Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should You Invest in the Invesco KBW Bank ETF (KBWB)?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Looking for broad exposure to the Financials - Banking segment of the equity market? You should consider the Invesco KBW Bank ETF (KBWB - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 11/01/2011.

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. Financials - Banking is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 2, placing it in top 13%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $3.75 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Financials - Banking segment of the equity market. KBWB seeks to match the performance of the KBW Nasdaq Bank index before fees and expenses.

The KBW Nasdaq Bank index is a modified-market capitalization-weighted index that seeks to reflect the performance of companies that do business as banks or thrifts that are publicly-traded in the US.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.54%.

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 Financials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Jpmorgan Chase & Co (JPM - Free Report) accounts for about 8.68% of total assets, followed by Wells Fargo & Co (WFC - Free Report) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc/the (GS - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 62.81% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco KBW Bank ETF has lost about -3.32% so far, and is up about 19.95% over the last 12 months (as of 04/01/2025). KBWB has traded between $49.58 and $72.21 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 26.64% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 26 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco KBW Bank 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, KBWB is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Financials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

First Trust NASDAQ Bank ETF (FTXO - Free Report) tracks Nasdaq US Smart Banks Index and the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE - Free Report) tracks S&P Banks Select Industry Index. First Trust NASDAQ Bank ETF has $224.74 million in assets, SPDR S&P Bank ETF has $2.01 billion. FTXO has an expense ratio of 0.60% and KBE 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.

Published in