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Should You Invest in the iShares Global Industrials ETF (EXI)?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Industrials - Broad segment of the U.S. equity market? You should consider the iShares Global Industrials ETF (EXI - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/12/2006.

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Industrials - 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 $251.01 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Broad segment of the U.S. equity market. EXI seeks to match the performance of the S&P Global 1200 Industrials Sector Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Global 1200 Industrials Sector Index measures the performance of companies that are part of the industrials sector of the economy.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.48%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.53%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Boeing (BA - Free Report) accounts for about 4.23% of total assets, followed by General Electric (GE - Free Report) and 3m (MMM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 24.60% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, EXI has lost about -3.47%, and is up about 9.33% in the last one year (as of 05/03/2018). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $82.19 and $99.02.

The ETF has a beta of 1.04 and standard deviation of 13.83% for the trailing three-year period, making it a low risk choice in the space. With about 212 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

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.