Investors enjoying the pairing of domestic stocks and the momentum factor are likely familiar with some related ETFs. This includes the Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF (SPMO).
SPMO is an $11.6 billion titan that turns 10 years old in October. It’s an ETF that can significantly outpace the broader market when the momentum factor is in style. For the three years ending August 18, SPMO returned nearly 115%, while the S&P 500’s gain was closer to 59%.
Impressive stuff to be sure, and those data points beg the question, “Is there an international answer to SPMO?” Yes — the Invesco S&P International Developed Momentum ETF (IDMO). This fund, which tracks the S&P World Ex-U.S. Momentum Index, doesn’t garner the attention its domestic stablemate does. But that belies the facts that IDMO is neither new nor small. The ETF turned 13 years old in February, and has $1.49 billion in assets under management.
Investigating IDMO Advantages
While IDMO flies under the radar relative to SPMO, the former keeps with the latter’s tradition of delivering the goods when the momentum factor is thriving. Over the past three years, IDMO surged 81.8%, easily trouncing the 51% returned by MSCI EAFE Index.
Year-to-date, IDMO returned 32.3% as of August 18. That’s because in 2025, momentum with ex-U.S. developed market stocks has largely meant exposure to European equities and the financial services. Those two are boxes checked by the Invesco ETF.
“As of June 30, 2025, the S&P World Ex-U.S. Momentum Index showed a significant overweight in the Financials sector, resulting in slight underweights across most other sectors,” according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Over the full period, while sector weights have fluctuated in response to prevailing trends, there has not been a consistent bias, resulting in average weights that are generally aligned with the benchmark universe.”
IDMO has a 47.20% allocation to financial stocks, and the U.K. and Germany combine for about a third of the ETF’s geographic exposure. That confirms the fund has been at the right places at the right times in 2025. IDMO’s geographic and sector tilts could be all the more appealing at a time when some market participants are looking to add diversity to portfolios that are heavily allocated to domestic growth stocks.
“The S&P World Ex-U.S. Momentum Index has outperformed its broader universe in both absolute and risk-adjusted returns for nearly 30 years of back-tested history,” concluded S&P. “Currently, the index shows significant overweights in the Financials sector, as well as in countries like Germany and Canada. Given the recent trends, the S&P World Ex-U.S. Momentum Index may be especially relevant for tracking top-performing developed market stocks outside the U.S.”
For more news, information, and analysis, visit the Innovative ETFs Content Hub.
A message from Advisor Perspectives and VettaFi: To learn more about this and other topics, check out some of our webcasts.
Read more commentaries by VettaFi
