Launched on 10/09/2013, the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.
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, NOBL has amassed assets over $11.6 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. NOBL seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 DividendAristocrats Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index targets companies that are currently members of the S&P 500, have increased dividend payments each year for at least 25 years & meet certain market capitalization & liquidity requirements.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
Annual operating expenses for NOBL are 0.35%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.07%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector - about 23.5% of the portfolio. Consumer Staples and Financials round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Emerson Electric Co (EMR) accounts for about 1.79% of the fund's total assets, followed by Franklin Resources Inc (BEN) and Caterpillar Inc (CAT).
The top 10 holdings account for about 14.94% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 4.3% and was up about 10.3% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/10/2025), respectively. NOBL has traded between $90.85 and $108.47 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.84 and standard deviation of 14.52% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 70 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large 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 $32.43 billion in assets, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF has $93.11 billion. DGRO has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VIG changes 0.05%.
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 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 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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