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

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The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF (RSPD - Free Report) 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?

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 work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track 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.

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

The fund is managed by Invesco, and has been able to amass over $499.63 million, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Consumer Discretionary ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 EQL WEIGHT CONS DISCRETIONARY ID.

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

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

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

RSPD's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.08%.

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.

RSPD's heaviest allocation is in the Consumer Discretionary sector, which is about 100% of the portfolio.

When you look at individual holdings, Domino's Pizza Inc (DPZ - Free Report) accounts for about 2.43% of the fund's total assets, followed by Carnival Corp (CCL - Free Report) and Newell Brands Inc (NWL - Free Report) .

RSPD's top 10 holdings account for about 22.09% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF has gained about 14.35% so far, and was up about 16.92% over the last 12 months (as of 09/06/2023). RSPD has traded between $34.94 and $47.50 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.35 and standard deviation of 23.87% for the trailing three-year period. With about 53 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 $5.09 billion in assets, Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF has $17.48 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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