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

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Making its debut on 11/01/2006, smart beta exchange traded fund Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Utilities ETF (RSPU - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Utilities/Infrastructure 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.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

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 Invesco, RSPU has amassed assets over $452.33 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 EQUAL WEIGHT UTILITIES PLUS INDX.

The S&P 500 Equal Weight Utilities Plus Index equally weights the common stocks of all companies included in the S&P 500 Index that are classified as members of the utilities sector.

Cost & Other Expenses

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.40%.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.41%.

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 in the Utilities sector - about 100% of the portfolio.

When you look at individual holdings, Nrg Energy Inc (NRG - Free Report) accounts for about 3.89% of the fund's total assets, followed by Constellation Energy Corp (CEG - Free Report) and Vistra Corp (VST - Free Report) .

RSPU's top 10 holdings account for about 34.58% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Utilities ETF return is roughly 8.69% so far, and is up about 21.82% over the last 12 months (as of 06/09/2025). RSPU has traded between $57.65 and $72.75 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.58 and standard deviation of 18.17% for the trailing three-year period. With about 33 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Utilities ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.

Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Utilities 25/50 Index and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU - Free Report) tracks Utilities Select Sector Index. Vanguard Utilities ETF has $6.87 billion in assets, Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF has $18.45 billion. VPU has an expense ratio of 0.09% and XLU charges 0.08%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Utilities/Infrastructure 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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