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Is SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF (ONEY) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Launched on 12/02/2015, the SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF (ONEY - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value 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.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

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.

Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by State Street Global Advisors. ONEY has been able to amass assets over $778.65 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Russell 1000 Yield Focused Factor Index before fees and expenses.

The Russell 1000 Yield Focused Factor Index reflects the performance of a segment of large-capitalization U.S. equity securities demonstrating a combination of core factors high value, high quality, and low size characteristics, with a focus factor comprising high yield characteristics.

Cost & Other Expenses

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.20% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.52%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 20.40% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector; Consumer Staples and Real Estate round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Hp Inc. (HPQ - Free Report) accounts for about 1.93% of total assets, followed by Progressive Corporation (PGR - Free Report) and Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY - Free Report) .

ONEY's top 10 holdings account for about 12.1% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF has lost about -2.19% so far, and was up about 18.19% over the last 12 months (as of 03/01/2022). ONEY has traded between $86.03 and $102.57 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 27.87% for the trailing three-year period. With about 278 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD - Free Report) tracks Russell 1000 Value Index and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV - Free Report) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. IShares Russell 1000 Value ETF has $56.53 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $92.87 billion. IWD has an expense ratio of 0.19% and VTV charges 0.04%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Value.

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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