The 'Cubes' ETF to Capture U.S. Growth | ETF Trends

As the U.S. economy continues to expand, investors may turn to exchange traded funds with a heavy tilt toward growth stock picks.

For instance, the Powershares QQQ (NasdaqGM: QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100 and is the sixth largest U.S.-listed ETF, provides a popular broad growth play for investors. The Nasdaq-100 Index is comprised of the 100 largest nonfinancial companies in the Nasdaq Composite Index. [Expanding Economic Conditions Should Favor Growth Stock ETFs]

QQQ takes a strong tilt toward the technology sector at 56.3% of its overall portfolio, along with consumer discretionary 18% and biotech 15%, writes Morningstar analyst Robert Goldsborough.

“This is a high-quality portfolio with a mega-cap tilt, with more than 87% of assets invested in large-cap companies and more than 93% of assets invested in companies with Morningstar Economic Moat Ratings, those that Morningstar’s equity analysts deem as having sustainable competitive advantages,” Goldsborough said.

However, due to QQQ’s cyclical sector tilts, investors should be comfortable with slightly greater volatility than the typical large-cap stock fund. Specifically, Goldsborough points out that QQQ had a volatility of return of 18.0% over the past decade, compared to the S&P 500’s 14.6%.

Additionally, potential investors should be aware that QQQ’s tech allocations make up almost the entire 20% technology component of the S&P 500, so there will be some overlap if you already own a S&P 500 index fund.

“Broadly, we are confident in tech firms’ positioning for growth in the medium term,” Goldsborough added. “Tech firms generally are procyclical in their performance, and with continued economic strength, tech firms generally should do well.”