RSPH vs XHS

RSPHBInvesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Health Care ETF

XHSAState Street SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF

In short

RSPH Health care without the mega-cap gravity: RSPH gives every health care name in the S&P 500 the same slice, so no single drug giant steers the fund. It has been running that way since 2006.

XHS Most health care ETFs are pharma funds in disguise. XHS buys the delivery system instead: insurers, hospitals, distributors and clinics, roughly equal weighted so one giant insurer does not run the show.

Stated mandate

RSPH The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the S&P 500 Equal Weight Health Care Index.

XHS The fund seeks to track the total return of the S&P Health Care Services Select Industry Index before fees and expenses, providing targeted exposure to health care services companies.

Why people hold it

• RSPH Equal weighting by design: about 60 S&P 500 health care names, each with the same slice, so one blockbuster drugmaker doesn't set the tone for the basket.
• Charges 0.40% a year, below the 0.50% typical of broad health care ETFs.
• Live since 2006, through drug-pricing fights, patent cliffs and a pandemic, and rated one of the stronger builds in its health care peer group.
• Spread is the point: the portfolio is one of the best-diversified in the cohort, with weight split across the sector rather than parked in a few giants.

• XHS No drugmakers, no device makers. The index tracks four slices of care delivery: distributors, facilities, health care services and managed care.ssga.com
• Modified equal weighting spreads about 60 names across large, mid and small caps, so the portfolio is not a bet on two or three mega caps.ssga.com
• 0.35% a year sits below the 0.50% median for broad health care ETFs, on a fund that has been running since 2011.
• Ranks in the top quartile of the broad health care ETFs we grade.

Worth knowing

• RSPH The big cap-weighted rivals cost far less: XLV and FHLC charge 0.08%, VHT 0.09%. You're paying up for the equal-weight tilt.
• Equal weight leans toward the sector's smaller members, so results can drift from cap-weighted health care funds in either direction.
• One sector, one set of risks: policy shifts, pricing rules and patent cycles move the whole basket at once.

• XHS Cheap against the median, not against the giants: XLV, VHT and FHLC charge under a tenth of a percent for cap weighted whole sector exposure.
• Thinly traded next to the big sector funds, so spreads and limit orders matter more here.
• Leaving out pharma and biotech means it moves differently from a whole sector fund, and insurers and hospitals sit close to reimbursement policy.ssga.com

Full RSPH profile⁠

Full XHS profile⁠