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Is Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF (RSPG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Energy ETFs category of the market, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF (RSPG - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 11/01/2006.

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.

Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.

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.

This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.

Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $474.74 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Energy ETFs. RSPG, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 EQUAL WEIGHT ENERGY PLUS INDEX .

The S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy Plus Index equally weights stocks in the energy sector of the S&P 500 Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.40%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.77%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Energy sector - about 100% of the portfolio.

Taking into account individual holdings, Eqt Corp (EQT - Free Report) accounts for about 5.33% of the fund's total assets, followed by Williams Cos Inc/the (WMB - Free Report) and Baker Hughes Co (BKR - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 46.03% of RSPG's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, RSPG has lost about -2.46%, and is up about 0% in the last one year (as of 06/27/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $64.94 and $68.18.

The fund has a beta of 1.61. With about 23 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Energy ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Energy 25/50 Index and the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE - Free Report) tracks Energy Select Sector Index. Vanguard Energy ETF has $7.23 billion in assets, Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF has $32.88 billion. VDE has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLE 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 Energy 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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