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Is Fidelity Value Factor ETF (FVAL) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The Fidelity Value Factor ETF (FVAL - Free Report) was launched on 09/12/2016, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.

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.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

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.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Fidelity, and has been able to amass over $834.64 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Fidelity U.S. Value Factor Index before fees and expenses.

The Fidelity U.S. Value Factor Index reflects the performance of stocks of large and mid-capitalization U.S. companies that have attractive valuations.

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 this ETF are 0.15%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.58%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 28.40% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 7.40% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Alphabet Inc Cl A (GOOGL - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 33.43% of FVAL's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 13.43% and is up about 21.44% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 09/02/2024), respectively. FVAL has traded between $45.72 and $59.92 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.02 and standard deviation of 17.09% for the trailing three-year period. With about 131 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Fidelity Value Factor ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV - Free Report) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has $60.40 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $125.15 billion. SCHD has an expense ratio of 0.06% 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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