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Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (IHI)?

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The iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (IHI - Free Report) was launched on 05/01/2006, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Healthcare - Medical Devices segment of the equity market.

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.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Healthcare - Medical Devices is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 3, placing it in top 19%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $4.86 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Medical Devices segment of the equity market. IHI seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Medical Equipment Index before fees and expenses.

The Dow Jones U.S. Select Medical Equipment Index measures the performance of the medical equipment sector of the U.S. equity market.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain 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 0.45%.

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 Healthcare sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Abbott Laboratories (ABT - Free Report) accounts for about 16.93% of total assets, followed by Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG - Free Report) and Stryker Corp (SYK - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 72.53% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 8.20% so far this year and it's up approximately 21.78% in the last one year (as of 10/09/2024). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $44.46 and $59.77.

The ETF has a beta of 0.89 and standard deviation of 19.81% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 55 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares U.S. Medical Devices 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, IHI is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

First Trust Indxx Medical Devices ETF (MDEV - Free Report) tracks INDXX GLOBAL MEDICAL EQUIPMENT INDEX and the SPDR S&P Health Care Equipment ETF (XHE - Free Report) tracks S&P Health Care Equipment Select Industry Index. First Trust Indxx Medical Devices ETF has $3.29 million in assets, SPDR S&P Health Care Equipment ETF has $214.28 million. MDEV has an expense ratio of 0.70% and XHE 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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