The Invesco RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid ETF (PRFZ), a $2.6 billion smart beta fund, tracks the FTSE RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid Index by selecting small and mid-cap companies based on fundamental measures like book value, cash flow, sales, and dividends. With an 0.34% expense ratio, PRFZ has returned 11.02% YTD and 13.73% over the past year (as of 10/06/2025), offering a medium-risk exposure to the Small Cap Blend segment. However, its higher expense ratio and smaller scale contrast with traditional market-cap weighted alternatives like IWM and IJR, which offer significantly lower costs and larger AUM.
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties. You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies. In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time. You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities. If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel. Is Invesco RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid ETF (PRFZ) a Strong ETF Right Now? Read MoreHide Full Article The Invesco RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid ETF (PRFZ - Free Report) was launched on 09/20/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Style Box - Small 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 offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency. However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta. 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. 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. Fund Sponsor & Index The fund is managed by Invesco, and has been able to amass over $2.6 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, PRFZ seeks to match the performance of the FTSE RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid Index. The RAFI Fundamental Select US 1500 Index tracks the performance of small and medium-sized US companies, based on the four fundamental measures of size: book value, cash flow, sales and dividends. 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 0.34%, making it on par with most peer products in the space. It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.08%. 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. For PRFZ, it has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector --about 18.2% of the portfolio --while Financials and Information Technology round out the top three. When you look at individual holdings, Applovin Corp (APP) accounts for about 0.75% of the fund's total assets, followed by Opendoor Technologies Inc (OPEN) and Commscope Holding Co Inc (COMM). PRFZ's top 10 holdings account for about 4.77% of its total assets under management. Performance and Risk So far this year, PRFZ return is roughly 11.02%, and it's up approximately 13.73% in the last one year (as of 10/06/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $33.13 and $46.33. The ETF has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 20.89% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 1693 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk . Alternatives Invesco RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider. iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) tracks Russell 2000 Index and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. iShares Russell 2000 ETF has $70.95 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $86.95 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR changes 0.06%. 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 - Small 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. See More Zacks Research for These Tickers Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE: Image: Bigstock Is Invesco RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid ETF (PRFZ) a Strong ETF Right Now? The Invesco RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid ETF (PRFZ - Free Report) was launched on 09/20/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Style Box - Small 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 offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency. However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta. 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. 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. Fund Sponsor & Index The fund is managed by Invesco, and has been able to amass over $2.6 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, PRFZ seeks to match the performance of the FTSE RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid Index.The RAFI Fundamental Select US 1500 Index tracks the performance of small and medium-sized US companies, based on the four fundamental measures of size: book value, cash flow, sales and dividends. 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 0.34%, making it on par with most peer products in the space. It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.08%. 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.For PRFZ, it has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector --about 18.2% of the portfolio --while Financials and Information Technology round out the top three. When you look at individual holdings, Applovin Corp (APP) accounts for about 0.75% of the fund's total assets, followed by Opendoor Technologies Inc (OPEN) and Commscope Holding Co Inc (COMM). PRFZ's top 10 holdings account for about 4.77% of its total assets under management. Performance and Risk So far this year, PRFZ return is roughly 11.02%, and it's up approximately 13.73% in the last one year (as of 10/06/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $33.13 and $46.33.The ETF has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 20.89% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 1693 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk . Alternatives Invesco RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) tracks Russell 2000 Index and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. iShares Russell 2000 ETF has $70.95 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $86.95 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR changes 0.06%. 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 - Small 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. The Invesco RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid ETF (PRFZ) is a $2.6 billion smart beta fund offering exposure to the small-mid cap blend segment. Its core strategy deviates from traditional market-cap weighting by selecting and weighting constituents based on four fundamental metrics: book value, cash flow, sales, and dividends. The fund has delivered a year-to-date return of 11.02% and a one-year return of 13.73% as of October 6, 2025. Its risk profile is characterized as medium, with a beta of 1.11 indicating slightly higher volatility than the market, and a three-year standard deviation of 20.89%. Diversification is a key feature, with approximately 1,693 holdings where the top ten positions account for only 4.77% of total assets, minimizing company-specific risk. The portfolio's largest sector exposure is to Industrials at 18.2%. However, the fund's 0.34% expense ratio is notably higher than those of large, passive alternatives such as the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) at 0.06% and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) at 0.19%, presenting a clear cost-versus-strategy trade-off for investors.
AI-powered research, real-time alerts, and portfolio analytics for institutional investors.
Request a DemoOverall Sentiment
moderately positive
Sentiment Score
0.50
Ticker Sentiment
