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Should You Invest in the VanEck Vectors BDC Income ETF (BIZD)?

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Launched on 02/11/2013, the VanEck Vectors BDC Income ETF (BIZD - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Financials - BDCs/PE segment of the equity market.

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Financials - BDCs/PE is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 11, placing it in bottom 31%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Van Eck. It has amassed assets over $209.23 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Financials - BDCs/PE segment of the equity market. BIZD seeks to match the performance of the MVIS US Business Development Companies Index before fees and expenses.

The MVIS US Business Development Companies Index tracks the overall performance of publicly traded business development companies.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.40%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 8.93%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Ares Capital Corp (ARCC - Free Report) accounts for about 20% of total assets, followed by Main Street Capital Corp (MAIN - Free Report) and Prospect Capital Corp (PSEC - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 70.56% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 7.73% so far this year and is up roughly 9.00% in the last one year (as of 09/13/2018). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $15.74 and $17.86.

The ETF has a beta of 0.71 and standard deviation of 12.27% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 27 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

VanEck Vectors BDC Income ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, BIZD is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Financials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Invesco Raymond James SB-1 Equity ETF tracks Raymond James SB-1 Equity Index and the Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF (PSP - Free Report) tracks Red Rocks Global Listed Private Equity Index. Invesco Raymond James SB-1 Equity ETF has $196.14 M in assets, Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF has $269.78 M. RYJ has an expense ratio of 0.75% and PSP charges 0.50%.

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.