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Should You Invest in the First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF (AIRR)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market, look no further than the First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF (AIRR - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 03/10/2014.

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.

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. Industrials - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 12, placing it in bottom 25%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.64 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market. AIRR seeks to match the performance of the Richard Bernstein Advisors American Industrial Renaissance Index before fees and expenses.

The Richard Bernstein Advisors American Industrial Renaissance Index is measures the performance of small and mid cap US companies in the industrial and community banking sectors.

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 0.70%, making it one of the most expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.12%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector--about 90.40% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Granite Construction Incorporated (GVA - Free Report) accounts for about 3.50% of total assets, followed by Mueller Industries, Inc. (MLI - Free Report) and Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 31.66% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 28.84% so far this year and it's up approximately 44.80% in the last one year (as of 09/25/2024). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $46.95 and $75.20.

The ETF has a beta of 1.22 and standard deviation of 24.39% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 60 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance 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, AIRR is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Industrials 25/50 Index and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI - Free Report) tracks Industrial Select Sector Index. Vanguard Industrials ETF has $5.57 billion in assets, Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $19.94 billion. VIS has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLI 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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