IHAK vs PSWD

IHAKBiShares Cybersecurity and Tech ETF

PSWDBXtrackers Cybersecurity Select Equity ETF

In short

IHAK The cheap, genuinely global way to own cybersecurity. IHAK tracks a worldwide cyber index that reaches into emerging markets, holds roughly 40 names, and undercuts the category's two best-known funds on fees.

PSWD Cybersecurity at a discount: PSWD charges 0.20% for a focused basket of about 50 security names, well under half the typical fee in its category. The trade-off is scale, not strategy: it's a small 2023 launch.

Stated mandate

IHAK The fund tracks a global equity index of companies focused on cybersecurity hardware, software, and services, providing exposure across developed and emerging markets.

PSWD The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Solactive Cyber Security ESG Screened Index.

Why people hold it

• IHAK 0.47% a year, under the cybersecurity cohort's 0.50% median and below both CIBR (0.58%) and HACK (0.60%).
• Genuinely global mandate: the NYSE FactSet Global Cyber Security Index spans developed and emerging markets, so security spending outside the US counts.ishares.com
• About 40 names across cyber hardware, software and services. Tight enough to be a real theme bet, wide enough not to ride on one vendor.
• Live since 2019 on iShares plumbing, and it stands in the upper tier of its eight-fund cybersecurity peer group.

• PSWD Fee leader in the theme: 0.20% a year, against 0.47% for IHAK, 0.58% for CIBR and 0.60% for HACK. The category median sits at 0.50%.
• Pure-play and disciplined: roughly 50 cybersecurity companies drawn from a rules-based Solactive index, and the portfolio has tracked that benchmark closely.
• Runs on Xtrackers plumbing, the ETF arm of DWS, rather than a one-fund boutique.dws.com

Worth knowing

• IHAK One theme, roughly 40 stocks. If enterprise security budgets stall, there is nowhere inside the portfolio to hide.
• Volume is moderate rather than heavy. Less actively traded funds can carry wider bid-ask spreads, especially around the open and close.
• Global reach cuts both ways: foreign and emerging-market holdings add currency and country risk on top of the tech cycle.

• PSWD Small asset base and light trading volume. Spreads can run wider than at the category's household names, which matters most on larger orders.
• The screen is not permanent: Xtrackers filed to drop the index's ESG screen and rename it the Solactive Cyber Security Focus Index.sec.gov
• One theme, about 50 holdings, non-diversified by design. Expect sharper swings than a broad technology fund.

Full IHAK profile⁠

Full PSWD profile⁠