ETF Evaluator: ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF () Follow This ETF

ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF Overview

ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF (RFFC) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Large Blend exchange-traded fund (ETF). ALPS launched the ETF in 2016.

The investment seeks to provide capital appreciation. Under normal market conditions, the fund will seek to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets in a portfolio of equity securities. Equity securities include common stocks and common or preferred shares of real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). The fund may invest in small-, mid- and large-capitalization companies. The fund will normally invest at least 75% of its net assets in securities of U.S. issuers.

About ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF (RFFC)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 3.17 years: Laton Spahr (2023) and Eric Hewitt (2023). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US 1000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and S&P Composite 1500 TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF has 58 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 41.7% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF has 6.9% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 88.2% There is 6.9% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF has 4.9% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $29 million in total assets, which is below the $13 billion average for the Large Blend category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

RFFC Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Large Blend category. ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF has an expense ratio of 0.48%, which is 16% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 42%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 158% for the Large Blend category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF returned -0.8%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Large Blend category had an average return of -0.8%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF has a trailing yield of 0.63%, which is below the 1.16% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

ALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 12.0%, 2.4 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 21.8% over the past year (grade of A), 19.1% over the past three years (grade of B) and 11.7% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 12.5% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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