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Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Insurance ETF (IAK)?
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Looking for broad exposure to the Financials - Insurance segment of the equity market? You should consider the iShares U.S. Insurance ETF (IAK - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 05/01/2006.
An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.
Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Financials - Insurance 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 Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $314.42 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Financials - Insurance segment of the equity market. IAK seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Insurance Index before fees and expenses.
The Dow Jones U.S. Select Insurance Index includes companies providing a range of specialized financial services, including securities brokers & dealers, online brokers & securities or commodities exchanges.
Costs
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.42%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.87%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Chubb Ltd (CB - Free Report) accounts for about 12% of total assets, followed by Progressive Corp (PGR - Free Report) and American International Group Inc (AIG - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 62.84% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 4.97% so far this year and it's up approximately 8.86% in the last one year (as of 06/06/2022). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $74.76 and $92.57.
The ETF has a beta of 0.92 and standard deviation of 28.93% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 65 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IShares U.S. Insurance ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, IAK is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Financials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF (KBWP - Free Report) tracks KBW Nasdaq Property & Casualty Index and the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE - Free Report) tracks S&P Insurance Select Industry Index. Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF has $136.77 million in assets, SPDR S&P Insurance ETF has $378.85 million. KBWP has an expense ratio of 0.35% and KIE charges 0.35%.
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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Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Insurance ETF (IAK)?
Looking for broad exposure to the Financials - Insurance segment of the equity market? You should consider the iShares U.S. Insurance ETF (IAK - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 05/01/2006.
An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.
Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Financials - Insurance 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 Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $314.42 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Financials - Insurance segment of the equity market. IAK seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Insurance Index before fees and expenses.
The Dow Jones U.S. Select Insurance Index includes companies providing a range of specialized financial services, including securities brokers & dealers, online brokers & securities or commodities exchanges.
Costs
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.42%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.87%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Chubb Ltd (CB - Free Report) accounts for about 12% of total assets, followed by Progressive Corp (PGR - Free Report) and American International Group Inc (AIG - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 62.84% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 4.97% so far this year and it's up approximately 8.86% in the last one year (as of 06/06/2022). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $74.76 and $92.57.
The ETF has a beta of 0.92 and standard deviation of 28.93% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 65 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IShares U.S. Insurance ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, IAK is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Financials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF (KBWP - Free Report) tracks KBW Nasdaq Property & Casualty Index and the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE - Free Report) tracks S&P Insurance Select Industry Index. Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF has $136.77 million in assets, SPDR S&P Insurance ETF has $378.85 million. KBWP has an expense ratio of 0.35% and KIE charges 0.35%.
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.