Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should You Invest in the Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE)?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market, the Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/23/2005.

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.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Healthcare - Biotech is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 8, placing it in top 50%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $224.71 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market. PBE seeks to match the performance of the Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome Intellidex Index before fees and expenses.

The Dynamic Biotech & Genome Intellidex Index seeks to provide capital appreciation by thoroughly evaluating companies based on a variety of investment merit criteria, including price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action, and value.

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 0.59%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

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.

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

Looking at individual holdings, Amgen Inc (AMGN - Free Report) accounts for about 5.33% of total assets, followed by Bio-Techne Corp (TECH - Free Report) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 47.92% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, PBE has lost about -15.20%, and is down about -19.50% in the last one year (as of 04/19/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $56.78 and $79.80.

The ETF has a beta of 1 and standard deviation of 28.73% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 32 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome 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, PBE is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI - Free Report) tracks S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB - Free Report) tracks Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. SPDR S&P Biotech ETF has $6.24 billion in assets, iShares Biotechnology ETF has $8.30 billion. XBI has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IBB charges 0.45%.

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.

Published in