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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?
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.
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.
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.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
RSPS is managed by Invesco, and this fund has amassed over $760.02 million, which makes 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
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 RSPS are 0.40%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.31%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Staples sector - about 100% of the portfolio.
When you look at individual holdings, Mccormick & Co Inc/md (MKC) accounts for about 3.30% of the fund's total assets, followed by Molson Coors Beverage Co (TAP) and Monster Beverage Corp (MNST).
The top 10 holdings account for about 30.49% of total assets under management.