Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Invesco FTSE RAFI Developed Markets ex-U.S. ETF (PXF) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs category of the market, the Invesco FTSE RAFI Developed Markets ex-U.S. ETF (PXF - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 06/25/2007.

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.

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

Managed by Invesco, PXF has amassed assets over $1.73 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Broad Developed World ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the FTSE RAFI Developed ex-U.S. Index.

The FTSE RAFI Developed ex U.S. 1000 Index is designed to track the performance of the largest developed market equities, excluding the US, selected based on the following four fundamental measures of firm size: book value, cash flow, sales and dividends.

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.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.45%.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 3.43%.

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.

Looking at individual holdings, Shell Plc (BP6MXD8) accounts for about 2.39% of total assets, followed by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Totalenergies Se (B15C557).

PXF's top 10 holdings account for about 11.87% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 5.48% and it's up approximately 15.25% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 04/04/2024), respectively. PXF has traded between $41.60 and $49.71 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.92 and standard deviation of 16.56% for the trailing three-year period, which makes PXF a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 1040 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco FTSE RAFI Developed Markets ex-U.S. ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Developed World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS - Free Report) tracks FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index and the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA - Free Report) tracks FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index. Vanguard Total International Stock ETF has $67.73 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF has $129.73 billion. VXUS has an expense ratio of 0.07% and VEA charges 0.05%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Developed World 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.

Published in