June 12, 2000.
• A multi-billion-dollar, actively traded iShares sector fund that pays quarterly and holds the stocks outright rather than swapping for exposure.ishares.com

• 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

• IYH Cheaper routes to the same sector exist: XLV charges 0.08% and VHT 0.09%, neither relying on a waiver, against 0.37% here.
• One sector, one country. Regulation, patent cycles and drug pricing drive it, with no bonds or foreign names in the mix to soften the ride.
• Even with the caps, about 100 stocks means a handful of large pharma and device makers shape most of the movement.sec.gov

• 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 IYH profile⁠

Full XLV profile⁠