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Is Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (RPG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Making its debut on 03/01/2006, smart beta exchange traded fund Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (RPG - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

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.

Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other 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 managed by Invesco. RPG has been able to amass assets over $1.69 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Growth. Before fees and expenses, RPG seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 Pure Growth Index.

The S&P 500 Pure Growth Index measures the performance of securities that exhibit strong growth characteristics in 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 RPG are 0.35%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.46%.

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.

For RPG, it has heaviest allocation in the Energy sector --about 29.90% of the portfolio --while Healthcare and Information Technology round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Diamondback Energy Inc (FANG - Free Report) accounts for about 2.68% of the fund's total assets, followed by Targa Resources Corp (TRGP - Free Report) and Coterra Energy Inc (CTRA - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 24.35% of RPG's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF has lost about -1.79% so far, and is down about -4.05% over the last 12 months (as of 11/02/2023). RPG has traded between $28.62 and $32.93 in this past 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 1.12 and standard deviation of 23.94% for the trailing three-year period, which makes RPG a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 82 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG - Free Report) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Growth Index and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ - Free Report) tracks NASDAQ-100 Index. Vanguard Growth ETF has $89.10 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $197.79 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ charges 0.20%.

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 Growth.

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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