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Is Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF (RCD) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF was launched on 11/01/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

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.

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.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $370.40 million, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Consumer Discretionary ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary Index equally weights stocks in the consumer discretionary sector of the S&P 500 Index.

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 this ETF are 0.40%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.74%.

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.

For RCD, it has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Discretionary sector --about 100% of the portfolio.

When you look at individual holdings, Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS - Free Report) accounts for about 2.14% of the fund's total assets, followed by Expedia Group Inc (EXPE - Free Report) and Newell Brands Inc (NWL - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 19.96% of RCD's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF has lost about -17.35% so far, and is down about -13.27% over the last 12 months (as of 05/04/2022). RCD has traded between $125.70 and $160.55 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.33 and standard deviation of 30.34% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 62 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Consumer Discretionary ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Discretionary 25/50 Index and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY - Free Report) tracks Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has $5.65 billion in assets, Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF has $17.37 billion. VCR has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLY charges 0.10%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Consumer Discretionary 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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