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Is Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Health Care ETF (RSPH) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Health Care ETFs category of the market, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Health Care ETF (RSPH - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 11/01/2006.

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.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

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

Because the fund has amassed over $959.93 million, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Health Care ETFs. RSPH is managed by Invesco. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 EQUAL WEIGHT HEALTH CARE INDEX .

The S&P 500 Equal Weight Health Care Index equally weights stocks in the health care sector of the S&P 500 Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.40%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.61%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

For RSPH, it has heaviest allocation in the Healthcare sector --about 100% of the portfolio.

When you look at individual holdings, Viatris Inc (VTRS - Free Report) accounts for about 1.83% of the fund's total assets, followed by Unitedhealth Group Inc (UNH - Free Report) and Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 17.26% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Health Care ETF has gained about 6.64% so far, and it's up approximately 6.97% over the last 12 months (as of 08/02/2024). RSPH has traded between $25.30 and $31.79 in this past 52-week period.

RSPH has a beta of 0.84 and standard deviation of 16.18% for the trailing three-year period. With about 64 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

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

Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Health Care 25/50 Index and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV - Free Report) tracks Health Care Select Sector Index. Vanguard Health Care ETF has $18.40 billion in assets, Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF has $40.81 billion. VHT has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLV charges 0.09%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Health Care 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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