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Is Invesco S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth ETF (RFG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth category of the market, the Invesco S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth ETF (RFG - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 03/01/2006.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

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.

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Managed by Invesco, RFG has amassed assets over $250.94 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth Index.

The S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth Index measures the performance of securities that exhibit strong growth characteristics in the S&P MidCap 400 Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 0.38%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector - about 19.60% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (CLF - Free Report) accounts for about 3.36% of total assets, followed by Louisiana-Pacific Corp (LPX - Free Report) and Concentrix Corp (CNXC - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 25.73% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth ETF has lost about -25.64% so far, and is down about -24.03% over the last 12 months (as of 07/08/2022). RFG has traded between $159.15 and $245.79 in this past 52-week period.

RFG has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 30.32% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 87 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF (VOT - Free Report) tracks CRSP U.S. Mid Cap Growth Index and the iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) tracks Russell MidCap Growth Index. Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF has $9.29 billion in assets, iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF has $11.66 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWP charges 0.23%.

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 - Mid Cap Growth.

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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