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

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

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.

Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $269.53 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 0.58%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.02%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Healthcare sector - about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Illumina Inc (ILMN - Free Report) accounts for about 6.14% of total assets, followed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX - Free Report) and Neurocrine Biosciences Inc (NBIX - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 46.85% of PBE's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 1.37% so far this year and was up about 2.38% in the last one year (as of 03/05/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $52.52 and $67.29.

The ETF has a beta of 0.81 and standard deviation of 24.61% 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 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.

IShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB - Free Report) tracks Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI - Free Report) tracks S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index. IShares Biotechnology ETF has $7.73 billion in assets, SPDR S&P Biotech ETF has $8.09 billion. IBB has an expense ratio of 0.45% and XBI charges 0.35%.

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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