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Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Consumer Staples ETF (IYK)?

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Launched on 06/12/2000, the iShares U.S. Consumer Staples ETF (IYK - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market.

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.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Consumer Staples - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 2, placing it in top 13%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $1.85 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market. IYK seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods Index before fees and expenses.

The Russell 1000 Consumer Staples RIC 22.5/45 Capped Index measures the performance of the consumer goods sector of the U.S. equity market.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.39%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.16%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Staples sector--about 89.70% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Materials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Procter & Gamble (PG - Free Report) accounts for about 15.82% of total assets, followed by Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) and Pepsico Inc (PEP - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 59.79% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 0% so far this year and was up about 3.49% in the last one year (as of 01/03/2023). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $179.30 and $213.41.

The ETF has a beta of 0.78 and standard deviation of 21.98% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 56 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares U.S. Consumer Staples 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, IYK is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Consumer Staples ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP - Free Report) tracks Consumer Staples Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF has $6.71 billion in assets, Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF has $17.39 billion. VDC has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLP charges 0.10%.

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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