Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Value category of the market, the ProShares S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (REGL) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 02/03/2015.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
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.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by Proshares, REGL has amassed assets over $1.78 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Mid Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, REGL seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats Index.
The S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats Index targets companies that are currently members of the S&P MidCap 400 Index and have increased dividend payments each year for at least 15 years.
Cost & Other Expenses
Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.40% for REGL, making it one of the more expensive products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.10%.
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.
REGL's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 31% of the portfolio. Its Industrials and Utilities round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Royal Gold Inc (RGLD) accounts for about 2.52% of the fund's total assets, followed by Evercore Inc - A (EVR) and Renaissancere Holdings Ltd (RNR).
REGL's top 10 holdings account for about 19.59% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has gained about 10.27% so far this year and is up roughly 16.22% in the last one year (as of 02/11/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $72.71 and $92.95
The fund has a beta of 0.77 and standard deviation of 15.36% for the trailing three-year period, which makes REGL a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 52 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
ProShares S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Mid Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO) tracks Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index and the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) tracks NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index. iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF has $38.67 billion in assets, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF has $105.53 billion. DGRO has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VIG changes 0.04%.
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 - Mid Cap Value
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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ProShares S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (REGL): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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