Making its debut on 06/29/2017, smart beta exchange traded fund WisdomTree U.S. Multifactor ETF (USMF) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Blend category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
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.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
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.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by Wisdomtree, USMF has amassed assets over $404.27 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Multifactor Index.
The WisdomTree U.S. Multifactor Index is comprised of 200 U.S. companies with the highest composite scores based on two fundamental factors, value and quality measures, and two technical factors, momentum and correlation.
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.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.28%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.32%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Taking into account individual holdings, Dreyfus Trsy Oblig Cash Mgmt Cl Insaccounts for about 88.77% of the fund's total assets, followed by Us Dollar and Motorola Solutions Inc (MSI).
USMF's top 10 holdings account for about 110.62% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has gained about 5.06% so far this year and is up about 7.54% in the last one year (as of 09/02/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $44.42 and $52.86
The ETF has a beta of 0.81 and standard deviation of 13.89% for the trailing three-year period. With about 200 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
WisdomTree U.S. Multifactor ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) tracks S&P Total Market Index and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) tracks CRSP US Total Market Index. iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF has $75.12 billion in assets, Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF has $525.61 billion. ITOT has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VTI changes 0.03%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Blend
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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WisdomTree U.S. Multifactor ETF (USMF): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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