Yahoo Finance Is ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM) made its debut on 12/30/2016, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 managed by Alps. OUSM has been able to amass assets over $208.86 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. OUSM, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the FTSE Russell US Qual / Vol / Yield Factor 3% Capped Index.
The OShares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend Index is designed to reflect the performance of publicly-listed small-capitalization dividend-paying issuers in the United States exhibiting high quality, low volatility and high dividend yields.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
With one of the more expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.48%.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.78%.
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.
Representing 26.50% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector; Industrials and Information Technology round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Houlihan Lokey Inc. (HLI) accounts for about 2.37% of the fund's total assets, followed by Interpublic Group Of Cos. Inc. (IPG) and Encompass Health Corp. (EHC).
OUSM's top 10 holdings account for about 21.65% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, OUSM has added about 11.58%, and was up about 8.76% in the last one year (as of 02/06/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $29.99 and $37.55.
OUSM has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 26.73% for the trailing three-year period. With about 117 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
IShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) tracks Russell 2000 Index and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. IShares Russell 2000 ETF has $57.08 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $73.82 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR charges 0.06%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Small Cap Blend.
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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ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM): ETF Research Reports
Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (IPG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM): ETF Research Reports
Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (HLI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR): ETF Research Reports
Encompass Health Corporation (EHC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
