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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) made its debut on 06/23/2005, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Health Care ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

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.

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.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Invesco. PBE has been able to amass assets over $412.99 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Health Care ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome Intellidex Index.

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

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.59% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.40%.

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.

For PBE, it has heaviest allocation in the Healthcare sector --about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Natera Inc (NTRA) accounts for about 6.31% of total assets, followed by Illumina Inc (ILMN) and Biogen Inc (BIIB).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 48.1% of PBE's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, PBE has added about 16.68%, and is up roughly 36.23% in the last one year (as of 10/14/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $71.62 and $98.73.

PBE has a beta of 0.70 and standard deviation of 20.18% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a high risk choice in the space. With about 33 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.

State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) tracks S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) tracks Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF has $9.89 billion in assets, iShares Biotechnology ETF has $10.52 billion. XBI has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IBB changes 0.44%.

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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