PIZ ETF: What Is It? A Complete Guide to Returns, Expense Ratio, Holdings, and Alternative ETFs
A strategy-driven product that seeks excess returns over the market by identifying and investing in momentum leaders across global developed markets outside the United States.
What Is This ETF?
The fund tracks the Dorsey Wright Developed Markets Technical Leaders index and selects roughly 100 stocks with strong price momentum. Rather than weighting by market capitalization, it sets position sizes based on relative strength scores.
By concentrating on the leading stocks of global developed markets, it suits aggressive investors who expect to outperform the broader market index.
Launched by Invesco in 2007, it is a passively managed (index-tracking) ETF.
How Does It Invest?
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Tracked Index | Dorsey Wright Developed Markets Technical Leaders |
| Management Style | Passive (momentum strategy) |
| Rebalancing Frequency | Quarterly |
| Dividend Frequency | Quarterly |
| Total Expense Ratio | 0.80% |
The fund screens the constituents of the Nasdaq developed markets index and extracts the top stocks by relative strength. Through quarterly reconstitution, it drops stocks whose trends have faded and adds new momentum leaders, aiming to stay aligned with the upward trend.
- Applies Dorsey Wright's proprietary relative strength analysis
- Builds a performance-driven portfolio regardless of market capitalization
Size and Costs
Assets under management (AUM) stand at $610.5M, and the expense ratio is 0.80% per year.
Because of the nature of momentum strategies, the portfolio turns over frequently, which keeps management fees somewhat high, and the portfolio's composition can change significantly as market-leading sectors shift.
Performance and Trends
When particular countries or sectors show strength within global equity markets, the fund has quickly captured those moves and delivered strong results. However, short-term volatility can widen during trend reversals.
Investor interest tends to concentrate when expectations for growth and leadership stocks are high, and the fund tends to attract active tactical inflows from investors who value technical analysis.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Its strength lies in the return potential from concentrating on leaders in rising markets, but high volatility and a relatively expensive fee are factors investors should keep in mind.
💪 Key Strengths
⚠️ Points to Watch
Alternative ETFs and Related Products
IMTM and IDMO, shown in the table, are similar momentum products based on MSCI and S&P indexes, respectively. The difference is that PIZ uses Dorsey Wright's specialized analysis model. If you want broader developed-market exposure, you can consider VEA, and if you want emerging-market momentum, you can look at PIE alongside it.
| Ticker | Name | Price | Change | AUM | Total Expense Ratio | Dividend Yield | 1Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invesco S&P International Developed Momentum ETF | $58.73 | -0.4% | $4.2B | 0.25% | 2.39% | +13.1% | |
| iShares MSCI Intl Momentum Factor ET | $51.31 | -0.5% | $4.2B | 0.30% | 2.34% | +11.3% | |
| VictoryShares International Value Momentum ETF | $72.91 | -0.4% | $331.4M | 0.35% | 4.33% | +20.0% | |
| Invesco Dorsey Wright Emerging Markets Momentum ETF | $33.27 | -0.2% | $262.6M | 0.90% | 2.23% | +40.2% | |
| VictoryShares Emerging Markets Value Momentum ETF | $57.89 | -0.5% | $242.8M | 0.45% | 3.16% | +4.4% |
| Ticker | Name | Weight | Price | Change | Market Cap | P/E | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barings BDC Inc | 0.03% | $8.32 | -1.4% | $871.2M | 10.0 | 12.5% | |
| The Investment House ETF | 0.03% | $24.54 | +0.3% | $0.0M | - | - | |
| TD | Toronto Dominion Bank | 0.03% | $120.06 | -0.3% | $202.8B | 17.8 | 2.65% |
| RY | Royal Bank Of Canada | 0.04% | $196.30 | -0.8% | $272.2B | 17.1 | 2.52% |
| Intercontinental Hotels Group ADR | 0.02% | $168.92 | +0.7% | $24.7B | 36.0 | 1.24% | |
| SKHY | SK Hynix Inc ADR | 0.02% | $142.87 | +4.7% | $1.04T | 9.3 | 0.36% |
| Bank of the James Financial Group Inc | 0.02% | $26.72 | -0.5% | $121.3M | 10.6 | 1.5% |
Investor Checkpoints
This is a key checklist to review before deciding to invest in PIZ. Investors should clearly recognize that, given the nature of its strategy, it differs from conventional value investing.
| Checkpoint | What to Check | Current Status |
|---|---|---|
| 📈 Momentum Strength | Assess whether the trend-following strategy is currently effective in the market | Holding up |
| 💵 Management Fee | Confirm the high costs typical of strategy-driven products | Fee burden exists |
| 🔄 Rebalancing | Portfolio changes from quarterly stock turnover | Executed systematically |
| 🌐 Regional Concentration | Concentration in specific countries within developed markets outside the U.S. | Ongoing monitoring |
Investing based on relative strength analysis can be slow to respond when market conditions change, which in turn can lead to large swings in asset value.
This is a tool for targeting momentum leaders in developed markets outside the U.S. It suits aggressive portfolios that aim to beat the market and are willing to accept higher risk and fees.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. All investment responsibility lies with the investor.