If you're interested in broad exposure to the Utilities - Broad segment of the equity market, look no further than the iShares U.S. Utilities ETF (IDU), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on June 12, 2000.

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 are also funds of convenience, offering many ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Utilities - Broad 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 $1.35 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Utilities - Broad segment of the equity market. IDU seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index before fees and expenses.

The Russell 1000 Utilities RIC 22.5/45 Capped Index measures the performance of the utilities sector of the U.S. equity market. It includes companies in the following sectors: electricity and gas, water and multi-utilities.

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 0.38%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.49%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Utilities sector -- about 89.8% of the portfolio, followed by Industrials.

Looking at individual holdings, Nextera Energy (NEE) accounts for about 11.1% of total assets, followed by Southern (SO) and Duke Energy Corp (DUK).

The top 10 holdings account for about 52.41% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about 2.57% so far this year and is down about 1.15% in the last one year (as of 09/22/2026). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $103.68 and $120.7.

The ETF has a beta of 0.57 and standard deviation of 15.17% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 49 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

iShares U.S. Utilities 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, IDU is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Vanguard Utilities Index Fund ETF Shares (VPU) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Utilities 25/50 Index and the State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) tracks Utilities Select Sector Index. Vanguard Utilities Index Fund ETF Shares has $7.94 billion in assets, State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF has $21.04 billion. VPU has an expense ratio of 0.09%, and XLU 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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iShares U.S. Utilities ETF (IDU): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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