Is Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF (RGI) A Hot ETF Right Now?

The Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF (RGI) made its debut on 11/01/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Industrials ETFs category of the U.S. equity 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.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer 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.

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.

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 Invesco Powershares, RGI has amassed assets over $303.93 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Industrials ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials Index.

This index is an unmanaged equal weighted version of the S&P 500 Industrials Index that consists of the common stocks of the following industries: aerospace & defense, building products, construction & engineering, electrical equipment, conglomerates, machinery; commercial services & supplies, air freight & logistics, airlines, marine, road & rail transportation infrastructure.

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.40% for RGI, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.19%.

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.

RGI's heaviest allocation is in the Industrials sector, which is about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Transdigm Group Inc (TDG) accounts for about 1.71% of total assets, followed by Textron Inc (NYSE:TXT) and Csx Corp (CSX).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 15.84% of RGI's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

RGI has lost about -0.94% so far this year, and as of 05/21/2018, is up roughly 16.70% in the last one year. In the past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $105.03 and $127.83.

RGI has a beta of 1.10 and standard deviation of 14.89% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium choice in the space. With about 70 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Industrials 25/50 Index and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) tracks Industrial Select Sector Index. Vanguard Industrials ETF has $3.81 B in assets, Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund has $13.05 B. VIS has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLI charges 0.13%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Industrials 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.