
Essential 40 Stock ETF
$20.64+0.08 (+0.41%)
- 0.95%
- $352M
- +22.6%
- 0.76%
- 0.1M sh
- $20.55
- low $16.62high $21.06
The ETF.net ESN Grade
Score 55 out of 100
- 51 of 127
Score 55 of 100 falls in the B band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.F21 out of 100Rank 100 of 127Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.A92 out of 100Rank 2 of 126Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.B67 out of 100Rank 33 of 127Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A77 out of 100Rank 23 of 124Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A77 out of 100Rank 25 of 127
Our read on ESN
BA 40-stock take on US large caps. KKM's Essential 40 Stock ETF tracks a single purpose-built index, giving you a compact, rules-based basket in a corner of the market dominated by funds that own hundreds of names.
The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Essential 40 Stock Index. It normally invests at least 80% of net assets in common stocks comprising that Index.
Why people hold it
- Rules-based by design: normally at least 80% of net assets sits in the index's common stocks, so the playbook is written down rather than left to a manager's mood.
- Nothing else in our active US equity coverage tracks the Essential 40 Stock Index, so this exposure is hard to duplicate with another off-the-shelf fund.
- Plain plumbing: a standard 1940 Act fund holding US common stocks, with no leverage, no derivatives overlay and no structural quirks to decode.
- Lands in the top quartile of the several hundred active US equity ETFs we grade, a strong showing for a fund this new.
Worth knowing
- At 0.70% a year it runs above the roughly 0.65% typical for active US equity ETFs, and multiples of core rivals like DFAU (0.12%) and AVLC (0.15%).
- Launched in October 2024, so the history is short and there is not yet enough published data to measure how tightly it hugs its index.
- Forty names means every holding carries real weight, a different ride from a 500-stock core fund. Trading is moderate rather than heavy, so limit orders earn their keep.
ESN Holdings
- Stocks
- 44
- 34%
- INTC
Geography
- United States95.21%
- Switzerland2.43%
- Canada2.36%
ESN Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | ESN |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +19.8% |
| 1 month | 0.0% |
| 3 months | +3.6% |
| 1 year | +22.6% |
| 3 years | — |
| 5 years | — |
| 10 years | — |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | ESN |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +19.8% | |
| 2025 | +16.5% | |
| 2024 | −3.0% |
ESN in the news
ESN Dividends
- 0.76%
- $0.16
- $0.16 per share
- Annual
Distribution history
ESN Risk
- 11.1%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 1.18
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −13.6%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.73
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
ESN Cost
- The middle half of US Active Equity funds
- Median 0.70%
97 of the 123 US Active Equity funds charge less.
Other funds in US Active Equity
- BAFOSARS Focused Opportunity Strategy ETFExpense ratio 0.46%1 year return +50.0%
- BACVFAmerican Conservative Values ETFExpense ratio 0.75%1 year return +15.3%
- BXLSRState Street US Sector Rotation ETFExpense ratio 0.70%1 year return +15.6%
- CGRNYTidal Trust III - Fundstrat Granny Shots US Large Cap ETFExpense ratio 0.75%1 year return +14.7%
- CLDRXSGI Enhanced Market Leaders ETFExpense ratio 0.50%1 year return +20.0%



