A smart beta exchange traded fund, the iShares Global Equity Factor ETF (GLOF Quick QuoteGLOF - Free Report) debuted on 04/28/2015, and offers broad exposure to the Global Large-Cap Blend Equity ETF category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.

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.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

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

The fund is managed by Blackrock, and has been able to amass over $212.74 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Global Large-Cap Blend Equity ETF. GLOF seeks to match the performance of the STOXX GLOBAL EQUITY FACTOR INDEX before fees and expenses.

The STOXX Global Equity Factor Index comprises of large and mid-capitalization developed and emerging market stocks that have favourable exposure to target style factors subject to constraints.

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.20% for GLOF, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.60%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 5.32% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL) and Alphabet Inc Class C (GOOG).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 25.62% of GLOF's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 11.53% and is up about 20.06% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/24/2026), respectively. GLOF has traded between $48.30 and $60.21 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.91 and standard deviation of 14.02% for the trailing three-year period. With about 692 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

iShares Global Equity Factor ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Global Large-Cap Blend Equity ETF segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

iShares Global 100 ETF (IOO) tracks S&P Global 100 Index and the iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI) tracks MSCI All Country World Index. iShares Global 100 ETF has $8.56 billion in assets, iShares MSCI ACWI ETF has $32.59 billion. IOO has an expense ratio of 0.40% and ACWI changes 0.32%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Global Large-Cap Blend Equity ETF

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.