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Should TCW Transform 500 ETF (VOTE) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the TCW Transform 500 ETF (VOTE - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/22/2021.

The fund is sponsored by Tcw. It has amassed assets over $640.74 million, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Blend

Companies that fall in the large cap category tend to 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 are aptly named, since they tend to hold a mix of growth and value stocks, as well as show characteristics of both kinds of equities.

Costs

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 0.05%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.33%.

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 29.60% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) accounts for about 7.04% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 30.69% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

VOTE seeks to match the performance of the MORNINGSTAR US LARGE CAP SELECT INDEX before fees and expenses. The Morningstar US Large Cap Select Index is market cap-weighted and tracks the 500 largest companies in the US.

The ETF has gained about 27.46% so far this year and is up roughly 27.08% in the last one year (as of 01/01/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $43.88 and $55.73.

The ETF has a beta of 1 and standard deviation of 18.39% for the trailing three-year period. With about 506 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

TCW Transform 500 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, VOTE is a good 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 $398.61 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $492.60 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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