Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should You Invest in the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV)?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Looking for broad exposure to the Technology - Software segment of the equity market? You should consider the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 07/10/2001.

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.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Technology - Software is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 5, placing it in top 31%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $6.68 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Technology - Software segment of the equity market. IGV seeks to match the performance of the S&P North American Technology-Software Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P North American Expanded Technology Software Index comprises of North American equities in the software industry and select North American equities from interactive home entertainment and interactive media and services industries.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

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 0.01%.

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 Information Technology sector--about 92.20% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Adobe Inc (ADBE - Free Report) accounts for about 8.94% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Salesforce Inc (CRM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 58.42% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 41.96% so far this year and was up about 33.22% in the last one year (as of 07/18/2023). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $241.77 and $363.18.

The ETF has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 29.26% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 123 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector 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, IGV is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Technology ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

Invesco Dynamic Software ETF tracks Dynamic Software Intellidex Index and the SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF (XSW - Free Report) tracks S&P Software & Services Select Industry Index. Invesco Dynamic Software ETF has $69.29 million in assets, SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF has $329.35 million. PSJ has an expense ratio of 0.56% and XSW 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