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Is Invesco S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth ETF (RFG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Making its debut on 03/01/2006, smart beta exchange traded fund Invesco S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth ETF (RFG - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth category of the market.

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.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $239.70 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth. RFG seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth Index measures the performance of securities that exhibit strong growth characteristics in the S&P MidCap 400 Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for RFG, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 0.80%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 18.80% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Energy sector; Industrials and Materials round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Annaly Capital Management Inc (NLY - Free Report) accounts for about 2.76% of the fund's total assets, followed by Pbf Energy Inc (PBF - Free Report) and Antero Resources Corp (AR - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 23.26% of RFG's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -2.25% so far this year and is down about -9.76% in the last one year (as of 03/14/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $159.15 and $212.39.

The fund has a beta of 1.17 and standard deviation of 30.16% for the trailing three-year period, which makes RFG a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 79 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT - Free Report) tracks CRSP U.S. Mid Cap Growth Index and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) tracks Russell MidCap Growth Index. Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $9.56 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $11.45 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWP charges 0.23%.

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

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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