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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.

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.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

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

IUSV is managed by Blackrock, and this fund has amassed over $13.17 billion, which makes 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

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.04% for this ETF, which makes it the least expensive product in the space.

IUSV's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 2.09%.

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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector - about 19% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Industrials round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) accounts for about 5.26% of the fund's total assets, followed by Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B (BRK.B - Free Report) and Amazon Com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) .

IUSV's top 10 holdings account for about 22.29% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 5.18% and it's up approximately 4.25% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 05/18/2023), respectively. IUSV has traded between $62.61 and $77.86 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.95 and standard deviation of 17.48% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 710 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.

Capital Group Dividend Value ETF (CGDV - Free Report) tracks ---------------------------------------- and the Dimensional U.S. Targeted Value ETF (DFAT - Free Report) tracks ----------------------------------------. Capital Group Dividend Value ETF has $2.11 billion in assets, Dimensional U.S. Targeted Value ETF has $7.42 billion. CGDV has an expense ratio of 0.33% and DFAT charges 0.28%.

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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