Betashares Global Healthcare ETF - Currency Hedged
Performance
Total return to 23 Oct 2026, distributions reinvested, before franking. ASX figures are to 30 Sept 2026 and gross of franking, so they run higher for franked Australian funds.
What it costs to hold
Management fee plus trading costs, compared with similar funds.
A typical fund among Global ex-Australia equity funds would cost $297 (0.59% a year), so DRUG is $7 dearer.
Spread is the average gap between buying and selling prices on the ASX. Fees are shown on a flat balance, not compounded on growth. Excludes tax and any adviser or platform fees.
Calendar-year returns
Where the money is
Look-through exposure as at 2 Sept 2026 · 59 securities · top 10 = 51.5%
Country
Sector
Monthly returns
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | −0.3 | 2.1 | −6.2 | −2.4 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 0.5 | 3.9 | −0.3 | 5.4 | 12.3YTD | ||
| 2025 | 6.9 | 1.0 | −3.0 | −4.4 | −3.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.5 | −1.0 | 5.6 | 8.5 | −0.6 | 12.2 |
| 2024 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 1.6 | −3.6 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 4.0 | −3.3 | −2.8 | −2.2 | −6.2 | 2.2 |
| 2023 | −2.7 | −2.0 | 1.6 | 3.4 | −2.9 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 0.9 | −2.3 | −5.4 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 1.1 |
| 2022 | −7.5 | −1.9 | 8.4 | −2.0 | −0.4 | −4.0 | 3.6 | −5.1 | −2.8 | 7.3 | 2.5 | −0.3 | −3.4 |
| 2021 | 1.8 | −2.1 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 3.8 | −4.3 | 2.1 | −0.5 | 5.8 | 23.6 |
| 2020 | −0.2 | −8.5 | −3.1 | 12.6 | 0.8 | −2.7 | 3.2 | 2.0 | −3.0 | −4.6 | 8.0 | 2.4 | 5.1 |
| 2019 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 0.0 | −2.4 | −2.1 | 6.2 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.7 | 5.3 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 21.9 |
| 2018 | 4.8 | −4.5 | −3.1 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 6.6 | 3.8 | 2.2 | −6.2 | 4.9 | −8.7 | 2.4 |
| 2017 | −0.5 | 7.8 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 3.1 | −0.2 | 0.0 | 2.4 | −0.7 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 18.2 |
| 2016 | −1.6 | −4.2 | −0.0 | 2.1 | −3.8 |
Total return each month in %, distributions reinvested, before franking. The latest month runs to the last price date. The first year starts from listing.
Top holdings
Most similar funds
Overlap is the share of the portfolio held in common, look-through. Correlation is of daily returns. High overlap means close substitutes.
DRUG questions answered
Written from the latest data on this page. General information only, not financial advice.
How diversified is Betashares Global Healthcare ETF - Currency Hedged?
Betashares Global Healthcare ETF - Currency Hedged holds 59 securities, and its ten largest positions make up 51.5% of the fund, more concentrated than the 35.9% typical of Global ex-Australia equity funds. That makes it moderately diversified.
Its largest country exposure is United States at 79.7%, and its biggest sector is Health Care at 99.3%, based on holdings as at 2 Sept 2026.
Which ETFs does DRUG double up with most?
DRUG shares the most holdings with VanEck Global Healthcare Leaders ETF (HLTH) (27% overlap), Betashares S&P Global High Dividend Aristocrats ETF (INCM) (15% overlap) and VanEck MSCI International Quality ETF (QUAL) (14% overlap). Overlap is the share of the portfolio the two funds hold in common, looking through to the underlying securities.
None of these overlaps is above half, so pairing DRUG with one of them adds some genuinely different holdings.
How is Betashares Global Healthcare ETF - Currency Hedged managed – active or passive?
Betashares Global Healthcare ETF - Currency Hedged is passively managed: it follows an index and holds what that index holds, rather than relying on a manager's stock picks.
Among Global ex-Australia equity funds, active funds charge a median 0.75% a year and index funds 0.45%.
What will I pay in fees for DRUG?
DRUG charges a management fee of 0.57% a year, about $57 for every $10,000 invested. Only 33% of the 471 ASX ETFs we track charge more, and the median fee is 0.44%. Among Global ex-Australia equity funds, the median is 0.55%.
Lower-cost funds with a similar focus include iShares Global Healthcare ETF (IXJ) at 0.41%, VanEck Global Healthcare Leaders ETF (HLTH) at 0.45% and Global X S&P Biotech ETF (CURE) at 0.45%.
The fee is taken from the fund's assets and is already reflected in its returns. You'll also pay brokerage when you buy or sell, and the bid-ask spread, which has averaged 0.18% for DRUG.
Does Betashares Global Healthcare ETF - Currency Hedged follow a theme?
Yes. Betashares Global Healthcare ETF - Currency Hedged focuses on healthcare, and its largest sector is Health Care at 99.3% of the fund. Thematic funds are narrower than the broad market, so they can rise or fall much more than it does.
Other ASX funds with a healthcare focus include iShares Global Healthcare ETF (IXJ), VanEck Global Healthcare Leaders ETF (HLTH) and Global X S&P Biotech ETF (CURE).
What is under the hood of DRUG?
As at 2 Sept 2026, DRUG's ten largest holdings are Johnson & Johnson (8.8%), Eli Lilly & Co (7.6%), Abbvie Inc (6.6%), Unitedhealth Group Inc (5.1%), Roche Holding AG (4.9%), Merck & Co Inc (4.6%), Novartis AG (3.9%), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (3.5%), Amgen Inc (3.3%) and Astrazeneca PLC (3.1%). Together they make up 51.4% of the fund.
It follows an index; the issuer's PDS sets out how that index chooses and weights its holdings. Its top 10 weighting of 51.5% compares with 35.9% for Global ex-Australia equity funds.
How well has Betashares Global Healthcare ETF - Currency Hedged performed?
Based on its category, Betashares Global Healthcare ETF - Currency Hedged aims to grow your capital in line with the index it tracks.
To 23 Oct 2026, with distributions reinvested, it returned 18.9% over 1 year (median 6.3%; ranked 13 of 121), 10.1% a year over 3 years (median 16.8% a year; ranked 71 of 82) and 5.9% a year over 5 years (median 9.4% a year; ranked 54 of 66). The medians and rankings compare it with Global ex-Australia equity funds. Since listing in 2016 it has returned 8.3% a year.
Tracking difference is the gap between a fund's return and its index's return. We don't hold index returns, so we can't measure it for DRUG; the issuer reports it in the monthly fact sheet. As a guide, a well-run index fund trails its index by about its fee, here 0.57% a year, and a much bigger gap is a warning sign.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.