Is Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (RPG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Making its debut on 03/01/2006, smart beta exchange traded fund Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (RPG) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

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.

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

RPG is managed by Invesco, and this fund has amassed over $1.59 billion, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Growth. Before fees and expenses, RPG seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 Pure Growth Index.

The S&P 500 Pure Growth Index measures the performance of securities that exhibit strong growth characteristics in the S&P 500 Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for RPG, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.24%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 24.90% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector; Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR) accounts for about 2.49% of the fund's total assets, followed by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL) and Texas Pacific Land Corp (TPL).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 20.13% of RPG's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 5.67% and is up about 21.18% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 06/11/2025), respectively. RPG has traded between $33.68 and $45.03 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 1.14 and standard deviation of 22.98% for the trailing three-year period, which makes RPG a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 93 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Growth Index and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) tracks NASDAQ-100 Index. Vanguard Growth ETF has $168.78 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $343.83 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ charges 0.20%.

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 - Large Cap Growth.

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

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