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Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Consumer Discretionary ETF (IYC)?

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Launched on 06/12/2000, the iShares U.S. Consumer Discretionary ETF (IYC - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary - Broad segment of the equity market.

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.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Consumer Discretionary - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 4, placing it in top 25%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $941.76 million, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Discretionary - Broad segment of the equity market. IYC seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Services Index before fees and expenses.

The Russell 1000 Consumer Disc 40 Act 15/22.5 Daily Capped Index measures the performance of the consumer services sector of the U.S. equity market.

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 0.40%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.66%.

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 Consumer Discretionary sector--about 68.80% of the portfolio. Telecom and Consumer Staples round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Amazon Com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) accounts for about 14.40% of total assets, followed by Tesla Inc (TSLA - Free Report) and Costco Wholesale Corp (COST - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 50.94% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 3.58% so far this year and is up about 23.91% in the last one year (as of 02/22/2024). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $60.17 and $79.20.

The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 22.01% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 181 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares U.S. Consumer Discretionary 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, IYC is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Discretionary 25/50 Index and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY - Free Report) tracks Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has $5.48 billion in assets, Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF has $20.17 billion. VCR has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLY charges 0.10%.

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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