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Is ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Making its debut on 12/30/2016, smart beta exchange traded fund ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend 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.
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.
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.
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 Alps, and has been able to amass over $211.05 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, OUSM seeks to match the performance of the FTSE Russell US Qual / Vol / Yield Factor 3% Capped Index.
The OShares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend Index is designed to reflect the performance of publicly-listed small-capitalization dividend-paying issuers in the United States exhibiting high quality, low volatility and high dividend yields.
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.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.48% for this ETF, which makes it one of the more expensive products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.88%.
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 27.60% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector; Industrials and Information Technology round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Houlihan Lokey Inc. (HLI - Free Report) accounts for about 2.37% of total assets, followed by Interpublic Group Of Cos. Inc. (IPG - Free Report) and Encompass Health Corp. (EHC - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 21.65% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF has added about 6.40% so far, and was up about 4.86% over the last 12 months (as of 04/14/2023). OUSM has traded between $29.99 and $37.55 in this past 52-week period.
OUSM has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 20.18% for the trailing three-year period. With about 117 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
IShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM - Free Report) tracks Russell 2000 Index and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR - Free Report) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. IShares Russell 2000 ETF has $50.37 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $65.97 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR charges 0.06%.
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 - Small Cap Blend.
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 ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Making its debut on 12/30/2016, smart beta exchange traded fund ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend 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.
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.
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.
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 Alps, and has been able to amass over $211.05 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, OUSM seeks to match the performance of the FTSE Russell US Qual / Vol / Yield Factor 3% Capped Index.
The OShares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend Index is designed to reflect the performance of publicly-listed small-capitalization dividend-paying issuers in the United States exhibiting high quality, low volatility and high dividend yields.
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.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.48% for this ETF, which makes it one of the more expensive products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.88%.
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 27.60% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector; Industrials and Information Technology round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Houlihan Lokey Inc. (HLI - Free Report) accounts for about 2.37% of total assets, followed by Interpublic Group Of Cos. Inc. (IPG - Free Report) and Encompass Health Corp. (EHC - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 21.65% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF has added about 6.40% so far, and was up about 4.86% over the last 12 months (as of 04/14/2023). OUSM has traded between $29.99 and $37.55 in this past 52-week period.
OUSM has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 20.18% for the trailing three-year period. With about 117 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
IShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM - Free Report) tracks Russell 2000 Index and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR - Free Report) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. IShares Russell 2000 ETF has $50.37 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $65.97 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR charges 0.06%.
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 - Small Cap Blend.
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.