Amid a hostile political environment, IHI has delivered impressive performance. Over the past two years, the ETF is up 55.5%, or 1,000 basis points better than the S&P 500 over the same time, despite a provision in the Affordable Health Care Act, backed by President Obama and congressional Democrats, that sought to raise taxes on medical device manufacturers. [Obamacare Bad News for This ETF]
Covidien has dodged that punishment by domiciling in Ireland.
Earlier this year, Zimmer Holdings (NYSE: ZMH), also a top-10 holding in IHI, made a $13 billion acquisition. Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW), another IHI holding, has been frequently mentioned as a takeover target in the past, but the company remains independent.
iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post.