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Is Invesco FTSE RAFI US 1000 ETF (PRF) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The Invesco FTSE RAFI US 1000 ETF (PRF - Free Report) made its debut on 12/19/2005, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value 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.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.

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.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Invesco, and has been able to amass over $5.88 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. PRF seeks to match the performance of the FTSE RAFI US 1000 Index before fees and expenses.

The FTSE RAFI US 1000 Index is designed to track the performance of the largest U.S. equities, selected based on the following four fundamental measures of firm size: book value, income, sales and dividends. U.S. equities are then weighted by each of these four fundamental measures.An overall weight is calculated for each firm by equally-weighting each fundamental measure.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.39%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

PRF's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.98%.

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.

PRF's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 19.60% of the portfolio. Its Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK/B) accounts for about 2.95% of the fund's total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) .

PRF's top 10 holdings account for about 18.53% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 4.05% so far this year and is up about 15.41% in the last one year (as of 10/02/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $28.10 and $33.99.

PRF has a beta of 1 and standard deviation of 16.61% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 1012 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco FTSE RAFI US 1000 ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD - Free Report) tracks Russell 1000 Value Index and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV - Free Report) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. IShares Russell 1000 Value ETF has $48.04 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $97.60 billion. IWD has an expense ratio of 0.19% and VTV charges 0.04%.

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 - Large 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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