Launched on October 6, 2003, the iShares U.S. Transportation ETF (IYT) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Industrials - Transportation/Shipping segment of the equity market.
An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they 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. Industrials - Transportation/Shipping is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 7, placing it in top 44%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $2.1 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Transportation/Shipping segment of the equity market. IYT seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Transportation Select Industry FMC Capped Index (USD) measures the performance of companies from the Industrial Transportation, Airline and General Industrial Services industries of the U.S. equity market.
Costs
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.38%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1%.
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, Uber Technologies Inc (UBER) accounts for about 16.42% of total assets, followed by Union Pacific Corp (UNP) and Fedex Corp (FDX).The top 10 holdings account for about 72.37% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, IYT has gained about 7.82%, and is up roughly 19.56% in the last one year (as of 05/18/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $64.95 and $82.41.
The ETF has a beta of 1.20 and standard deviation of 21.05% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 48 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
iShares U.S. Transportation 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, IYT is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) tracks U.S. Global Jets Index and the First Trust NASDAQ Transportation ETF (FTXR) tracks Nasdaq US Smart Transportation Index. U.S. Global Jets ETF has $726.47 million in assets, First Trust NASDAQ Transportation ETF has $994.78 million. JETS has an expense ratio of 0.6%, and FTXR charges 0.6%.
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. Transportation ETF (IYT): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).