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Is Northern Trust Morningstar US Market Factor Tilt ETF (TILT) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Northern Trust Morningstar US Market Factor Tilt ETF (TILT - Free Report) debuted on 09/16/2011, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Blend category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well 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.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by Northern Trust Etfs, TILT has amassed assets over $2.2 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, TILT seeks to match the performance of the Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt Index.
The Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt Index measures the performance of U.S. equity markets with increased exposure toward small-capitalization and value stocks.
Cost & Other Expenses
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.25% for TILT, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.07%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For TILT, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 31.2% of the portfolio --while Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Nvidia Corp Common Stock Usd 0.001 (NVDA) accounts for about 5.3% of the fund's total assets, followed by Apple Inc Common Stock Usd 0.00001 (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp Common Stock Usd 0.00000625 (MSFT).
The top 10 holdings account for about 25.66% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added about 13.27% and it's up approximately 16.11% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 10/05/2026), respectively. TILT has traded between $235.15 and $287.68 during this last 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.01 and standard deviation of 15.05% for the trailing three-year period, which makes TILT a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 1911 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
Northern Trust Morningstar US Market Factor Tilt ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) tracks S&P Total Market Index and the Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) tracks CRSP US Total Market Index. iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF has $96.91 billion in assets, Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF has $690.24 billion. ITOT has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VTI changes 0.03%.
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 Blend
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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Is Northern Trust Morningstar US Market Factor Tilt ETF (TILT) a Strong ETF Right Now?
A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Northern Trust Morningstar US Market Factor Tilt ETF (TILT - Free Report) debuted on 09/16/2011, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Blend category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well 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.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by Northern Trust Etfs, TILT has amassed assets over $2.2 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, TILT seeks to match the performance of the Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt Index.
The Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt Index measures the performance of U.S. equity markets with increased exposure toward small-capitalization and value stocks.
Cost & Other Expenses
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.25% for TILT, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.07%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For TILT, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 31.2% of the portfolio --while Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Nvidia Corp Common Stock Usd 0.001 (NVDA) accounts for about 5.3% of the fund's total assets, followed by Apple Inc Common Stock Usd 0.00001 (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp Common Stock Usd 0.00000625 (MSFT).
The top 10 holdings account for about 25.66% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added about 13.27% and it's up approximately 16.11% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 10/05/2026), respectively. TILT has traded between $235.15 and $287.68 during this last 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.01 and standard deviation of 15.05% for the trailing three-year period, which makes TILT a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 1911 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
Northern Trust Morningstar US Market Factor Tilt ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) tracks S&P Total Market Index and the Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) tracks CRSP US Total Market Index. iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF has $96.91 billion in assets, Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF has $690.24 billion. ITOT has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VTI changes 0.03%.
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 Blend
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.