A smart beta exchange traded fund, the NYLI U.S. Large Cap R&D Leaders ETF (LRND) debuted on 02/08/2022, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by New York Life Investments. LRND has been able to amass assets over $392.76 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the NYLI U.S. LARGE CAP R&D LEADERS INDEX before fees and expenses.

The NYLI U.S. Large Cap R&D Leaders Index provides exposure to innovative companies by investing in U.S. large-cap equity securities of companies that have high research and development spending.

Cost & Other Expenses

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.14% for LRND, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

LRND's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.43%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.

LRND's heaviest allocation is in the Information Technology sector, which is about 58.1% of the portfolio. Its Telecom and Healthcare round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) accounts for about 14.68% of the fund's total assets, followed by Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT).

The top 10 holdings account for about 67.85% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 7.52% so far this year and is up about 17.27% in the last one year (as of 07/27/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $35.87 and $46.14

The ETF has a beta of 1.10 and standard deviation of 17.29% for the trailing three-year period. With about 110 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

NYLI U.S. Large Cap R&D Leaders ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) tracks S&P 500 Index and the Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF Shares (VOO) tracks S&P 500 Index. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $869.01 billion in assets, Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF Shares has $967.46 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VOO changes 0.03%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Blend

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

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NYLI U.S. Large Cap R&D Leaders ETF (LRND): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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