

There are a lot of interesting statistics to consider about small-cap stocks today, most of them bullish. Frequently mentioned: Smaller stocks are coming off their best first half of any year since 1991.

Launched on 12/30/2016, the ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend category of the market.

When evaluating small-cap equity exposure, it's easy to gravitate towards the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) given its $82 billion in assets and 0.19% expense ratio. Yet, a closer look at another fund, the ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM), reveals a fundamentally sound structural design that warrants closer attention.

The ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM) was launched on December 30, 2016, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Small-cap investors rejoice. The Russell 2000 Index is higher by more than 16% year-to-date, confirming smaller stocks are back with a vengeance, but there is a caveat.

Making its debut on 12/30/2016, smart beta exchange traded fund ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend category of the market.

The ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM) is benefiting from a shift back toward profitable, dividend-growing companies after a year when unprofitable stocks dominated. OUSM returned 4.6% year-to-date, with industrials companies contributing more than 3.3 percentage points of that gain, according to VettaFi.

If you're interested in broad exposure to the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market, look no further than the ALPS O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on December 30, 2016.