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 May 1, 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.
Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. 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 $368.25 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
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 0.38%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.63%.
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, Chubb (CB) accounts for about 13.61% of total assets, followed by Progressive Corp (PGR) and Travelers Companies Inc (TRV).The top 10 holdings account for about 58.29% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about 0.03% so far this year and is up roughly 3.49% in the last one year (as of 05/25/2026). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $125.37 and $138.64.
The ETF has a beta of 0.54 and standard deviation of 16.1% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 61 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
iShares U.S. Insurance ETF sports a Zacks ETF Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. IAK, then, is not a great choice for investors seeking exposure to the Financials ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are better ETFs in the space to consider.
Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF (KBWP) tracks KBW Nasdaq Property & Casualty Index and the State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) tracks S&P Insurance Select Industry Index. Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF has $252.04 million in assets, State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF has $437.65 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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iShares U.S. Insurance ETF (IAK): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).