Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should PowerShares DWA SmallCap Momentum Portfolio (DWAS) Be on Your Investing Radar?

Read MoreHide Full Article

The PowerShares DWA SmallCap Momentum Portfolio (DWAS - Free Report) was launched on 07/19/2012, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Invesco Powershares. It has amassed assets over $283.34 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap Blend

Small cap companies have market capitalization below $2 billion. They usually have higher potential than large and mid cap companies with stocks but higher risk.

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 0.60%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.22%.

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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Healthcare sector--about 29.60% of the portfolio. Financials and Industrials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Axogen Inc (AXGN - Free Report) accounts for about 1.76% of total assets, followed by Mgp Ingredients Inc (MGPI - Free Report) and Neogen Corp (NEOG - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 14.19% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

DWAS seeks to match the performance of the Dorsey Wright SmallCap Technical Leaders Index before fees and expenses. The Index Provider determines a company?s relative strength characteristics based on that company market performance. The Index Provider selects approximately 200 companies for inclusion in the Underlying Index from a small-cap universe of approximately 2,000 of the smallest U.S. companies selected from a broader set of 3,000 companies.

The ETF has gained about 7.74% so far this year and was up about 27.60% in the last one year (as of 05/24/2018). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $40.91 and $53.

The ETF has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 18.14% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 200 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Bottom-Line

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

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.