If you're interested in broad exposure to the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market, look no further than the First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF (AIRR), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on March 10, 2014.
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 - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 5, placing it in top 31%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $10.9 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market. AIRR seeks to match the performance of the Richard Bernstein Advisors American Industrial Renaissance Index before fees and expenses.
The Richard Bernstein Advisors American Industrial Renaissance Index is measures the performance of small and mid cap US companies in the industrial and community banking sectors.
Costs
Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.69%, making it one of the more expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.09%.
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 Industrials sector -- about 91.8% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (STRL) accounts for about 5.13% of total assets, followed by C.h. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW) and Argan, Inc. (AGX).The top 10 holdings account for about 39.88% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF return is roughly 26.95% so far this year and is up roughly 37.51% in the last one year (as of 08/17/2026). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $89.05 and $133.25.
The ETF has a beta of 1.28 and standard deviation of 25.92% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 52 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance 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, AIRR is an excellent 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 Index Fund ETF Shares (VIS) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Industrials 25/50 Index and the State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) tracks Industrial Select Sector Index. Vanguard Industrials Index Fund ETF Shares has $8.54 billion in assets, State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $35.11 billion. VIS has an expense ratio of 0.09%, and XLI charges 0.08%.
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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First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF (AIRR): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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