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.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Because the fund has amassed over $201.09 million, this makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Global Large-Cap Blend Equity ETF. GLOF is managed by Blackrock. This particular fund 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

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 cousins, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.20%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.53%.

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.

Taking into account individual holdings, Nvidia (NVDA) accounts for about 4.96% of the fund's total assets, followed by Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT).

GLOF's top 10 holdings account for about 24.46% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 16.38% so far this year and it's up approximately 19.06% in the last one year (as of 10/09/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $50.37 and $61.76

GLOF has a beta of 0.91 and standard deviation of 14.00% for the trailing three-year period. With about 723 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 $9.28 billion in assets, iShares MSCI ACWI ETF has $33.03 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.