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Should You Invest in the Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market, look no further than the Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/23/2005.

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.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Healthcare - Biotech is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 5, placing it in top 31%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $250.07 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market. PBE seeks to match the performance of the Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome Intellidex Index before fees and expenses.

The Dynamic Biotech & Genome Intellidex Index seeks to provide capital appreciation by thoroughly evaluating companies based on a variety of investment merit criteria, including price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action, and value.

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 0.57%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

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 Healthcare sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN - Free Report) accounts for about 5.63% of total assets, followed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX - Free Report) and Amgen Inc (AMGN - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 46.83% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, PBE has lost about -2.01%, and is up about 9.28% in the last one year (as of 05/03/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $52.10 and $68.03.

The ETF has a beta of 0.87 and standard deviation of 27.11% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 32 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF sports a Zacks ETF Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. PBE, then, is not a great choice for investors seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are better ETFs in the space to consider.

SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI - Free Report) tracks S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB - Free Report) tracks Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. SPDR S&P Biotech ETF has $6.45 billion in assets, iShares Biotechnology ETF has $7.89 billion. XBI has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IBB charges 0.44%.

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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