A smart beta exchange traded fund, the iShares Paris-Aligned Climate Optimized MSCI USA ETF (PABU) debuted on 04/08/2022, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Blend category of the market.
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.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.
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.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
The fund is managed by Blackrock, and has been able to amass over $2.26 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Blend. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the MSCI USA CLMT PARIS ALGN BNC EXT SLCT ID before fees and expenses.
The MSCI USA Climate Paris Aligned Benchmark Extended Select Index composed of U.S. large & mid-capitalization stocks designed to be compatible with the objectives of the Paris Agreement by following a decarbonization trajectory, reducing exposure to climate-related transition & physical risks & increasing exposure to companies favourably positioned for the transition to a low-carbon economy.
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 PABU are 0.10%, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
PABU's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.91%.
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.
PABU's heaviest allocation is in the Information Technology sector, which is about 42.3% of the portfolio. Its Financials and Real Estate round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 9.67% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Apple Inc (AAPL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 45.85% of total assets under management.
So far this year, PABU has lost about -0.79%, and is up roughly 9.33% in the last one year (as of 01/27/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $53.19 and $74.50.
The fund has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 15.97% for the trailing three-year period. With about 139 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
iShares Paris-Aligned Climate Optimized MSCI USA 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.
Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV) tracks FTSE US ALL CAP CHOICE INDEX and the iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU) tracks MSCI USA ESG Focus Index. Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF has $12.02 billion in assets, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $15.98 billion. ESGV has an expense ratio of 0.09% and ESGU changes 0.15%.
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
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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