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Should Invesco S&P SmallCap Momentum ETF (XSMO) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, the Invesco S&P SmallCap Momentum ETF (XSMO - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 03/03/2005.

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $1.44 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap Growth

There's a lot of potential to investing in small cap companies, but with market capitalization below $2 billion, that high potential comes with even higher risk.

While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Something to keep in mind is the higher level of volatility that is affiliated with growth stocks. They are likely to outperform value stocks in strong bull markets but over the longer-term, value stocks have delivered better returns than growth stocks in almost all markets.

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 0.39%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.64%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a 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.

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

Looking at individual holdings, Jackson Financial Inc (JXN - Free Report) accounts for about 3.16% of total assets, followed by Armstrong World Industries Inc (AWI - Free Report) and Stride Inc (LRN - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 23.2% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

XSMO seeks to match the performance of the S&P SMALLCAP 600 MOMENTUM INDEX before fees and expenses. The S&P Smallcap 600 Momentum Index is composed of securities with strong growth characteristics selected from the Russell 2000 Index.

The ETF has lost about -2.10% so far this year and it's up approximately 12.05% in the last one year (as of 02/25/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $56.16 and $73.72.

The ETF has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 22.19% for the trailing three-year period. With about 114 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P SmallCap Momentum ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, XSMO is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Growth area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO - Free Report) and the Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF (VBK - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has $11.99 billion in assets, Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF has $19.41 billion. IWO has an expense ratio of 0.24% and VBK charges 0.07%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

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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