After some struggles to start 2014, consumer staples exchange traded funds have gotten their respective acts together, notching some impressive performances off their February bottoms.
One of the more impressive consumers staples ETFs since the start of February is the PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage Portfolio (NYSEArca: PBJ), an ETF that breaks from the traditional cap-weighted staples ETFs in at least two ways.
First, PBJ is an alternatively-weighted ETF. Second, due to the ETF’s focus on food and beverage names, PBJ features no exposure to the other usual suspects of the staples sector, such as household goods makers, tobacco companies or retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT).
PBJ tracks the Dynamic Food & Beverage Intellidex Index, which evaluates possible constituents based on earnings and price momentum while also employing a quality filter and screening for management action and value.
That does lead to some of the staples sector’s most familiar names residing among PBJ’s 30 holdings, including Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Mondelez (NasdaqGS: MDLZ) and General Mills (NYSE: GIS). Up 7.4% this year, PBJ has also gotten a lift from its 2.9% weight to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NasdaqGS: GMCR), shares of which have surged nearly 65%. [Green Mountain Jolts This ETF]
Although it does not hold tobacco stocks, PBJ has also received some help from sin stocks. Brown Forman (NYSE: BF-B), Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP) and Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) combine for about 11% of PBJ’s weight and those stocks have posted an average of 2014 gain of 27%.