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Should You Invest in the iShares Global Industrials ETF (EXI)?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Industrials - Broad segment of the U.S. equity market? You should consider the iShares Global Industrials ETF (EXI - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/12/2006.

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.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Industrials - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 14, placing it in bottom 13%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $232.65 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Broad segment of the U.S. equity market. EXI seeks to match the performance of the S&P Global 1200 Industrials Sector Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Global 1200 Industrials Sector Index measures the performance of companies that are part of the industrials sector of the economy.

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 0.48%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.85%.

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, Boeing (BA - Free Report) accounts for about 4.23% of total assets, followed by General Electric (GE - Free Report) and 3m (MMM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 25.03% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -2.45% and it's up approximately 6.66% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/16/2018), respectively. EXI has traded between $84.21 and $99.02 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.04 and standard deviation of 13.75% for the trailing three-year period, making it a low risk choice in the space. With about 211 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.