On November 12, 2025, PRINCIPAL SECURITIES, INC. disclosed a purchase of Principal U.S. Mega-Cap ETF (USMC), increasing the size of its position by 9%.
What happened
According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing dated November 12, 2025, PRINCIPAL SECURITIES, INC. increased its stake in Principal Exchange-Traded Funds - Principal U.S. Mega-Cap ETF (USMC 1.20%) by 373,083 shares compared to the previous quarter. The post-trade position stood at 4,379,501 shares, worth $298.56 million as of September 30, 2025. The trade added approximately $47.92 million in position value.
What else to know
- The fund bought more USMC, bringing its position to 4.92% of 13F AUM for the quarter ending September 30, 2025
Top holdings after the filing:
- NASDAQ: USMC: $298.56 million (4.92% of AUM)
- NYSEMKT: IVV: $179.91 million (2.96% of AUM)
- NYSEMKT: AGG: $131.48 million (2.17% of AUM)
- NYSEMKT: BCHP: $127.28 million (2.10% of AUM)
- NASDAQ: PSC: $126.44 million (2.08% of AUM)
- As of November 11, 2025, shares were priced at $69.26, up 17.55% over the past year, outperforming the S&P 500 by 2.96 percentage points
- Annualized dividend yield was 0.80% as of November 12, 2025
- The position previously represented 4.71% of fund AUM as of the prior quarter
ETF overview
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| AUM | $6.07 billion |
| Price (as of market close 11/11/25) | $69.26 |
| Dividend yield | 0.80% |
| 1-year total return | 17.55% |
ETF snapshot
- Employs a strategy of investing at least 80% of assets in U.S. mega-cap equities, targeting the largest companies by market capitalization in the S&P 500.
- Portfolio is composed primarily of equity securities from the top 50th percentile of the S&P 500, offering broad exposure to leading U.S. companies across sectors.
- Structured as an exchange-traded fund with a focus on index-based investing.
Principal U.S. Mega-Cap ETF provides institutional and individual investors with targeted access to the largest U.S. companies, leveraging a disciplined, rules-based approach to portfolio construction. The fund's strategy emphasizes scale and liquidity, aiming to capture the performance of mega-cap equities while maintaining diversification.
Its competitive positioning is driven by a focus on market leaders, cost efficiency, and transparent investment methodology, making it suitable for investors seeking core U.S. equity exposure with a large-cap bias.
Foolish take
Principal Securities invests in holdings across thousands of companies, and many of them are ETFs, so the investment in the Principal US Mega-Cap ETF is consistent with its other significant holdings.
NASDAQ: USMC
Key Data Points
What makes this ETF stand out is the 4.92% stake in a fund where stakes above 1.0% are rare. Interestingly, it also holds separate positions in all 10 of the top individual stocks held by the ETF.
Admittedly, when a holding company owns thousands of stocks, it is hard to glean much from one purchase. Nonetheless, the fact that it added shares to the ETF points to continued optimism about the market’s top companies. This is notable as the rise in the indexes in recent years is heavily driven by these top stocks that hold disproportionate influence over the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
It is also notable because the indexes are at record highs. Still, the fact that Principal Securities continues to buy such stocks seems to reflect a growing consensus that it the current bull market is not done. Time will tell whether the fund guessed correctly.
Glossary
ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund): An investment fund traded on stock exchanges, holding a basket of assets like stocks or bonds.
AUM (Assets Under Management): The total market value of investments managed by a fund or investment firm.
13F reportable assets: Securities that institutional investment managers must disclose quarterly to the SEC if they exceed $100 million in assets.
Mega-cap equities: Stocks of the largest companies by market capitalization, typically industry leaders.
Index-based investing: An investment strategy that aims to replicate the performance of a specific market index.
Dividend yield: The annual dividend income expressed as a percentage of the investment's current price.
Portfolio construction: The process of selecting and managing investments to achieve specific financial goals and risk levels.
Rules-based approach: An investment strategy that follows predefined, systematic criteria for selecting and weighting assets.
Core U.S. equity exposure: Investment focus on broad, foundational holdings in U.S. stocks, often forming the main part of a portfolio.
Liquidity: The ease with which an asset can be quickly bought or sold without significantly affecting its price.
Total return: The investment's price change plus all dividends and distributions, assuming those payouts are reinvested.
Sector: A group of companies that operate in the same segment of the economy, such as technology or healthcare.
