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Should SoFi Select 500 ETF (SFY) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Launched on 04/11/2019, the SoFi Select 500 ETF (SFY - 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 Sofi. It has amassed assets over $643.13 million, 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 fall in the large cap category tend to have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Considered a more stable option, large cap companies boast more predictable cash flows and are less volatile than their mid and small cap counterparts.

Growth stocks have higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. While these are expected to grow faster than the broader market, they also have higher valuations. Additionally, growth stocks have a greater level of risk associated with them. Compared to value stocks, growth stocks are a safer bet in a strong bull market, but don't perform as strongly in almost all other financial environments.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0%, making it the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.34%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 28.70% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Financials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Amazon Com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) accounts for about 6.99% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 29.85% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

SFY seeks to match the performance of the SOLACTIVE SOFI US 500 GROWTH INDEX before fees and expenses. The Solactive SoFi US 500 Growth Index follows a rules-based methodology that tracks the performance of 500 of the largest U.S.-listed companies weighted based on a proprietary mix of their market capitalization and fundamental factors.

The ETF return is roughly 4.01% so far this year and was up about 24.61% in the last one year (as of 02/21/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $13.49 and $17.84.

The ETF has a beta of 1.02 and standard deviation of 18.67% for the trailing three-year period. With about 503 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SoFi Select 500 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, SFY 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 $111.52 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $245.54 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ charges 0.20%.

Bottom-Line

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

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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