Americans could soon open up their wallets and start spending again. Investors seeking to capitalize on the large component of the U.S. economy can look to consumer sector-related exchange traded funds to capture the capture the growth.
For example, iShares US Consumer Services ETF (NYSEArca: IYC) tries to reflect the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Services Index. IYC is up 5.4% year-to-date.
The consumer services ETF’s sector tilts include retail 32.9%, media 26.5%, food & staples retail 15.1%, consumer services 14.7%, transportation 4.8%, health care equipment & services 4.1% and commercial services 1.4%. Unlike consumer discretionary sector funds, the consumer services ETF includes food and drug retailers. However, the consumer services space excludes automobile-related companies, which may fall under the discretionary space.
Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer for fixed income portfolios, argues that American consumers are coming back and could lead the economy ahead as favorable economic factors help support more spending, reports Amey Stone for Barron’s.
“A set of economic tailwinds (improving wages, low and stable inflation, muted oil prices and continued strength in the USD) are likely to support consumer spending in the years ahead, allowing that sector to assume leadership of the recovery,” Reider said in a research note, titled Are We At An Inflection Point For The Recovery (And For Policy)?.