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Is State Street SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF (ONEY) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the State Street SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF (ONEY - Free Report) debuted on 12/02/2015, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

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.

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.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by State Street Investment Management. ONEY has been able to amass assets over $837.22 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Russell 1000 Yield Focused Factor Index.

The Russell 1000 Yield Focused Factor Index reflects the performance of a segment of large-capitalization U.S. equity securities demonstrating a combination of core factors high value, high quality, and low size characteristics, with a focus factor comprising high yield characteristics.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for ONEY are 0.20%, which makes it one of the cheaper products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.09%.

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 Consumer Staples sector - about 13% of the portfolio. Industrials and Financials round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, United Parcel Service Cl B (UPS) accounts for about 2.04% of the fund's total assets, followed by Altria Group Inc (MO) and Eog Resources Inc (EOG).

The top 10 holdings account for about 13.52% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 5.68% and it's up approximately 1.38% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 11/14/2025), respectively. ONEY has traded between $95.52 and $117.55 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.97 and standard deviation of 15.08% for the trailing three-year period. With about 306 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

State Street SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has $70.25 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $151.24 billion. SCHD has an expense ratio of 0.06% and VTV changes 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 - Large 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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