We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Is Fidelity Quality Factor ETF (FQAL) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Read MoreHide Full Article
Making its debut on 09/12/2016, smart beta exchange traded fund Fidelity Quality Factor ETF (FQAL - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend 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.
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.
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.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Because the fund has amassed over $314.58 million, this makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. FQAL is managed by Fidelity. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Fidelity U.S. Quality Factor Index.
The Fidelity U.S. Quality Factor Index reflects the performance of stocks of large and mid-capitalization U.S. companies with a higher quality profile than the broader market.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.29% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.38%.
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 27.20% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 7.69% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Alphabet Inc Cl A (GOOGL - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 31.41% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, FQAL has added about 13.80%, and it's up approximately 17.68% in the last one year (as of 11/06/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $43.60 and $52.31.
The fund has a beta of 0.98 and standard deviation of 17.38% for the trailing three-year period. With about 129 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Fidelity Quality Factor 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 $351.45 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $405.41 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.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Is Fidelity Quality Factor ETF (FQAL) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Making its debut on 09/12/2016, smart beta exchange traded fund Fidelity Quality Factor ETF (FQAL - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend 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.
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.
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.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Because the fund has amassed over $314.58 million, this makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. FQAL is managed by Fidelity. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Fidelity U.S. Quality Factor Index.
The Fidelity U.S. Quality Factor Index reflects the performance of stocks of large and mid-capitalization U.S. companies with a higher quality profile than the broader market.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.29% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.38%.
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 27.20% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 7.69% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Alphabet Inc Cl A (GOOGL - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 31.41% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, FQAL has added about 13.80%, and it's up approximately 17.68% in the last one year (as of 11/06/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $43.60 and $52.31.
The fund has a beta of 0.98 and standard deviation of 17.38% for the trailing three-year period. With about 129 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Fidelity Quality Factor 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 $351.45 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $405.41 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.