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Is Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF (RSPS) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF (RSPS - Free Report) debuted on 11/01/2006, and offers broad exposure to the Consumer Staples ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

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.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Because the fund has amassed over $548.63 million, this makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Consumer Staples ETFs. RSPS is managed by Invesco. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 EQL WEIGHT CONSUMER STAPLES INDX before fees and expenses.

The S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples Index equally weights stocks in the consumer staples sector of the S&P 500 Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.40% for RSPS, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.78%.

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 RSPS, it has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Staples sector --about 100% of the portfolio.

Taking into account individual holdings, Costco Wholesale Corp (COST - Free Report) accounts for about 2.91% of the fund's total assets, followed by Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA - Free Report) and Kraft Heinz Co/the (KHC - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 27.97% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -0.15% so far this year and is down about -5.74% in the last one year (as of 01/05/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $28.40 and $35.34.

The ETF has a beta of 0.61 and standard deviation of 13.57% for the trailing three-year period. With about 39 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Consumer Staples ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP - Free Report) tracks Consumer Staples Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF has $6.46 billion in assets, Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF has $15.22 billion. VDC has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLP charges 0.10%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Consumer Staples ETFs.

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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