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Should You Invest in the Invesco MSCI Global Timber ETF (CUT)?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Materials - Timber segment of the U.S. equity market, the Invesco MSCI Global Timber ETF (CUT - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 11/09/2007.

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also 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. Materials - Timber is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 3, placing it in top 19%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $232.80 M, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the performance of the Materials - Timber segment of the U.S. equity market. CUT seeks to match the performance of the MSCI ACWI IMI Timber Select Capped Index before fees and expenses.

The MSCI ACWI IMI Timber Select Capped Index reflects the performance of those stocks in the MSCI ACWI Investable Market Indexes that are engaged in the ownership and management of forests and timberlands and production of finished products which use timber as raw material.

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 0.55%, making it the most expensive product in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.53%.

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.

Looking at individual holdings, Weyerhaeuser Co (WY - Free Report) accounts for about 5.22% of total assets, followed by Upm-Kymmene Oyj (UPM) and International Paper Co (IP - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 44.61% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco MSCI Global Timber ETF has added about 2.39% so far, and was up about 16.82% over the last 12 months (as of 07/09/2018). CUT has traded between $28 and $34.52 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 16.12% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 79 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

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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Invesco MSCI Global Timber ETF (CUT) - free report >>