Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Power Infrastructure ETF (POWR)?

Launched on January 31, 2012, the iShares U.S. Power Infrastructure ETF (POWR) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Utilities - Infrastructure segment of the equity market.

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. Utilities - Infrastructure is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 13, placing it in bottom 19%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $448.22 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Utilities - Infrastructure segment of the equity market. POWR seeks to match the performance of the S&P US POWER INFRASTRUCTURE SELECT INDEX before fees and expenses.

The S&P U.S. Power Infrastructure Select Index measures the performance of equity securities of U.S.-domiciled companies involved in U.S. power infrastructure.

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 5.94%.

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 Utilities sector -- about 50.1% of the portfolio. Industrials and Energy round out the top three.

The top 10 holdings account for about 48.6% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, POWR has added roughly 8.56%, and was up about 0% in the last one year (as of 09/03/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $23.2 and $28.22.

The ETF has a beta of 0.46. With about 82 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

iShares U.S. Power Infrastructure ETF sports a Zacks ETF Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. POWR, then, is not the best option for investors seeking exposure to the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are better ETFs in the space to consider.

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure ETF (GRID) tracks NASDAQ OMX Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index and the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE) tracks INDXX U.S. Infrastructure Development Index. First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure ETF has $11.63 billion in assets, Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF has $13.39 billion. GRID has an expense ratio of 0.56%, and PAVE charges 0.47%.

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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