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Is FlexShares Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt ETF (TILT) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Blend category of the market, the FlexShares Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt ETF (TILT - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 09/16/2011.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
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.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
TILT is managed by Flexshares, and this fund has amassed over $1.74 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Blend. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt Index.
The Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt Index measures the performance of U.S. equity markets with increased exposure toward small-capitalization and value stocks.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.25%.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.17%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.
Representing 25.4% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp Common Stock Usd 0.001 (NVDA) accounts for about 4.62% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp Common Stock Usd 0.00000625 (MSFT) and Apple Inc Common Stock Usd 0.00001 (AAPL).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 24.49% of TILT's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added about 7.56% and was up about 13.21% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/24/2025), respectively. TILT has traded between $181.13 and $231.12 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 1.04 and standard deviation of 17.43% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 1917 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
FlexShares Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) tracks S&P Total Market Index and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) tracks CRSP US Total Market Index. iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF has $72.92 billion in assets, Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF has $511.29 billion. ITOT has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VTI changes 0.03%.
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 Blend
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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Is FlexShares Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt ETF (TILT) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Blend category of the market, the FlexShares Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt ETF (TILT - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 09/16/2011.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
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.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
TILT is managed by Flexshares, and this fund has amassed over $1.74 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Blend. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt Index.
The Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt Index measures the performance of U.S. equity markets with increased exposure toward small-capitalization and value stocks.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.25%.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.17%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.
Representing 25.4% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp Common Stock Usd 0.001 (NVDA) accounts for about 4.62% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp Common Stock Usd 0.00000625 (MSFT) and Apple Inc Common Stock Usd 0.00001 (AAPL).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 24.49% of TILT's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added about 7.56% and was up about 13.21% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/24/2025), respectively. TILT has traded between $181.13 and $231.12 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 1.04 and standard deviation of 17.43% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 1917 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
FlexShares Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) tracks S&P Total Market Index and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) tracks CRSP US Total Market Index. iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF has $72.92 billion in assets, Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF has $511.29 billion. ITOT has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VTI changes 0.03%.
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 Blend
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.