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Is Invesco RAFI Emerging Markets ETF (PXH) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The Invesco RAFI Emerging Markets ETF (PXH - Free Report) was launched on 09/27/2007, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.

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.

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.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

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.

The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

PXH is managed by Invesco, and this fund has amassed over $2.05 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the FTSE RAFI Emerging Markets Index.

The RAFI Fundamental Select Emerging Markets 350 Index tracks the performance of the largest emerging market equities, selected based on the following four fundamental measures of firm size: book value, cash flow, sales and dividends.

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.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.47%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 4.06%.

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.

Looking at individual holdings, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (Y84629107) accounts for about 6.28% of total assets, followed by Petroleo Brasileiro Sa - Petrobras (PETR4) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

The top 10 holdings account for about 28.89% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 18.17% so far this year and was up about 28.06% in the last one year (as of 09/04/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $24.42 and $30.04

The ETF has a beta of 0.56 and standard deviation of 17.13% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 401 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

Invesco RAFI Emerging Markets ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (VWO) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index and the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index. Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund ETF Shares has $127.24 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $162.21 billion. VWO has an expense ratio of 0.06% and IEMG changes 0.09%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Emerging Market 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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