Understanding the WEBs Defined Volatility SPY ETF (DVSP)

The WEBs Defined Volatility SPY ETF (ticker: DVSP) is an exchange-traded fund traded on the NASDAQ. This report explains the recent performance and income data for this ETF to help you understand its numbers.

What this ETF is trying to do

While the specific investment strategy is described by its name, the fund's primary exposure includes the STATE STREET® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF (SPY). According to the most recent data, SPY makes up 42.80% of the fund's top holdings.

What the numbers show

The current price of DVSP is $30.64. Looking back, the estimated price from roughly one year ago was $27.17. This shows that the share price has increased over the last year.

When looking at returns, it is important to understand two different numbers:

• Price Return: This measures only how much the share price changed. The one-year price return was approximately 12.76%, and the year-to-date (YTD) price return was approximately 13.04%.

• Total Return: This includes both the share price change and any cash distributions paid out. The one-year total return was approximately 13.07%, and the YTD total return was approximately 13.04%.

Income and distribution explanation

Some investors look at ETFs for regular cash payments, called distributions. For DVSP, the distribution yield is approximately 0.25%. The trailing distributions were $0.08 per share.

It is important to note that these payments are "irregular" or "less frequent." In the last 12 months, there was only one payout. Because the payouts do not happen on a regular schedule, this ETF may not be a consistent source of cash income.

NAV erosion explanation

"NAV erosion" refers to a decline in the actual value of the fund's underlying assets. The supplied data is sufficient to evaluate price erosion, but it does not include enough historical NAV-per-share data to confirm or rule out NAV erosion.

However, regarding price erosion (the decline in the market price of the shares), the ETF has an erosion score of 100. This is labeled as "No price erosion detected," and the erosion severity is rated as "good." There is no severe erosion-risk flag for this fund.

Pros

• The ETF has shown positive price returns over the last year.

• The data shows no detected price erosion.

Cons

• The distribution yield is quite low at approximately 0.25%.

• Payouts are infrequent and irregular, with only one distribution in the past year.

Beginner takeaway

DVSP has seen its share price grow over the last year. While it does pay distributions, they are small and do not happen very often. When researching this ETF, remember that the total return is slightly higher than the price return because it includes those small cash payments.