If you're interested in broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary - Retail segment of the equity market, look no further than the VanEck Retail ETF (RTH), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 12/20/2011.
An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.
Sector ETFs are also funds of convenience, offering many ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Consumer Discretionary - Retail is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 6, placing it in top 38%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by Van Eck. It has amassed assets over $239.16 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Discretionary - Retail segment of the equity market. RTH seeks to match the performance of the MVIS US Listed Retail 25 Index before fees and expenses.
The MVIS US Listed Retail 25 Index tracks the overall performance of companies involved in retail distribution, wholesalers, on-line, direct mail and TV retailers, multi-line retailers, specialty retailers and food and other staples retailers.
Costs
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.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.72%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Discretionary sector--about 59.40% of the portfolio. Consumer Staples and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) accounts for about 20.11% of total assets, followed by Walmart Inc (WMT) and Costco Wholesale Corp (COST).
The top 10 holdings account for about 71.49% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the VanEck Retail ETF has gained about 7.91% so far, and was up about 24.16% over the last 12 months (as of 02/06/2025). RTH has traded between $196.07 and $242.36 in this past 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 17.82% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 27 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
VanEck Retail ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, RTH is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY) tracks EQM Online Retail Index and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) tracks S&P Retail Select Industry Index. Amplify Online Retail ETF has $192.08 million in assets, SPDR S&P Retail ETF has $424.50 million. IBUY has an expense ratio of 0.65% and XRT charges 0.35%.
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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VanEck Retail ETF (RTH): ETF Research Reports
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) : Free Stock Analysis Report
SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT): ETF Research Reports
Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY): ETF Research Reports
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
