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Should Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (EQAL) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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The Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (EQAL - Free Report) was launched on 12/23/2014, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $594.21 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Blend

Large cap companies usually have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Considered a more stable option, large cap companies boast more predictable cash flows and are less volatile than their mid and small cap counterparts.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Costs

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 counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.20%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.61%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a 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 to the Industrials sector--about 13% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Aes Corp/va (AES - Free Report) accounts for about 0.29% of total assets, followed by Halliburton Co (HAL - Free Report) and Murphy Oil Corp (MUR - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 2.72% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

EQAL seeks to match the performance of the Russell 1000 Equal Weight Index before fees and expenses. The Russell 1000 Equal Weight Index is composed of securities in the Russell 1000 Index and is equally weighted across nine sector groups with each security within the sector receiving equal weight.

The ETF has lost about -0.06% so far this year and is up about 20.36% in the last one year (as of 01/08/2020). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $29.45 and $34.30.

The ETF has a beta of 1.07 and standard deviation of 12.51% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 983 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, EQAL is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV - Free Report) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $201.39 B in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $313.71 B. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.04% and SPY charges 0.09%.

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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