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Should You Invest in the Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Industrials - Water segment of the equity market, look no further than the Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 12/06/2005.

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. Industrials - Water is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 14, placing it in bottom 13%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $2.32 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Water segment of the equity market. PHO seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ OMX US Water Index before fees and expenses.

The NASDAQ OMX US Water Index tracks the performance of US exchange-listed companies that create products designed to conserve and purify water for homes, businesses and industries.

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 0.60%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.45%.

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 64.10% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Utilities round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Ecolab Inc (ECL - Free Report) accounts for about 7.96% of total assets, followed by Roper Technologies Inc (ROP - Free Report) and Ferguson Enterprises Inc (FERG - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 57.55% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco Water Resources ETF return is roughly 17.49% so far, and was up about 36.01% over the last 12 months (as of 11/11/2024). PHO has traded between $53.14 and $72.10 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.98 and standard deviation of 19.34% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 40 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco Water Resources 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, PHO is a great 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.

Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF (CGW - Free Report) tracks S&P GLOBAL WATER INDEX and the First Trust Water ETF (FIW - Free Report) tracks ISE Clean Edge Water Index. Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF has $976.74 million in assets, First Trust Water ETF has $1.90 billion. CGW has an expense ratio of 0.56% and FIW charges 0.53%.

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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