Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Insurance ETF (IAK)?

If you're interested in broad exposure to the Financials - Insurance segment of the equity market, look no further than the iShares U.S. Insurance ETF (IAK), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 05/01/2006.

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Financials - Insurance is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 4, placing it in top 25%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $779.12 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Financials - Insurance segment of the equity market. IAK seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Insurance Index before fees and expenses.

The Dow Jones U.S. Select Insurance Index includes companies providing a range of specialized financial services, including securities brokers & dealers, online brokers & securities or commodities exchanges.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.39%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.85%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

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

Looking at individual holdings, Progressive Corp (PGR) accounts for about 16.98% of total assets, followed by Chubb Ltd (CB) and Travelers Companies Inc (TRV).

The top 10 holdings account for about 66.91% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, IAK has gained about 2.35%, and was up about 13.53% in the last one year (as of 07/14/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $115.29 and $138.47.

The ETF has a beta of 0.66 and standard deviation of 18.05% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 59 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares U.S. Insurance ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, IAK is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Financials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF (KBWP) tracks KBW Nasdaq Property & Casualty Index and the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) tracks S&P Insurance Select Industry Index. Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF has $471.58 million in assets, SPDR S&P Insurance ETF has $827.52 million. KBWP has an expense ratio of 0.35% and KIE charges 0.35%.

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

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