iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF
$182.09+0.21 (+0.12%)
- 0.37%
- $1.4B
- +26.8%
- 1.26%
- 0.2M sh
- $181.85
- low $139.08high $197.36
The ETF.net IYM Grade
B
Score 53 out of 100
- 6 of 14
Score 53 of 100 falls in the C band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25. The letter stays B for now. A new letter must hold for 3 published runs before it replaces it.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.C50 out of 100Rank 7 of 14Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.B69 out of 100Rank 2 of 14Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.B67 out of 100Rank 3 of 14Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.F14 out of 100Rank 14 of 14Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A74 out of 100Rank 3 of 14
Our read on IYM
BTrading since 2000, IYM is the old hand of US materials: roughly 40 companies that make the stuff everything else is built from. The trade-off is price, at 0.38% while the cheapest trackers in the group sit near 0.08%.
The fund seeks to track an index composed of U.S. equities in the basic materials sector.
Why people hold it
- Running since 2000 through multiple commodity cycles, now a multibillion-dollar fund with the iShares operation behind it.
- About 40 US names: a concentrated, purely domestic read on chemicals, metals and packaging, with no overseas miners in the mix.
- Moderately traded and long established, which lands it in the upper half of the broad materials peer group.
Worth knowing
- The 0.38% fee matches the cohort median but runs several times XLB (0.08%), VAW (0.09%) and FMAT (0.08%), which cover similar US materials ground.
- Concentration cuts both ways: with about 40 holdings, a couple of chemical or mining giants can steer the whole fund.
- One sector's slice of the market, not a broad-market fund, and distributions arrive quarterly rather than monthly.
IYM Holdings
- Stocks
- 44
- 68%
- LIN
Sectors
- INDUSTRIAL GASES24.1%
- Gold18.6%
- Specialty Chemicals13.5%
- Copper11.0%
- Steel9.9%
- Trading Companies & Distributors4.4%
- Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components3.7%
- Fertilizers & Agricultural Chemicals3.7%
- Paper & Plastic Packaging Products & Materials3.1%
- Aerospace & Defense2.6%
- Commodity Chemicals2.0%
- Aluminum1.2%
- Silver1.1%
- Diversified Metals & Mining1.0%
Geography
- United States78.84%
- United Kingdom21.16%
Developed 100% · Emerging 0%
IYM Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
IYM$12,680
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | IYM |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +19.1% |
| 1 month | −2.2% |
| 3 months | +2.4% |
| 1 year | +26.8% |
| 3 years | +14.9% |
| 5 years | +8.9% |
| 10 years | +10.9% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | IYM |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +19.1% | |
| 2025 | +20.4% | |
| 2024 | −4.5% | |
| 2023 | +12.8% | |
| 2022 | −9.1% | |
| 2021 | +25.6% | |
| 2020 | +17.9% |
IYM in the news
IYM Dividends
- 1.26%
- $2.30
- $0.59 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
IYM Risk
- 17.9%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.56
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −29.9%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.88
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
IYM Cost
0.37%
IYM0.37%
- The middle half of Materials (Broad) funds
- Median 0.37%
6 of the 14 Materials (Broad) funds charge less.
Other funds in Materials (Broad)
- BXMEState Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETFExpense ratio 0.35%1 year return +4.3%
- BMXIiShares Global Materials ETFExpense ratio 0.37%1 year return +23.0%
- CPSCMInvesco S&P SmallCap Materials ETFExpense ratio 0.29%1 year return +27.9%
- CPICKiShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETFExpense ratio 0.39%1 year return +39.7%
- CRSPMInvesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Materials ETFExpense ratio 0.40%1 year return +20.2%