ETFs for Good Health
September 19th at 5:00pm by Tom Lydon
Health care exchange traded funds (ETFs) seem to be the investment topic of the day. Last year, the oldest of the baby boomers turned 60, the first of the next 80 million! The U.S. health-care industry stands to profit from boomers, and ETF sponsors are well aware. Around a dozen firms have come forward with about 40 health care-related ETFs, reports Zoe Van Schyndel for The Motley Fool. Most health-related ETFs share a common characteristic: Their holdings are weighted by market capitalization. That means the larger, more well-known companies will dominate in a majority of funds.
HealthShares breaks the mold by equally weighting the holdings so that no one company dominates. PowerShares also takes its own path with fundamentally-weighted funds, picking stocks based upon sales, cash flow, book value and dividends.
Health care ETFs can be broad or narrowly focused. Two broad based ETFs with a track record include Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT), up 7.3% year-to-date and iShares Dow Jones U.S. Healthcare Sector Index Fund (IYH), up 6.9%.
