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Is iShares Core Conservative Allocation ETF (AOK) a Hot ETF Right Now?
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The iShares Core Conservative Allocation ETF (AOK - Free Report) was launched on 11/04/2008, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Total Portfolio ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well 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.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $471.73 M, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Total Portfolio ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P Target Risk Conservative Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Target Risk Conservative Index seeks to measure the performance of an asset allocation strategy targeted to a conservative risk profile.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
With the least expensive product in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.25%.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.13%.
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.
When you look at individual holdings, Ishares Core Total Usd Bond Market (IUSB - Free Report) accounts for about 59.78% of the fund's total assets, followed by Ishares Core S&p 500 Etf (IVV - Free Report) and Ishares Core Msci Int Devel Etf (IDEV - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 100% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, the ETF has lost about -0.49%, and is up about 2.73% in the last one year (as of 07/24/2018). AOK has traded between $33.73 and $35.24 in the past 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.32 and standard deviation of 4.54% for the trailing three-year period. With about 9 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
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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Is iShares Core Conservative Allocation ETF (AOK) a Hot ETF Right Now?
The iShares Core Conservative Allocation ETF (AOK - Free Report) was launched on 11/04/2008, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Total Portfolio ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well 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.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $471.73 M, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Total Portfolio ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P Target Risk Conservative Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Target Risk Conservative Index seeks to measure the performance of an asset allocation strategy targeted to a conservative risk profile.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
With the least expensive product in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.25%.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.13%.
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.
When you look at individual holdings, Ishares Core Total Usd Bond Market (IUSB - Free Report) accounts for about 59.78% of the fund's total assets, followed by Ishares Core S&p 500 Etf (IVV - Free Report) and Ishares Core Msci Int Devel Etf (IDEV - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 100% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, the ETF has lost about -0.49%, and is up about 2.73% in the last one year (as of 07/24/2018). AOK has traded between $33.73 and $35.24 in the past 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.32 and standard deviation of 4.54% for the trailing three-year period. With about 9 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
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.