Is Invesco Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Health Care ETFs category of the market, the Invesco Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 06/23/2005.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $248.61 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Health Care ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome Intellidex Index.

The Dynamic Biotech & Genome Intellidex Index seeks to provide capital appreciation by thoroughly evaluating companies based on a variety of investment merit criteria, including price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action, and value.

Cost & Other Expenses

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.58% for PBE, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

PBE's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.08%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 100% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Healthcare sector.

When you look at individual holdings, United Therapeutics Corp (UTHR) accounts for about 5.94% of the fund's total assets, followed by Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN).

PBE's top 10 holdings account for about 48.45% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -2.24% and is up about 44.79% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 04/09/2026), respectively. PBE has traded between $56.59 and $85.73 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.76 and standard deviation of 19.87% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 33 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers .

Alternatives

Invesco Biotechnology & Genome ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) tracks Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and the State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) tracks S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index. iShares Biotechnology ETF has $8.27 billion in assets, State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF has $8.31 billion. IBB has an expense ratio of 0.44% and XBI changes 0.35%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Health Care ETFs

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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Invesco Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research