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Should You Invest in the Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF (FHLC)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market, look no further than the Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF (FHLC - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 10/21/2013.

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 are also funds of convenience, offering many 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 5, placing it in top 31%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Fidelity. It has amassed assets over $3.11 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market. FHLC seeks to match the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Health Care Index before fees and expenses.

The MSCI USA IMI Health Care Index represents the performance of the health care sector in 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 0.08%, making it the least expensive product in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.28%.

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, Eli Lilly + Co Common Stock (LLY - Free Report) accounts for about 12.33% of total assets, followed by Unitedhealth Group Inc Common Stock Usd.01 (UNH - Free Report) and Johnson + Johnson Common Stock Usd1.0 (JNJ - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 50.13% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 12.21% so far this year and it's up approximately 15.19% in the last one year (as of 08/19/2024). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $57.52 and $72.11.

The ETF has a beta of 0.70 and standard deviation of 14.90% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 370 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index 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, FHLC is a good 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 $18.52 billion in assets, Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF has $41.09 billion. VHT has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLV charges 0.09%.

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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