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Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH)?

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The iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH - Free Report) was launched on 06/12/2000, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are 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. Healthcare - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 1, placing it in top 6%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $2.95 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market. IYH seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index before fees and expenses.

The Russell 1000 Health Care RIC 22.5/45 Capped Gross Index measures the performance of the healthcare sector of the U.S. equity market.

Costs

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.40%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.22%.

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 Healthcare sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Unitedhealth Group Inc (UNH - Free Report) accounts for about 9.71% of total assets, followed by Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 53.95% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, IYH has lost about -4.01%, and is down about -2.45% in the last one year (as of 11/21/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $257.23 and $291.18.

The ETF has a beta of 0.69 and standard deviation of 14.78% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 119 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares U.S. Healthcare ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, IYH is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Health Care 25/50 Index and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV - Free Report) tracks Health Care Select Sector Index. Vanguard Health Care ETF has $15.90 billion in assets, Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF has $36.81 billion. VHT has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLV 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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