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Is IQ U.S. Large Cap ETF (CLRG) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Launched on 12/13/2017, the IQ U.S. Large Cap ETF is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering 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.
Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
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.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix 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
The fund is managed by New York Life Investments. CLRG has been able to amass assets over $225.94 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. CLRG, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ CHAIKIN POWER US LARGE CAP INDEX .
The NASDAQ Chaikin Power US Large Cap Index applies a quantitative multi-factor model that seeks to identify securities that are expected to outperform peers by selecting securities from the Nasdaq US 300 Index.
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.
Annual operating expenses for CLRG are 0.25%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.63%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For CLRG, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 22.40% of the portfolio --while Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Broadcom Inc (AVGO - Free Report) accounts for about 1.34% of the fund's total assets, followed by Eaton Corp Plc (ETN - Free Report) and Oracle Corp (ORCL - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 12.26% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the IQ U.S. Large Cap ETF return is roughly 5.50% so far, and was up about 3.55% over the last 12 months (as of 11/14/2023). CLRG has traded between $30.87 and $34.10 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.03 and standard deviation of 16.59% for the trailing three-year period. With about 101 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IQ U.S. Large Cap 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 $360.15 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $410.89 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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Is IQ U.S. Large Cap ETF (CLRG) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Launched on 12/13/2017, the IQ U.S. Large Cap ETF is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering 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.
Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
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.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix 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
The fund is managed by New York Life Investments. CLRG has been able to amass assets over $225.94 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. CLRG, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ CHAIKIN POWER US LARGE CAP INDEX .
The NASDAQ Chaikin Power US Large Cap Index applies a quantitative multi-factor model that seeks to identify securities that are expected to outperform peers by selecting securities from the Nasdaq US 300 Index.
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.
Annual operating expenses for CLRG are 0.25%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.63%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For CLRG, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 22.40% of the portfolio --while Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Broadcom Inc (AVGO - Free Report) accounts for about 1.34% of the fund's total assets, followed by Eaton Corp Plc (ETN - Free Report) and Oracle Corp (ORCL - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 12.26% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the IQ U.S. Large Cap ETF return is roughly 5.50% so far, and was up about 3.55% over the last 12 months (as of 11/14/2023). CLRG has traded between $30.87 and $34.10 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.03 and standard deviation of 16.59% for the trailing three-year period. With about 101 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IQ U.S. Large Cap 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 $360.15 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $410.89 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.