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Is Invesco Pharmaceuticals ETF (PJP) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The Invesco Pharmaceuticals ETF (PJP - 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?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

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

Managed by Invesco, PJP has amassed assets over $567.84 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Health Care ETFs. PJP, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Dynamic Pharmaceutical Intellidex Index.

The Dynamic Pharmaceutical Intellidex Index is comprised of stocks of U.S. pharmaceutical companies. It is designed to provide capital appreciation by thoroughly evaluating companies based on a variety of investment merit criteria, including fundamental growth, stock valuation, investment timeliness and risk factors.

Cost & Other Expenses

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for PJP are 0.57%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.89%.

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.

When you look at individual holdings, Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD) accounts for about 5.45% of the fund's total assets, followed by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Pfizer Inc (PFE).

The top 10 holdings account for about 49.16% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 22.16% and is up roughly 41.84% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 09/28/2026), respectively. PJP has traded between $91.17 and $131.64 during this last 52-week period.

PJP has a beta of 0.45 and standard deviation of 16.00% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a high risk choice in the space. With about 31 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers .

Alternatives

Invesco Pharmaceuticals 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.

First Trust NASDAQ Pharmaceuticals ETF (FTXH) tracks Nasdaq US Smart Pharmaceuticals Index and the iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Pharmaceuticals Index. First Trust NASDAQ Pharmaceuticals ETF has $1.07 billion in assets, iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF has $1.67 billion. FTXH has an expense ratio of 0.60% and IHE changes 0.37%.

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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