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Should Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (RPG) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Launched on 03/01/2006, the Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (RPG - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $1.84 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Growth

Companies that find themselves in the large cap category typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. They tend to be stable companies with predictable cash flows and are usually less volatile than mid and small cap companies.

Qualities of growth stocks include faster growth rates compared to the broader market, as well as higher valuations and higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. Further, growth stocks have a higher level of volatility associated with them. Even though growth stocks are more likely to outperform their value counterparts in strong bull markets, value stocks have a record of delivering better returns in almost all markets than growth stocks.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.29%.

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 to the Energy sector--about 27.90% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Steel Dynamics Inc (STLD - Free Report) accounts for about 2.79% of total assets, followed by Nucor Corp (NUE - Free Report) and Diamondback Energy Inc (FANG - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 24.12% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

RPG seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 Pure Growth Index before fees and expenses. The S&P 500 Pure Growth Index measures the performance of securities that exhibit strong growth characteristics in the S&P 500 Index.

The ETF has lost about -3.88% so far this year and is down about -11.53% in the last one year (as of 05/31/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $141.64 and $176.23.

The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 24.95% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 77 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, RPG is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG - Free Report) and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Growth ETF has $87.31 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $187.66 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ charges 0.20%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

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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