A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF (RSPS) debuted on 11/01/2006, and offers broad exposure to the Consumer Staples ETFs category of the market.

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.

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.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

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

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $374.67 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Consumer Staples ETFs. RSPS seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 EQL WEIGHT CONSUMER STAPLES INDX before fees and expenses.

The S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples Index equally weights stocks in the consumer staples sector of the S&P 500 Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.40%.

RSPS's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 2.12%.

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.

For RSPS, it has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Staples sector --about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Kellanova (K) accounts for about 3.30% of total assets, followed by Tyson Foods Inc (TSN) and Mccormick & Co Inc/md (MKC).

RSPS's top 10 holdings account for about 29.12% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 5.19% so far this year and it's up approximately 6.03% in the last one year (as of 09/18/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $28.40 and $32.93.

The fund has a beta of 0.58 and standard deviation of 13.56% for the trailing three-year period. With about 39 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Consumer Staples ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) tracks Consumer Staples Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF has $7.32 billion in assets, Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF has $18.34 billion. VDC has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLP charges 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 Consumer Staples 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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Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF (RSPS): ETF Research Reports

Tyson Foods, Inc. (TSN) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Kellanova (K) : Free Stock Analysis Report

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (MKC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP): ETF Research Reports

Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC): ETF Research Reports

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