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Is Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF (RSPG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Energy ETFs category of the market, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF (RSPG - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 11/01/2006.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

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.

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

The fund is managed by Invesco. RSPG has been able to amass assets over $593.99 million, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Energy ETFs. RSPG seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 EQUAL WEIGHT ENERGY PLUS INDEX before fees and expenses.

The S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy Plus Index equally weights stocks in the energy sector of the S&P 500 Index.

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.40% for RSPG, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.38%.

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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Energy sector - about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Valero Energy Corp (VLO - Free Report) accounts for about 4.68% of total assets, followed by Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC - Free Report) and Marathon Oil Corp (MRO - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 45.03% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, RSPG has added about 11.08%, and is up roughly 0% in the last one year (as of 05/09/2024). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $64.94 and $86.08.

RSPG has a beta of 1.47. With about 25 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

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

Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Energy 25/50 Index and the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE - Free Report) tracks Energy Select Sector Index. Vanguard Energy ETF has $8.71 billion in assets, Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF has $39.37 billion. VDE has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLE 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 Energy 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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