Launched on 10/18/2012, the Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
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.
There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $3.29 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 Low Volatility High Dividend Index.
The S&P 500 Low Volatility High Dividend Index comprises of 50 securities traded on the S&P 500 Index that historically have provided high dividend yields and low volatility.
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.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.30% for SPHD, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 4.87%.
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 in the Consumer Staples sector - about 20.5% of the portfolio. Real Estate and Utilities round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Pfizer Inc (PFE) accounts for about 3.71% of total assets, followed by Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) and Vici Properties Inc (VICI).
SPHD's top 10 holdings account for about 28.56% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, SPHD has added roughly 9.36%, and it's up approximately 10.19% in the last one year (as of 10/19/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $46.96 and $53.55.
The ETF has a beta of 0.61 and standard deviation of 12.74% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 61 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and the Vanguard Morningstar Value ETF (VTV) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has $114.85 billion in assets, Vanguard Morningstar Value ETF has $190.22 billion. SCHD has an expense ratio of 0.06% and VTV changes 0.03%.
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 - Large Cap Value
Bottom Line
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Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).