RSPD vs XRT

RSPDCInvesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF

XRTBState Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF

In short

RSPD Every consumer discretionary name in the S&P 500 gets the same slice here, so no single mega-cap sets the tone. Same shopping list as the cap-weighted sector funds, a very different plate.

XRT Pure retail, not broad consumer discretionary. XRT equal-weights roughly 80 store chains and online sellers, so a small-cap mall retailer carries about as much freight as a mega-cap giant. It has been the sector's trading vehicle since 2006.

Stated mandate

RSPD The Fund tracks an index that equally weights stocks in the consumer discretionary sector of the S&P 500® Index.

XRT The fund seeks to provide investment results that generally correspond to the total return performance of the S&P Retail Select Industry Index, before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• RSPD Equal weighting: roughly 50 S&P 500 discretionary names each get the same cut, so a homebuilder or restaurant chain counts as much as the biggest online retailer.invesco.com
• The starting universe is the S&P 500 itself, so the roster is large, established US consumer companies rather than small-cap retail.invesco.com
• Trading since 2006, it has carried the same equal-weight mandate through multiple consumer spending cycles.
• It hugs its index tightly, which is the entire job of an index fund, and stands as one of the stronger implementations in the discretionary group.

• XRT Modified equal weight: the index resets constituents toward equal slices each quarter, so a single giant retailer does not run the whole fund.spglobal.com
• Retail only: apparel, automotive, broadline, computer and electronics, staples merchandise, drug, food and specialty stores. Car dealers count, carmakers do not.ssga.com
• Trading since 2006 and very actively traded, one of the older and busier ways to take a targeted position on US retail rather than a whole sector.ssga.com
• Sticks tightly to its index and stands among the stronger builds in its consumer discretionary peer group. Pays quarterly.

Worth knowing

• RSPD At 0.40% a year it costs more than cap-weighted rivals like XLY (0.08%) and VCR (0.09%). The equal-weight tilt is what you are paying up for.
• Volume is moderate rather than heavy, so spreads deserve a look and limit orders do more work here than in the largest sector funds.
• One cyclical sector, about 50 stocks. Income arrives quarterly, but the ride tracks how freely households are spending.

• XRT At 0.35% it costs more than broad cap-weighted discretionary funds like XLY and FDIS near 0.08%. The focus and the equal weighting are what the extra buys.
• Equal weighting pulls small and mid-cap chains up next to the giants, so moves can be sharper than a cap-weighted sector fund's.ssga.com
• One industry, roughly 80 names. When shoppers tighten up, there is no other sector inside the fund to cushion it.

Full RSPD profile⁠

Full XRT profile⁠