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Should You Invest in the VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH)?

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Launched on 12/20/2011, the VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Healthcare - Pharma segment of the equity market.

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.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Healthcare - Pharma is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 1, placing it in top 6%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Van Eck. It has amassed assets over $234.08 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Pharma segment of the equity market. PPH seeks to match the performance of the MVIS US Listed Pharmaceutical 25 Index before fees and expenses.

The MVIS US Listed Pharmaceutical 25 Index tracks the overall performance of companies involved in pharmaceuticals, including pharmaceutical research and development as well a production, marketing and sales of pharmaceuticals.

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 0.36%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.82%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) accounts for about 5.50% of total assets, followed by Pfizer Inc (PFE - Free Report) and Eli Lilly & Co (LLY - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 52.18% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF has lost about -6.91% so far, and is up about 4.32% over the last 12 months (as of 05/04/2020). PPH has traded between $47.54 and $67.62 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.92 and standard deviation of 20.44% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 26 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical 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, PPH 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.

IShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Pharmaceuticals Index and the Invesco Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF (PJP - Free Report) tracks Dynamic Pharmaceutical Intellidex Index. IShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF has $342.40 million in assets, Invesco Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF has $350.09 million. IHE has an expense ratio of 0.42% and PJP charges 0.56%.

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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