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Should You Invest in the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXQ)?

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Launched on 06/11/2021, the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXQ - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Technology - Semiconductors segment of the equity market.

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.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Technology - Semiconductors is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 10, placing it in bottom 38%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $412.02 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Technology - Semiconductors segment of the equity market. SOXQ seeks to match the performance of the PHLX SEMICONDUCTOR SECTOR INDEX before fees and expenses.

The PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index measures the performance of the 30 largest U.S.-listed securities of companies engaged in the semiconductor business.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.19%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.68%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA - Free Report) accounts for about 11.63% of total assets, followed by Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD - Free Report) and Broadcom Inc (AVGO - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 65.22% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, SOXQ return is roughly 25.35%, and it's up approximately 68.28% in the last one year (as of 05/27/2024). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $25.07 and $41.12.

The ETF has a beta of 1.56 and standard deviation of 33.73% for the trailing three-year period. With about 30 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, SOXQ is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Technology ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

IShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX - Free Report) tracks PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH - Free Report) tracks MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25 Index. IShares Semiconductor ETF has $14.02 billion in assets, VanEck Semiconductor ETF has $20.74 billion. SOXX has an expense ratio of 0.35% and SMH 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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