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Should You Invest in the Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA)?

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The Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA - Free Report) was launched on 10/26/2005, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Industrials - Aerospace & Defense segment of the equity market.

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. Industrials - Aerospace & Defense is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 7, placing it in top 44%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $4.62 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Aerospace & Defense segment of the equity market. PPA seeks to match the performance of the SPADE Defense Index before fees and expenses.

The SPADE Defense Index is comprised of approximately 50 U.S. companies whose shares are listed on a U.S. Exchange. These are companies that are principally engaged in the research, development, manufacture, operation and support of defense, military, homeland security and space operations.

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 0.57%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.61%.

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 Industrials sector--about 92.60% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, General Electric Co (GE - Free Report) accounts for about 8.72% of total assets, followed by Rtx Corp (RTX - Free Report) and Boeing Co/the (BA - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 57.79% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF has lost about -0.56% so far, and it's up approximately 20.21% over the last 12 months (as of 02/24/2025). PPA has traded between $96.59 and $124.50 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.95 and standard deviation of 17.33% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 55 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco Aerospace & Defense 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, PPA is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR - Free Report) tracks S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index and the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace & Defense Index. SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF has $2.69 billion in assets, iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF has $6.29 billion. XAR has an expense ratio of 0.35% and ITA charges 0.40%.

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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