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Is Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Financials ETF (RSPF) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Financials ETF (RSPF - Free Report) was launched on 11/01/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Financials ETFs 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.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track 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.

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

Because the fund has amassed over $275.30 million, this makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Financials ETFs. RSPF is managed by Invesco. Before fees and expenses, RSPF seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 EQUAL WEIGHT FINANCIALS INDEX .

The S&P 500 Equal Weight Financials Index equally weights stocks in the financial sector of the S&P 500 Index.

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.

Annual operating expenses for RSPF are 0.40%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.44%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector - about 100% of the portfolio.

Taking into account individual holdings, Citizens Financial Group Inc (CFG - Free Report) accounts for about 1.58% of the fund's total assets, followed by Huntington Bancshares Inc/oh (HBAN - Free Report) and Synchrony Financial (SYF - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 15.55% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 11.76% and it's up approximately 21.46% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 08/02/2024), respectively. RSPF has traded between $48.10 and $66.47 during this last 52-week period.

RSPF has a beta of 1.06 and standard deviation of 13.44% for the trailing three-year period. With about 73 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Financials ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Financials ETFs segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

Vanguard Financials ETF (VFH - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Financials 25/50 Index and the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF - Free Report) tracks Financial Select Sector Index. Vanguard Financials ETF has $9.66 billion in assets, Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $42.44 billion. VFH has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLF 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 Financials 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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