Launched on December 20, 2011, the VanEck Oil Services ETF (OIH) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Energy - Equipment and services segment of the equity market.
While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.
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. Energy - Equipment and services is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 12, placing it in bottom 25%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by Van Eck. It has amassed assets over $1.29 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Energy - Equipment and services segment of the equity market. OIH seeks to match the performance of the MVIS U.S. Listed Oil Services 25 Index before fees and expenses.
The MVIS U.S. Listed Oil Services 25 Index tracks the overall performance of U.S.-listed companies involved in oil services to the upstream oil sector, which include oil equipment, oil services, or oil drilling.
Costs
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 counterparts, other things remaining the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.72%.
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 Energy sector -- about 95.2% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Schlumberger Nv (SLB) accounts for about 17.6% of total assets, followed by Baker Hughes Co (BKR) and Halliburton Co (HAL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 68.88% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the VanEck Oil Services ETF has added about 6.41% so far, and was up about 12.68% over the last 12 months (as of 12/24/2025). OIH has traded between $196.72 and $308.66 in this past 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 31.72% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 27 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
VanEck Oil Services 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, OIH is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Energy ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF (IEZ) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Equipment & Services Index and the State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (XES) tracks S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services Select Industry Index. iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF has $134.03 million in assets, State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF has $257.79 million. IEZ has an expense ratio of 0.38%, and XES 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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VanEck Oil Services ETF (OIH): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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