MDEV vs VHT

MDEVDFirst Trust Indxx Medical Devices ETF

VHTAVanguard Health Care ETF

In short

MDEV Medical devices, worldwide and evenly sliced. MDEV tracks a global index of roughly 50 device and equipment makers in similar-sized weights, so a mid-cap scanner or surgical-robot maker counts about as much as the household-name giants.

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

MDEV The Fund seeks to track the performance of the Indxx Medical Devices Index before fees and expenses, using an indexing approach.

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

Why people hold it

• MDEV Pure play by design: the index covers the medical equipment industry only, and at least 80% of net assets go into its constituents. No pharma or insurers riding along.usnews.com
• Equal weighting keeps one mega-cap from running the show. About 50 device names get similar-sized slices, pushing real weight toward the mid-sized makers.public.comrobinhood.com
• Global by mandate, not US-only: the fund holds common stocks and depositary receipts from device makers listed outside the States, using plain physical index replication.businesswire.comusnews.com

• 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

• MDEV At 0.70% a year, it costs more than the typical global thematic fund, and well above cheaper cohort names like PBPH (0.13%) or UFOX (0.30%).
• Small and thinly traded: spreads can run wide, and sub-scale funds face a higher chance of closure or merger than their bigger shelf-mates.
• One industry, about 50 stocks. Reimbursement rules, hospital budgets and regulators move the whole basket at once, and payouts come once or twice a year.

• 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 MDEV profile⁠

Full VHT profile⁠