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

The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Utilities ETF (RSPU) made its debut on 11/01/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs 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.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as 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.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Invesco, and has been able to amass over $527.9 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs. RSPU seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 EQUAL WEIGHT UTILITIES PLUS INDX before fees and expenses.

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

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 0.40% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.64%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 100% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Utilities sector.

When you look at individual holdings, Constellation Energy Corp (CEG) accounts for about 3.72% of the fund's total assets, followed by American Water Works Co Inc (AWK) and Vistra Corp (VST).

The top 10 holdings account for about 33.71% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, RSPU return is roughly 3.98%, and was up about 5.1% in the last one year (as of 08/28/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $72.76 and $84.43.

RSPU has a beta of 0.58 and standard deviation of 15.53% 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 Index Fund ETF Shares (VPU) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Utilities 25/50 Index and the State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) tracks Utilities Select Sector Index. Vanguard Utilities Index Fund ETF Shares has $8.35 billion in assets, State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF has $22.25 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

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

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