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Should You Invest in the VanEck Oil Services ETF (OIH)?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Energy - Equipment and services segment of the equity market, the VanEck Oil Services ETF (OIH - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 12/20/2011.

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Energy - Equipment and services is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 1, placing it in top 6%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Van Eck. It has amassed assets over $2.25 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Energy - Equipment and services segment of the equity market. OIH seeks to match the performance of the MVIS U.S. Listed Oil Services 25 Index before fees and expenses.

The MVIS U.S. Listed Oil Services 25 Index tracks the overall performance of U.S.-listed companies involved in oil services to the upstream oil sector, which include oil equipment, oil services, or oil drilling.

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 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.75%.

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 Energy sector--about 94.70% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Schlumberger Nv (SLB - Free Report) accounts for about 20.13% of total assets, followed by Halliburton Co (HAL - Free Report) and Baker Hughes Co (BKR - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 73.68% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 21.59% and it's up approximately 26.54% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 09/14/2022), respectively. OIH has traded between $174.93 and $312.59 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 2.02 and standard deviation of 60.04% 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

VanEck Oil Services 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, OIH is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Energy ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

IShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF (IEZ - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Equipment & Services Index and the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (XES - Free Report) tracks S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services Select Industry Index. IShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF has $174.69 million in assets, SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF has $262.32 million. IEZ has an expense ratio of 0.39% and XES 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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