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Is iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF (CRBN) a Hot ETF Right Now?

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The iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF (CRBN - Free Report) made its debut on 12/08/2014, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the World ETFs category of the U.S. equity market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Blackrock. CRBN has been able to amass assets over $543.54 M, making it one of the largest ETFs in the World ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target Index.

The MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target Index is designed to address two dimensions of carbon exposure ? carbon emissions and potential carbon emissions from fossil fuel reserves.

Cost & Other Expenses

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 cousins, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.20%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.05%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

When you look at individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 2.01% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Amazon Com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 10.21% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, the ETF has lost about -0.02%, and it's up approximately 12.61% in the last one year (as of 05/01/2018). CRBN has traded between $106.42 and $125.90 in the past 52-week period.

CRBN has a beta of 1.01 and standard deviation of 12.50% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a low choice in the space. With about 1245 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the World ETFs segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

IShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF (SUSA - Free Report) tracks MSCI USA ESG Select Index and the iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF (DSI - Free Report) tracks MSCI KLD 400 Social Index. IShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF has $684.06 M in assets, iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF has $1.04 B. SUSA has an expense ratio of 0.25% and DSI charges 0.25%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the World ETFs.

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.