iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF

iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH) is a BlackRock index fund. It tracks the Russell 1000 Health Care RIC 22.5/45 Capped Index, which covers about 100 large and mid-sized U.S. healthcare stocks. The fund is top-heavy: as of July 31, 2026, Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson made up about 25% of its assets. Its 0.37% expense ratio is more than four times the 0.08% charged by the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV), which holds many of the same stocks.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, IYH returned +23.8%, 5th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +7.1% and its 10-year +11.6%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 28.3% and regained its old high 2.2 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2008 (-23.8%); its best was 2013 (+40.9%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 39.4% (Dec 10, 2007 to Mar 5, 2009), recovered by Apr 27, 2011.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 100 securities; the ten largest made up 59.03% of assets.

By sector

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $432.0M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +2.83%, +6.62%, +1.90%.

IYH follows an index built by FTSE Russell, a part of the London Stock Exchange Group. The index picks healthcare companies from the Russell 1000 Index, which covers about the 1,000 largest U.S. companies. Each stock is weighted by float-adjusted market value. That means bigger companies, measured by the shares the public can actually trade, get bigger weights. At each quarterly rebalance, the index caps any single company at 22.5%. It also caps the combined weight of all companies above 4.5% at 45%. Between rebalances, price moves can push weights past these limits.

BlackRock Fund Advisors runs the fund using "representative sampling." It may hold a sample of stocks chosen to behave like the index, not every one of them. At least 80% of assets must be in index stocks. The fund may use derivatives, which are contracts whose value comes from other assets. As of July 31, 2026, it held one healthcare equity derivative worth about 0.01% of assets, plus 0.94% in cash. It may lend out securities worth up to one-third of its assets. Portfolio turnover was 3%, so trading is light.

The result is a concentrated portfolio. As of July 31, 2026, it held 100 stocks, and the top 10 made up 59% of assets. The largest were Eli Lilly (15.1%), Johnson & Johnson (10.2%), AbbVie (7.3%), UnitedHealth Group (6.2%) and Merck (5.3%). About 96% was in U.S. companies. Most of the rest was in companies based in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

• IYH charges 0.37% a year, versus an average of 0.38% for the similar funds below (4th of 9, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $38 in the first year and $468 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It is a single-sector fund with about 59% of assets in 10 stocks, so it works better as a tilt alongside a broad core holding than as the core itself.

Healthcare is often thought of as steady, but IYH has fallen hard. In the 2008 financial crisis it dropped 39.4% from its December 2007 peak. It took about 26 months after the March 2009 low to recover. In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 28.3% but recovered in about two months. In 2022 it fell 16.6% and needed almost 19 months to get back to its high. Its worst calendar year in the price record was 2008, at -23.8%. A retiree who has to take money out during a slump like 2008–09 could lock in losses. The fund yielded 1.05% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly, so it is not a major income source. Its 0.37% expense ratio is far above XLV, VHT and FHLC. Past results don't predict future returns, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.