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Should You Invest in the VanEck Retail ETF (RTH)?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary - Retail segment of the equity market? You should consider the VanEck Retail ETF (RTH - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 12/20/2011.

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. Consumer Discretionary - Retail is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 15, placing it in bottom 6%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Van Eck. It has amassed assets over $229.63 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Discretionary - Retail segment of the equity market. RTH seeks to match the performance of the MVIS US Listed Retail 25 Index before fees and expenses.

The MVIS US Listed Retail 25 Index tracks the overall performance of companies involved in retail distribution, wholesalers, on-line, direct mail and TV retailers, multi-line retailers, specialty retailers and food and other staples retailers.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.84%.

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 Consumer Discretionary sector--about 73% of the portfolio. Consumer Staples and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Amazon.com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) accounts for about 19.20% of total assets, followed by Home Depot Inc/the (HD - Free Report) and Lowe's Cos Inc (LOW - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 71.04% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, RTH has lost about -7.02%, and is up roughly 12.40% in the last one year (as of 02/17/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $149.54 and $198.86.

The ETF has a beta of 0.92 and standard deviation of 20.20% 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 Retail 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, RTH is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY - Free Report) tracks EQM Online Retail Index and the ProShares Online Retail ETF (ONLN - Free Report) tracks PROSHARES ONLINE RETAIL INDEX. Amplify Online Retail ETF has $463.74 million in assets, ProShares Online Retail ETF has $548.56 million. IBUY has an expense ratio of 0.65% and ONLN charges 0.58%.

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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