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Should You Invest in the VanEck Oil Services ETF (OIH)?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Energy - Equipment and services segment of the equity market? You should consider the VanEck Oil Services ETF (OIH - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 12/20/2011.

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. Energy - Equipment and services 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 $3.53 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Energy - Equipment and services segment of the equity market. OIH seeks to match the performance of the MVIS U.S. Listed Oil Services 25 Index before fees and expenses.

The MVIS U.S. Listed Oil Services 25 Index tracks the overall performance of U.S.-listed companies involved in oil services to the upstream oil sector, which include oil equipment, oil services, or oil drilling.

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 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.72%.

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 Energy sector--about 94.60% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Schlumberger Nv (SLB - Free Report) accounts for about 18.85% of total assets, followed by Halliburton Co (HAL - Free Report) and Baker Hughes Co (BKR - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 72.15% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, OIH has added roughly 27.50%, and it's up approximately 19.83% in the last one year (as of 05/12/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $167.67 and $308.48.

The ETF has a beta of 2.13 and standard deviation of 59.16% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 26 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

VanEck Oil Services 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, OIH is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Energy ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (XES - Free Report) tracks S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services Select Industry Index and the iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF (IEZ - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Equipment & Services Index. SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF has $301.19 million in assets, iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF has $341.12 million. XES has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IEZ charges 0.41%.

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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