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Should You Invest in the Invesco KBW Bank ETF (KBWB)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Financials - Banking segment of the equity market, look no further than the Invesco KBW Bank ETF (KBWB - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 11/01/2011.

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Financials - Banking is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 8, placing it in top 50%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $1.80 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Financials - Banking segment of the equity market. KBWB seeks to match the performance of the KBW Nasdaq Bank index before fees and expenses.

The KBW Nasdaq Bank index is a modified-market capitalization-weighted index that seeks to reflect the performance of companies that do business as banks or thrifts that are publicly-traded in the US.

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 0.35%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.96%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that 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, Wells Fargo & Co (WFC - Free Report) accounts for about 8.26% of total assets, followed by Citigroup Inc (C - Free Report) and Bank Of America Corp (BAC - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 60.76% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 2.89% and is down about -24.03% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 01/05/2023), respectively. KBWB has traded between $48.57 and $75.75 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.21 and standard deviation of 40.19% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 25 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco KBW Bank 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, KBWB is a great 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.

First Trust NASDAQ Bank ETF (FTXO - Free Report) tracks Nasdaq US Smart Banks Index and the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE - Free Report) tracks S&P Banks Select Industry Index. First Trust NASDAQ Bank ETF has $203.22 million in assets, SPDR S&P Bank ETF has $1.70 billion. FTXO has an expense ratio of 0.60% and KBE 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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