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Should You Invest in the iShares Expanded TechSoftware Sector ETF (IGV)?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Technology - Software segment of the equity market, the iShares Expanded TechSoftware Sector ETF (IGV - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 07/10/2001.

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.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Technology - Software 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 Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $4.47 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Technology - Software segment of the equity market. IGV seeks to match the performance of the S&P North American Technology-Software Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P North American Expanded Technology Software Index comprises of North American equities in the software industry and select North American equities from interactive home entertainment and interactive media and services industries.

Costs

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.43%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector--about 92.40% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) accounts for about 9.02% of total assets, followed by Salesforce.com Inc (CRM - Free Report) and Adobe Inc (ADBE - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 51.18% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, IGV has lost about -23.69%, and is down about -17.76% in the last one year (as of 05/02/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $299.90 and $446.52.

The ETF has a beta of 1.03 and standard deviation of 30.09% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 134 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Expanded TechSoftware Sector 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, IGV is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Technology ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

Invesco Dynamic Software ETF tracks Dynamic Software Intellidex Index and the SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF (XSW - Free Report) tracks S&P Software & Services Select Industry Index. Invesco Dynamic Software ETF has $241.57 million in assets, SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF has $276.81 million. PSJ has an expense ratio of 0.56% and XSW charges 0.35%.

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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