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

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market, look no further than the Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (EQAL - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 12/23/2014.

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $584.05 million, 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

Companies that find themselves in the large cap category typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. They tend to be stable companies with predictable cash flows and are usually less volatile than mid and small cap companies.

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

Costs

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

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.20%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.56%.

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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 15.60% of the portfolio. Financials and Industrials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Roku Inc (ROKU - Free Report) accounts for about 0.50% of total assets, followed by Ubiquiti Inc (UI - Free Report) and Lumentum Holdings Inc (LITE - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 4.12% 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 added roughly 6.02% so far this year and was up about 18.73% in the last one year (as of 01/20/2021). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $20.58 and $40.74.

The ETF has a beta of 1.21 and standard deviation of 24.64% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 1001 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 $239.39 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $332.70 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and SPY charges 0.09%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

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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