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Is iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Value category of the market, the iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 07/24/2000.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

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

IUSV is managed by Blackrock, and this fund has amassed over $27.26 billion, which makes it one of the largest ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Value. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P 900 Value Index.

The S&P 900 Value Index measures the performance of the large and mid-capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market.

Cost & Other Expenses

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.04% for this ETF, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.69%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 20.8% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Apple (AAPL) accounts for about 7.46% of the fund's total assets, followed by Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) and Exxonmobil Holdings Corp (XOM).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 22.27% of IUSV's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, IUSV return is roughly 9.89%, and is up roughly 13.83% in the last one year (as of 09/29/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $98.00 and $115.51.

The fund has a beta of 0.83 and standard deviation of 12.34% for the trailing three-year period, which makes IUSV a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 741 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Value segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

iShares U.S. Equity Factor ETF (LRGF) tracks MSCI USA Diversified Multiple-Factor Index and the Fidelity High Dividend ETF (FDVV) tracks Fidelity Core Dividend Index. iShares U.S. Equity Factor ETF has $3.71 billion in assets, Fidelity High Dividend ETF has $10.27 billion. LRGF has an expense ratio of 0.08% and FDVV changes 0.15%.

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 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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