MTUM includes a hefty 29.5% tilt toward consumer discretionary, along with 25.0% information tech and 12.0% health care. The ETF also underweights energy at 0.5% and materials at 1.0%, two of the worst performing sectors over the past year.
The Powershares DWA Momentum Portfolio (NYSEArca: PDP), which utilizes technical analysis from Dorsey Wright and picks out stocks based on relative strength, includes a slightly more diversified approach than MTUM, including less exposure to the top-performers of 2015 and more toward the underperforming areas. Top sector weights include consumer discretionary 20.8%, industrials 16.8%, health care 15.7%, financials 15.7% and information technology 14.0%.
Investors who favor Dorsey Wright analysis may also take a look at the First Trust Dorsey Wright Focus 5 ETF (NasdaqGM: FV), which follows DWA’s relative strength ranking system where sector ETFs are compared to each other to measure price momentum relative to other ETFs in the universe and the top five ranking ETFs are included in the underlying index. Specifically, FV includes about a 20% tilt toward biotech, internet stocks, health care, consumer stales and consumer discretionary.
Potential investors, though, should be aware that the momentum strategy typically works well under sustained market rallies and could breakdown during volatile conditions. For instance, these ETFs sold off during the start of 2016 as broad markets slipped.
“While S&P Capital IQ’s ETF research does not rely on past performance, we think it highlights the importance of looking inside popular momentum ETFs to understand its drivers,” Rosenbluth added.
Max Chen contributed to this article.