Should You Invest in the Fidelity MSCI Industrials Index ETF?

Looking for broad exposure to the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market? You should consider the Fidelity MSCI Industrials Index ETF FIDU, a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 10/21/2013.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Sector ETFs are also funds of convenience, offering many ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Industrials - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 13, placing it in bottom 19%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Fidelity. It has amassed assets over $1.12 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market. FIDU seeks to match the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Industrials Index before fees and expenses.

The MSCI USA IMI Industrials Index represents the performance of the industrial sector in the U.S. equity market.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.08%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.25%.

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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, General Electric Co GE accounts for about 3.64% of total assets, followed by Caterpillar Inc CAT and Rtx Corp RTX.

The top 10 holdings account for about 27.06% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, FIDU has gained about 14.28%, and is up about 26.57% in the last one year (as of 09/16/2024). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $51.08 and $70.26.

The ETF has a beta of 1.10 and standard deviation of 18.10% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 371 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Fidelity MSCI Industrials Index ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, FIDU is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

Vanguard Industrials ETF VIS tracks MSCI US Investable Market Industrials 25/50 Index and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF XLI tracks Industrial Select Sector Index. Vanguard Industrials ETF has $5.37 billion in assets, Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $19.29 billion. VIS has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLI charges 0.09%.

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