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Is Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF (RSPS) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF (RSPS - Free Report) debuted on 11/01/2006, and offers broad exposure to the Consumer Staples ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

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

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

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 managed by Invesco. RSPS has been able to amass assets over $651.27 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Consumer Staples ETFs. Before fees and expenses, RSPS seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 EQL WEIGHT CONSUMER STAPLES INDX.

The S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples Index equally weights stocks in the consumer staples sector of the S&P 500 Index.

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.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.40%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.38%.

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.

For RSPS, it has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Staples sector --about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Bunge Ltd (BG - Free Report) accounts for about 3.26% of total assets, followed by Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM - Free Report) and Constellation Brands Inc (STZ - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 29.04% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -3.43% and is down about -2.57% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 08/30/2023), respectively. RSPS has traded between $30.76 and $35.44 during this last 52-week period.

RSPS has a beta of 0.59 and standard deviation of 13.81% for the trailing three-year period. With about 39 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

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

Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP - Free Report) tracks Consumer Staples Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF has $7.04 billion in assets, Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF has $17.26 billion. VDC has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLP 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 Consumer Staples 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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