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Should VictoryShares US 500 Volatility Wtd ETF (CFA) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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The VictoryShares US 500 Volatility Wtd ETF (CFA - Free Report) was launched on 07/01/2014, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Victory Capital. It has amassed assets over $513.97 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Blend

Companies that find themselves in the large cap category typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Considered a more stable option, large cap companies boast more predictable cash flows and are less volatile than their mid and small cap counterparts.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Costs

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 counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.22%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 20.40% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Citibank Dollars On Dep (CITIMM) accounts for about 0.43% of total assets, followed by Ecolab Inc. (ECL - Free Report) and Atmos Energy Corp (ATO - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 3.43% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

CFA seeks to match the performance of the CEMP U.S. Large Cap 500 Volatility Weighted Index before fees and expenses. The CEMP U.S. Large Cap 500 Volatility Weighted Index is an unmanaged index that was created by the Fund?s investment advisor and generally consists of the common stock of the 500 largest companies by market capitalization that have their headquarters in the U.S. and the stock of which trades on U.S. exchanges.

The ETF return is roughly 1.86% so far this year and was up about 13.87% in the last one year (as of 07/02/2018). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $43.79 and $51.96.

The ETF has a beta of 0.91 and standard deviation of 12.73% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 502 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Bottom-Line

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

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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Ecolab Inc. (ECL) - free report >>

Atmos Energy Corporation (ATO) - free report >>

VictoryShares US 500 Volatility Wtd ETF (CFA) - free report >>