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Is Vident U.S. Equity Strategy ETF (VUSE) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Making its debut on 01/22/2014, smart beta exchange traded fund Vident U.S. Equity Strategy ETF (VUSE - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

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.

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

Managed by Vident Financial, VUSE has amassed assets over $571.68 million, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Value. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Vident Core U.S. Equity Fund Index before fees and expenses.

The Vident U.S. Quality Index is a rules-based, systematic strategy index comprised of equity securities principally traded in the U.S. market of issuers domiciled in the United States.

Cost & Other Expenses

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.50%.

VUSE's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.25%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

VUSE's heaviest allocation is in the Information Technology sector, which is about 25.50% of the portfolio. Its Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) accounts for about 2.76% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) and Merck & Co Inc (MRK - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 22.57% of VUSE's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 5.44% so far this year and is up roughly 28.43% in the last one year (as of 03/13/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $42.26 and $53.81.

VUSE has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 18.59% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 125 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vident U.S. Equity Strategy ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Dimensional U.S. Targeted Value ETF (DFAT - Free Report) tracks ---------------------------------------- and the iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV - Free Report) tracks S&P 900 Value Index. Dimensional U.S. Targeted Value ETF has $9.72 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF has $16.54 billion. DFAT has an expense ratio of 0.28% and IUSV charges 0.04%.

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 - All Cap Value.

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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