ETF Evaluator: iShares Health Innovation Active ETF () Follow This ETF

iShares Health Innovation Active ETF Overview

iShares Health Innovation Active ETF (BMED) is an actively managed Sector Equity Health exchange-traded fund (ETF). BlackRock launched the ETF in 2020.

The investment seeks to maximize total return. Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes in equity securities of companies principally engaged in the health sciences group of industries. While the fund will invest primarily in companies providing products and services for human health, it may also invest in companies whose products or services relate to the growth or survival of animals and plants.

About iShares Health Innovation Active ETF (BMED)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 5.84 years: Xiang Liu (2020) and Erin Xie (2020). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: MSCI ACWI NR USD index with a weighting of 100% and STOXX Global Breakthrough Healthcare index with a weighting of 100%. iShares Health Innovation Active ETF has 65 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 41.9% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

iShares Health Innovation Active ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Sector Equity ETF group. iShares Health Innovation Active ETF has 9.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 87.5% There is 9.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). iShares Health Innovation Active ETF has 3.5% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $11 million in total assets, which is below the $1 billion average for the Health category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

BMED Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The iShares Health Innovation Active ETF expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Health category. iShares Health Innovation Active ETF has an expense ratio of 0.55%, which is 6% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. iShares Health Innovation Active ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 109%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 45% for the Health category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, iShares Health Innovation Active ETF returned 1.1%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Health category had an average return of -0.1%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

iShares Health Innovation Active ETF has a trailing yield of 0.26%, which is below the 1.10% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

iShares Health Innovation Active ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 2.6%, 7.2 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 25.6% over the past year (grade of D), 7.9% over the past three years (grade of C) and 0.7% per year over the past five years (grade of D).

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