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Is Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Health Care ETFs category of the market, the Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 06/23/2005.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.

The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $263.83 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Health Care ETFs. 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.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.57%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer 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 Healthcare sector - about 100% of the portfolio.

Taking into account individual holdings, Chemocentryx Inc accounts for about 5.61% of the fund's total assets, followed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX - Free Report) and Catalent Inc (CTLT - Free Report) .

PBE's top 10 holdings account for about 45.03% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, PBE has lost about -6.73%, and is down about -5.49% in the last one year (as of 12/01/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $52.10 and $72.36.

The ETF has a beta of 0.89 and standard deviation of 30.32% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 31 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

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 $8.12 billion in assets, iShares Biotechnology ETF has $9.01 billion. XBI has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IBB charges 0.44%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Health Care ETFs.

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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