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Should You Invest in the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Technology - Software segment of the equity market, look no further than the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 07/10/2001.

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Technology - Software is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 3, placing it in top 19%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $7.33 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

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 0.41%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.01%.

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 Information Technology sector--about 96.80% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) accounts for about 8.69% of total assets, followed by Adobe Inc (ADBE - Free Report) and Salesforce Inc (CRM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 57.71% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, IGV has added about 48.40%, and was up about 44.99% in the last one year (as of 11/21/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $248.98 and $379.65.

The ETF has a beta of 1.04 and standard deviation of 28.31% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 121 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong 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 AI and Next Gen Software ETF (IGPT - Free Report) tracks STOXX WORLD AC NEXGEN SOFTWARE DEV ID and the SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF (XSW - Free Report) tracks S&P Software & Services Select Industry Index. Invesco AI and Next Gen Software ETF has $176.42 million in assets, SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF has $306.89 million. IGPT has an expense ratio of 0.60% 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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