Under normal circumstances, the fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets in component securities of the index. The index contains a minimum of 40 stocks, which are equally weighted, and no single sector is allowed to comprise more than 30% of the index weight.

ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Value category of the market, the ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF (SMDV) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 02/03/2015.

Is ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF (SMDV) a Strong ETF Right Now?

SMDV is comprised of 107 Russell 2000 Index stocks with 10+ years of consecutive increasing dividend payments. Its expense ratio is 0.40% and the ETF has $648 million in AUM. SMDV is highly concentrated in the Financials, Utilities, and Industrials sectors. Its Index caps sector weights at 30%, but SMDV remains a poorly diversified product. Historically, that's led to inconsistent returns. SMDV has performed reasonably well in the last year and since its inception in 2015, but returns since 2019 have been extremely weak.

SMDV: A Sector-Heavy Play On Small-Cap Dividend Growth

A smart beta exchange traded fund, the ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF (SMDV) debuted on 02/03/2015, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Value category of the market.

SMDV offers exposure to the Russell 2000 constituents that have been consistently growing their dividends for at least 10 years. Since my previous article, SMDV has significantly underperformed the S&P 500 index, with financials being among the key detractors. Its long-term returns are soft as well. Quality remains questionable, as only 35% of the holdings have a B- Quant Profitability rating or higher.

SMDV: Suboptimal Dividend Strategy For Tumultuous Times

Making its debut on 02/03/2015, smart beta exchange traded fund ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF (SMDV) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Value category of the market.

ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF has a portfolio of 99 small-cap dividend growers. SMDV is diversified across holdings thanks to its equal-weight methodology, but overweight in financials, especially banks. SMDV beats its parent index in risk-adjusted return and has attractive dividend growth rate.

SMDV Has High Exposure In Banks And Lags Competitors

Launched on 02/03/2015, the ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF (SMDV) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Value category of the market.

SMDV oversees a portfolio of 100 SMID stocks that have at least 10 years of dividend growth in the books. The methodology has nuances, though. Regional bank stocks boosted SMDV's returns in July, allowing it to outperform the S&P 500 index marginally since the previous analysis. However, fundamentally, nothing has changed about this vehicle. Its quality characteristics remain pronouncedly weak, while growth is soft.

SMDV: Fundamentally Unattractive DGI Strategy Despite Performance Surprise

Amid the growing anxiety about a slowing U.S. economy, geopolitical tensions and the looming November elections, the appeal for dividend investing has returned. We have highlighted several reasons why dividend investing seems to be a viable strategy amid the market turmoil.

5 Dividend ETFs Crushing the Market

Friday's disappointing jobs report has put a huge damper on economic sentiment for the moment. Goldman Sachs has bumped up the odds of a recession from 10% to 25% over the next 12 months.

The Great Rotation: Just Getting Started?

While index-based ETFs are known to be passive compared to active ETFs, changes indeed occur. At the end of this week, a large-cap growth ETF with approximately $100 billion in assets will be adding and removing companies.

ETF Impact of Russell Index Changes

SMDV might attract DGI investors for its 2.91% expected yield and double-digit dividend growth rate. However, the way it accomplishes that is not optimal. The selection process begins by identifying small-cap stocks with at least ten consecutive years of dividend growth. It sounds good, but 40% of eligible stocks are Regional Banks. SMDV's selections in this sub-industry, which total 25%, have delivered negative total returns over the last five years and have negative estimated earnings growth.

SMDV: Why You Should Pass On This 3% Yielding Small-Cap DGI ETF

SMDV is a passively managed investment vehicle focused on small/mid-cap dividend growers. SMDV has underperformed since my previous coverage, with utilities being among the key detractors. I maintain the conservative Hold rating. I like its value factor exposure, yet both quality and growth are fairly lackluster. In the current environment, this is hardly a winning combination.

SMDV: Growth, Quality Exposures Leave Much To Be Desired

ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF focuses on small-cap companies with consistent dividend growth. Top holdings include Cambridge Bancorp, HNI Corp., Kadant Inc., Horace Mann Educators Corp., and SpartanNash Co. SMDV is heavily weighted towards the financial sector, which may pose a risk, and small-cap stocks can be more volatile.

SMDV: Too Much Bank Risk

Real-time stock quote and overview for SMDV