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Should You Invest in the Invesco S&P SmallCap Health Care ETF (PSCH)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market, look no further than the Invesco S&P SmallCap Health Care ETF (PSCH - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 04/07/2010.

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also 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. Healthcare - Broad 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 $1.10 B, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market. PSCH seeks to match the performance of the S&P SmallCap 600 Capped Health Care Index before fees and expenses.

This Index is comprised of common stocks of U.S. healthcare companies.These are companies that are principally engaged in the business of providing healthcare-related products & services, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical technology and supplies & facilities and this Index is a subset of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.29%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

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 Healthcare sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Amedisys Inc (AMED - Free Report) accounts for about 3.98% of total assets, followed by Neogen Corp (NEOG - Free Report) and Merit Medical Systems Inc (MMSI - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 34.19% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 23.77% so far this year and it's up approximately 29.65% in the last one year (as of 11/20/2018). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $95.15 and $144.96.

The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 18.38% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 67 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P SmallCap Health Care ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, PSCH is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Health Care 25/50 Index and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV - Free Report) tracks Health Care Select Sector Index. Vanguard Health Care ETF has $8.57 B in assets, Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund has $18.64 B. VHT has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLV charges 0.13%.

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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