Is Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Utilities ETF (RSPU) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Making its debut on 11/01/2006, smart beta exchange traded fund Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Utilities ETF (RSPU) provides investors broad exposure to the Utilities/Infrastructure 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.

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.

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.

This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.

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 Invesco. RSPU has been able to amass assets over $454.72 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 EQUAL WEIGHT UTILITIES PLUS INDX.

The S&P 500 Equal Weight Utilities Plus Index equally weights the common stocks of all companies included in the S&P 500 Index that are classified as members of the utilities sector.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.40%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.38%.

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.

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

Looking at individual holdings, Vistra Corp (VST) accounts for about 3.67% of total assets, followed by Constellation Energy Corp (CEG) and Nrg Energy Inc (NRG).

Story ContinuesRSPU's top 10 holdings account for about 33.33% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 16.35% so far this year and is up roughly 23.84% in the last one year (as of 08/11/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $62.69 and $76.68

RSPU has a beta of 0.56 and standard deviation of 17.45% for the trailing three-year period. With about 33 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers .

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Utilities ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.

Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Utilities 25/50 Index and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) tracks Utilities Select Sector Index. Vanguard Utilities ETF has $7.4 billion in assets, Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF has $21.27 billion. VPU has an expense ratio of 0.09% and XLU changes 0.08%.

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

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Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Utilities ETF (RSPU): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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