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Should Invesco S&P SmallCap Quality ETF (XSHQ) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the Invesco S&P SmallCap Quality ETF (XSHQ - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on April 6, 2017.

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $245.58 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap Blend

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.

Blend ETFs are aptly named, since they tend to hold a mix of growth and value stocks, as well as show characteristics of both kinds of equities.

Costs

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 counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.29%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.42%.

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 to the Financials sector -- about 23.3% of the portfolio. Industrials and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Interdigital Inc (IDCC) accounts for about 3.58% of total assets, followed by Brinker International Inc (EAT) and Armstrong World Industries Inc (AWI).

The top 10 holdings account for about 21.22% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

XSHQ seeks to match the performance of the SmallCap 600 Quality Index before fees and expenses. The S&P SmallCap 600 Quality Index is composed of 120 securities in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index that have the highest quality score, which is calculated based on the average of three fundamental measures: return on equity, accruals ratio and financial leverage ratio.

The ETF has gained about 5.86% so far this year and was up about 23.65% in the last one year (as of 04/16/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $35.42 and $45.30.

The ETF has a beta of 0.94 and standard deviation of 19.95% for the trailing three-year period. With about 122 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P SmallCap Quality 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, XSHQ is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 ETF has $75.41 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $98.24 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR charges 0.06%.

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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