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Is Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO - Free Report) debuted on 12/06/2005, and offers broad exposure to the Industrials ETFs category of the market.
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.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well 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.
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.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
PHO is managed by Invesco, and this fund has amassed over $2.14 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Industrials ETFs. PHO seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ OMX US Water Index before fees and expenses.
The NASDAQ OMX US Water Index tracks the performance of US exchange-listed companies that create products designed to conserve and purify water for homes, businesses and industries.
Cost & Other Expenses
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.59%.
PHO's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.48%.
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.
Representing 62.90% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector; Information Technology and Utilities round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Ferguson Enterprises Inc (FERG - Free Report) accounts for about 7.86% of total assets, followed by Roper Technologies Inc (ROP - Free Report) and Ecolab Inc (ECL - Free Report) .
PHO's top 10 holdings account for about 57.56% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has gained about 4.63% and is up roughly 2.48% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 05/28/2025), respectively. PHO has traded between $58.13 and $72.14 during this last 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.01 and standard deviation of 19.01% for the trailing three-year period, which makes PHO a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 40 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
Invesco Water Resources ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF (CGW - Free Report) tracks S&P GLOBAL WATER INDEX and the First Trust Water ETF (FIW - Free Report) tracks ISE Clean Edge Water Index. Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF has $962.85 million in assets, First Trust Water ETF has $1.83 billion. CGW has an expense ratio of 0.56% and FIW charges 0.53%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Industrials 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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Is Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO) a Strong ETF Right Now?
A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO - Free Report) debuted on 12/06/2005, and offers broad exposure to the Industrials ETFs category of the market.
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.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well 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.
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.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
PHO is managed by Invesco, and this fund has amassed over $2.14 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Industrials ETFs. PHO seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ OMX US Water Index before fees and expenses.
The NASDAQ OMX US Water Index tracks the performance of US exchange-listed companies that create products designed to conserve and purify water for homes, businesses and industries.
Cost & Other Expenses
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.59%.
PHO's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.48%.
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.
Representing 62.90% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector; Information Technology and Utilities round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Ferguson Enterprises Inc (FERG - Free Report) accounts for about 7.86% of total assets, followed by Roper Technologies Inc (ROP - Free Report) and Ecolab Inc (ECL - Free Report) .
PHO's top 10 holdings account for about 57.56% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has gained about 4.63% and is up roughly 2.48% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 05/28/2025), respectively. PHO has traded between $58.13 and $72.14 during this last 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.01 and standard deviation of 19.01% for the trailing three-year period, which makes PHO a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 40 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
Invesco Water Resources ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF (CGW - Free Report) tracks S&P GLOBAL WATER INDEX and the First Trust Water ETF (FIW - Free Report) tracks ISE Clean Edge Water Index. Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF has $962.85 million in assets, First Trust Water ETF has $1.83 billion. CGW has an expense ratio of 0.56% and FIW charges 0.53%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Industrials 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.