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Should SoFi Select 500 ETF (SFY) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, the SoFi Select 500 ETF (SFY - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 04/11/2019.

The fund is sponsored by Sofi. It has amassed assets over $511.92 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Growth

Large cap companies typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Overall, they are usually a stable option, with less risk and more sure-fire cash flows than mid and small cap companies.

Growth stocks have higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. While these are expected to grow faster than the broader market, they also have higher valuations. Something to keep in mind is the higher level of volatility that is affiliated with growth stocks. Even though growth stocks are more likely to outperform their value counterparts in strong bull markets, value stocks have a record of delivering better returns in almost all markets than growth stocks.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0%, making it the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.50%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 26.60% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Financials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Amazon Com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) accounts for about 6.47% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 29.56% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

SFY seeks to match the performance of the SOLACTIVE SOFI US 500 GROWTH INDEX before fees and expenses. The Solactive SoFi US 500 Growth Index follows a rules-based methodology that tracks the performance of 500 of the largest U.S.-listed companies weighted based on a proprietary mix of their market capitalization and fundamental factors.

The ETF has gained about 16.37% so far this year and is up roughly 18.48% in the last one year (as of 10/19/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $12.97 and $16.24.

The ETF has a beta of 1.02 and standard deviation of 18.94% for the trailing three-year period. With about 503 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SoFi Select 500 ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, SFY is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG - Free Report) and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Growth ETF has $90.59 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $202.94 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ charges 0.20%.

Bottom-Line

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

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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