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Is Invesco S&P 100 Equal Weight ETF (EQWL) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Invesco S&P 100 Equal Weight ETF (EQWL - Free Report) debuted on 12/01/2006, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

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

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.

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

Because the fund has amassed over $333.58 million, this makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. EQWL is managed by Invesco. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Russell Top 200 Equal Weight Index.

The S&P 100 Equal Weight Index is designed to provide equal-weighted exposure to the securities of the largest 200 companies in the US 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 0.25% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.17%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector - about 17.60% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, General Dynamics Corp (GD - Free Report) accounts for about 1.14% of total assets, followed by Unitedhealth Group Inc (UNH - Free Report) and Cvs Health Corp (CVS - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 11.01% of EQWL's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 3.91% and was up about 11.17% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 10/24/2023), respectively. EQWL has traded between $71.84 and $84.42 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.99 and standard deviation of 16.27% for the trailing three-year period, which makes EQWL a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 102 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 100 Equal Weight ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV - Free Report) tracks S&P 500 Index and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY - Free Report) tracks S&P 500 Index. IShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $340.14 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $388.60 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and SPY charges 0.09%.

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 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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