For more information on the health care industry, visit our health care category.
Health care clearly needs some of the kinks worked out, and it seems like the clarity enjoyed earlier this year is once again a murky issue. While many of these ETFs are trading higher, watch the trend lines for signs of any slowdown and be prepared to act – or ride the wave higher.
There are a broad number of ways to play health care with ETFs. But first, you have to decide what you want: are you in the market for sector-specific exposure or do you want an all-encompassing health care fund that runs the gamut from providers and pharmaceutical makers to biotech and equipment.
Broad health care indexes:
- SPDR Health Care Select Sector (AMEX: XLV)
- iShares Dow Jones US Healthcare (NYSEArca: IYH)
- Vanguard Health Care (AMEX: VHT)
Biotech ETFs include:
- First Trust AMEX Biotech (AMEX: FBT)
- Invesco PowerShares Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome (AMEX: PBE)
- iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (AMEX: IBB)
- SPDR Biotech (NYSEArca: XBI)
- Invesco PowerShares Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome (AMEX: PBE)
Other sub-sector ETFs include:
- iShares Dow Jones US Healthcare Provider (NYSEArca: IHF)
- Invesco PowerShares Dynamic Healthcare Sector Portfolio (AMEX: PTH)
- Invesco PowerShares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF (AMEX: PJP)
- Invesco PowerShares FTSE RAFI Health Care Sector Portfolio (NasdaqGM: PRFH)
As always, if you want more oomph in your health care play, or simply want to bet on a short-term direction, then consider a short or leveraged ETF. Before you buy, know the caveats!
- ProShares Ultra Health Care (AMEX: RXL)
- ProShares UltraShort Health Care (AMEX: RXD)
- Rydex 2x S&P Select Sector Health Care (AMEX: RHM)
- Rydex ExpressShares S&P Equal Weight Health Care (AMEX: RYH)
- Rydex Inverse 2x S&P Select Sector Health Care (AMEX: RHO)
Read the disclaimer; Tom Lydon is a board member of Rydex|SGI.
Max Chen contributed to this article.