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Is Invesco KBW High Dividend Yield Financial ETF (KBWD) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market, the Invesco KBW High Dividend Yield Financial ETF (KBWD - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 12/02/2010.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.

The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Invesco. KBWD has been able to amass assets over $442.50 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Financials ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the KBW Nasdaq Financial Sector Dividend Yield Index.

The KBW Nasdaq Financial Sector Dividend Yield Index is a dividend yield weighted index seeking to reflect the performance of approximately 24 to 40 publicly listed financial companies engaged in the business of providing financial services and products, including banking, insurance and diversified financial services, in the US.

Cost & Other Expenses

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 2.59% for this ETF, which makes it one of the most expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 8.65%.

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.

For KBWD, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 98% of the portfolio.

When you look at individual holdings, Fs Kkr Capital Corp accounts for about 4.42% of the fund's total assets, followed by Newtek Business Services Corp and Ellington Financial Inc (28852N109).

KBWD's top 10 holdings account for about 36.2% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -7.44% and is down about -6.08% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 06/03/2022), respectively. KBWD has traded between $17.44 and $21.58 during this last 52-week period.

KBWD has a beta of 1.31 and standard deviation of 33.22% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 41 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco KBW High Dividend Yield Financial ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Financials ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Financials ETF (VFH - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Financials 25/50 Index and the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF - Free Report) tracks Financial Select Sector Index. Vanguard Financials ETF has $10.12 billion in assets, Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $34.55 billion. VFH has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLF charges 0.10%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Financials ETFs.

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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