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

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Looking for broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary - Broad segment of the equity market? You should consider the iShares U.S. Consumer Discretionary ETF (IYC - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on June 12, 2000.

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.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Consumer Discretionary - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 1, placing it in top 6%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $1.21 billion, making it one of the larger 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

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 0.38%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

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

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 Consumer Discretionary sector -- about 67.7% of the portfolio. Telecom and Consumer Staples round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Amazon Com Inc (AMZN) accounts for about 12.38% of total assets, followed by Tesla Inc (TSLA) and Walmart Inc (WMT).

The top 10 holdings account for about 50.24% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the iShares U.S. Consumer Discretionary ETF has lost about 3.24% so far, and was up about 13.6% over the last 12 months (as of 03/18/2026). IYC has traded between $79.19 and $107.18 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.19 and standard deviation of 17.12% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 171 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

iShares U.S. Consumer Discretionary ETF sports a Zacks ETF Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. IYC, then, is not the best option for investors seeking exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs segment of the market. However, there are better ETFs in the space to consider.

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary Index Fund ETF Shares (VCR) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Discretionary 25/50 Index and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) tracks Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary Index Fund ETF Shares has $5.87 billion in assets, State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF has $22.32 billion. VCR has an expense ratio of 0.09%, and XLY charges 0.08%.

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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