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Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH)?

Zacks Equity Research
·3-min read

The iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH) was launched on 06/12/2000, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market.

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 also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Healthcare - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 10, placing it in bottom 38%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $2.99 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market. IYH seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index before fees and expenses.

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The Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index measures the performance of the healthcare sector of 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 0.41%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.98%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. 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, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) accounts for about 8.34% of total assets, followed by Unitedhealth Group Inc (UNH) and Pfizer Inc (PFE).

The top 10 holdings account for about 44.95% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 18% and it's up approximately 30.40% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 10/29/2021), respectively. IYH has traded between $219.61 and $296.34 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.78 and standard deviation of 21.10% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 132 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares U.S. Healthcare ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, IYH is an excellent 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.

Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Health Care 25/50 Index and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) tracks Health Care Select Sector Index. Vanguard Health Care ETF has $16.58 billion in assets, Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF has $31.27 billion. VHT has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLV charges 0.12%.

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.


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH): ETF Research Reports
 
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV): ETF Research Reports
 
Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT): ETF Research Reports
 
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