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Is iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Launched on 07/24/2000, the iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.

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.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Blackrock. IUSV has been able to amass assets over $11.90 billion, making it the largest ETF in the Style Box - All Cap Value. IUSV, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P 900 Value Index.

The S&P 900 Value Index measures the performance of the large and mid-capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for IUSV are 0.04%, which makes it the least expensive product in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.13%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 16.60% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Healthcare sector; Financials and Industrials round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B (BRKB) accounts for about 2.79% of the fund's total assets, followed by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 17.37% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, IUSV has lost about -7.86%, and is down about -2.39% in the last one year (as of 09/09/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $64.88 and $77.49.

The fund has a beta of 0.94 and standard deviation of 23.63% for the trailing three-year period, which makes IUSV a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 747 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Value segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers ETF (PEY - Free Report) tracks NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers 50 Index and the Dimensional U.S. Targeted Value ETF (DFAT - Free Report) tracks ----------------------------------------. Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers ETF has $1.37 billion in assets, Dimensional U.S. Targeted Value ETF has $6.81 billion. PEY has an expense ratio of 0.53% and DFAT charges 0.29%.

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 - All 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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