Designed to provide broad exposure to the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market, the ALPS Medical Breakthroughs ETF (SBIO) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on December 31, 2014.
Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.
Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Healthcare - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 7, placing it in top 44%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by Alps. It has amassed assets over $205.13 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market. SBIO seeks to match the performance of the Poliwogg Medical Breakthroughs Index before fees and expenses.
The S-Network Medical Breakthroughs Index captures research & development opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry. It consists of small-cap and mid-cap pharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks listed on US stock exchanges that have one or more drugs in either Phase II or Phase III US FDA clinical trials.
Costs
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.5%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.Looking at individual holdings, Kymera Therapeutics Inc. (KYMR) accounts for about 4.21% of total assets, followed by Alkermes Plc (ALKS) and Cg Oncology Inc. (CGON).
The top 10 holdings account for about 31.72% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, SBIO return is roughly 33.37%, and is up about 122.92% in the last one year (as of 07/09/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $32.28 and $68.31.
The ETF has a beta of 0.73 and standard deviation of 30.21% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 89 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
ALPS Medical Breakthroughs ETF sports a Zacks ETF Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. SBIO, then, is not the best option for investors seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. However, there are better ETFs in the space to consider.
Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ETF Shares (VHT) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Health Care 25/50 Index and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF ETF (XLV) tracks Health Care Select Sector Index. Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ETF Shares has $18.25 billion in assets, State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF ETF has $42.11 billion. VHT has an expense ratio of 0.09%, and XLV charges 0.08%.
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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ALPS Medical Breakthroughs ETF (SBIO): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).