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Should You Invest in the Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE)?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market? You should consider the Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/23/2005.

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 are also funds of convenience, offering many ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Healthcare - Biotech is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 2, placing it in top 13%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $237.70 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market. PBE seeks to match the performance of the Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome Intellidex Index before fees and expenses.

This is comprised of stocks of 30 U.S. biotechnology and genome companies. These are companies that are principally engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing and distribution of various biotechnological products, services and processes and companies that benefit significantly from scientific and technological advances in biotechnology and genetic engineering and research.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.57%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

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.

Looking at individual holdings, Biogen Inc (BIIB - Free Report) accounts for about 6.67% of total assets, followed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX - Free Report) and Neurocrine Biosciences Inc (NBIX - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 52.31% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 18.74% and it's up approximately 17.71% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 12/19/2019), respectively. PBE has traded between $43.44 and $56.26 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.45 and standard deviation of 22.56% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 28 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, PBE is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI - Free Report) tracks S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB - Free Report) tracks Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. SPDR S&P Biotech ETF has $4.21 B in assets, iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has $7.60 B. XBI has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IBB charges 0.47%.

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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