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Should You Invest in the Invesco S&P SmallCap Health Care ETF (PSCH)?

Fastenal (FAST) has an impressive earnings surprise history and currently possesses the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely beat in its next quarterly report.

If you're interested in broad exposure to the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market, look no further than the Invesco S&P SmallCap Health Care ETF (PSCH), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 04/07/2010.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are 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. Healthcare - Broad 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 $1.11 B, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market. PSCH seeks to match the performance of the S&P SmallCap 600 Capped Health Care Index before fees and expenses.

This Index is comprised of common stocks of U.S. healthcare companies.These are companies that are principally engaged in the business of providing healthcare-related products & services, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical technology and supplies & facilities and this Index is a subset of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.29%, making it one of the least expensive 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, Amedisys Inc (AMED) accounts for about 4.48% of total assets, followed by Merit Medical Systems Inc (MMSI) and Neogen Corp (NEOG).

The top 10 holdings account for about 34.62% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, PSCH has gained about 22.73%, and it's up approximately 25.80% in the last one year (as of 12/12/2018). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $96.61 and $144.96.

The ETF has a beta of 1.12 and standard deviation of 18.59% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 68 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P SmallCap Health Care ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, PSCH is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Health Care 25/50 Index and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) tracks Health Care Select Sector Index. Vanguard Health Care ETF has $8.82 B in assets, Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund has $19.14 B. VHT has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLV charges 0.13%.

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.


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
PWRSH-SP SC HCP (PSCH): ETF Research Reports
 
SPDR-HLTH CR (XLV): ETF Research Reports
 
VIPERS-HLTH CR (VHT): ETF Research Reports
 
Neogen Corporation (NEOG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Amedisys, Inc. (AMED) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (MMSI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research

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