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Is Schwab Fundamental U.S. Large Company Index ETF (FNDX) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market, the Schwab Fundamental U.S. Large Company Index ETF (FNDX - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 08/13/2013.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well 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.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

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

The fund is managed by Charles Schwab. FNDX has been able to amass assets over $8 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. FNDX seeks to match the performance of the Russell RAFI US Large Co. Index before fees and expenses.

The Russell RAFI US Large Co. Index measures the performance of the large company size segment by fundamental overall company scores.

Cost & Other Expenses

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for FNDX are 0.25%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.59%.

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.

FNDX's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 17.10% of the portfolio. Its Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc Common Stock Usd.00001 (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 4.13% of the fund's total assets, followed by Exxon Mobil Corp Common Stock (XOM - Free Report) and Microsoft Corp Common Stock Usd.00000625 (MSFT - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 18.3% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, FNDX has added roughly 30.39%, and is up about 36.86% in the last one year (as of 11/23/2021). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $43.75 and $58.18.

FNDX has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 23.64% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 722 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Schwab Fundamental U.S. Large Company Index ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD - Free Report) tracks Russell 1000 Value Index and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV - Free Report) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. IShares Russell 1000 Value ETF has $57.20 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $88.71 billion. IWD has an expense ratio of 0.19% 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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