Smart beta ETFs are beginning to draw a lot attention from investors and traditional fund providers alike, but the smart beta concept is nothing new.
“We have over a hundred products in the smart beta space, and of those products, there’s sixty percent of them have actually a five-year track record,” Eric Pollackov, Global Head of ETF Capital Markets for Invesco PowerShares, said at the Charles Schwab Impact Conference. “So we’re not showing you back tested data. We’re showing you real live data.”
For example, the PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio (NYSEArca: SPLV) is one of the most popular smart beta ETF products out there, accumulating $7.5 billion in assets under management since it began trading back in May 2011.
The PowerShares FTSE RAFI US 1000 Portfolio (NYSEArca: PRF), which has been around since December 19, 2005, ranks among the longest running smart-beta ETFs in the U.S. markets. PRF tracks 1,000 U.S. stocks that show the highest fundamental strength based on the RAFI fundamental indexing methodology, which screens for sales, book value, cash flow and dividends.