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Is iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Value category of the market, the iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 07/24/2000.

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.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

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.

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 Blackrock, and has been able to amass over $13.60 billion, which makes it the largest ETF in the Style Box - All Cap Value. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P 900 Value Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P 900 Value Index measures the performance of the large and mid-capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market.

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.

With one of the least expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.04%.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.

IUSV's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 19.50% of the portfolio. Its Information Technology and Industrials round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) accounts for about 5.50% of the fund's total assets, followed by Meta Platforms Inc Class A (META - Free Report) and Amazon Com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 24.57% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 8.60% and it's up approximately 19.81% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 09/26/2023), respectively. IUSV has traded between $62.61 and $81.04 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.96 and standard deviation of 16.07% for the trailing three-year period, which makes IUSV a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 708 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Value segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

Capital Group Dividend Value ETF (CGDV - Free Report) tracks ---------------------------------------- and the Dimensional U.S. Targeted Value ETF (DFAT) tracks ----------------------------------------. Capital Group Dividend Value ETF has $3.07 billion in assets, Dimensional U.S. Targeted Value ETF has $8.18 billion. CGDV has an expense ratio of 0.33% and DFAT charges 0.28%.

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 - All Cap Value.

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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