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ESN

GradeBNASDAQ Global Market

Essential 40 Stock ETF

Active Equity · KKM Financial · Inception 2014-06-11

$20.58−0.11 (−0.54%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 3:04 PM EDT

History starts Oct 21, 2024.
Intraday session: down, 67 prints from 20.69 to 20.58. Range 20.55 to 20.65. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$20.56$20.60$20.6410 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.95%
Fund size
$348M
1Y return
+22.7%
Yield · Last 12 months
0.75%
Volume · 30D
0.1M sh
NAV per share
$20.70
52W range
low $16.62high $20.86

The ETF.net ESN Grade

B

66/ 100

Rank 27 of 127 in US Active Equity⁠

Confidence Medium

Six-pillar profile for ESN. Scores out of 100: Cost 48, Risk 92, Mission not scored, Tradability 72, Holdings 78, Durability 57. Strongest: Risk (92). Weakest: Cost (48). Based on 5 of 6 pillars.
F< 25
D≥ 25
C≥ 40
B≥ 55
A≥ 70

Score 66 of 100 sits in the B band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.

  • Cost

    What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.
    CScore 48
    Category rank65/127 · mid-pack

  • Mission

    How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.
    Not scored
    —

  • Risk

    How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.
    AScore 92
    Category rank2/126 · top 2%

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    AScore 72
    Category rank28/127 · top 22%

  • Holdings

    What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.
    AScore 78
    Category rank24/124 · top 19%

  • Durability

    Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.
    BScore 57
    Category rank64/127 · top 50%

Graded as of Sep 22, 2026 · Based on 5 of 6 pillars

Our read on ESN

ETF.net Research

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.

Stated mandate

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

  1. 01Rules-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.
  2. 02Nothing 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.
  3. 03Plain plumbing: a standard 1940 Act fund holding US common stocks, with no leverage, no derivatives overlay and no structural quirks to decode.
  4. 04Lands in the top quartile of the several hundred active US equity ETFs we grade, a strong showing for a fund this new.

Worth knowing

  1. 01At 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%).
  2. 02Launched in October 2024, so the history is short and there is not yet enough published data to measure how tightly it hugs its index.
  3. 03Forty 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

As of Sep 20, 2026, 10:10 AM
Asset class
Stocks
Holdings
—
Top-10 weight
34%
Largest holding
INTC5.9%

Geography

  • United States94.90%
  • Canada2.69%
  • Switzerland2.42%
The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 3.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001INTCINTEL CORP5.86%186,551$20M492
002MPCMARATHON PETROLE5.08%41,325$18M391
003PANWPALO ALTO NETWOR4.17%39,620$14M486
004AAPLAPPLE INC2.82%29,007$10M707
005XOMEXXONMOBIL HOLDI2.80%59,241$10M501
006JNJJOHNSON&JOHNSON2.75%35,267$10M521
007NTRNUTRIEN LTD2.68%120,235$9M29
008FCXFREEPORT-MCMORAN2.65%127,996$9M368
009EPDENTERPRISE PRODU2.63%233,659$9M44
010VZVERIZON COMMUNIC2.59%186,391$9M441
011DALDELTA AIR LI2.48%107,669$9M339
012CVSCVS HEALTH CORP2.43%94,468$8M377
013CBCHUBB LTD2.41%24,478$8M239
014NEMNEWMONT CORP2.37%66,415$8M428
015UNHUNITEDHEALTH GRP2.36%21,652$8M474

Showing 1–15 of 44 holdings

ESN Performance

Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.

ESN$12,266
SPY tracks large US stocks. It provides market context, rather than representing this fund’s strategy, asset class or investment benchmark.$11,723
Sep 22, 2025 to Sep 22, 2026. ESN $12,266. SPY $11,723. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$9,307$10,931$12,556Sep 2025Mar 2026Sep 2026

Sep 22, 2025 – Sep 22, 2026

Returns run to the Sep 22, 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.

Trailing total return for ESN. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodESN
Year to date+20.6%
1 month+0.5%
3 months+5.7%
1 year+22.7%
3 yearsHistory unavailable—per year
5 yearsHistory unavailable—per year
10 yearsHistory unavailable—per year

As of the close, with distributions reinvested.

Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.

Annual total returns for ESN
YearReturn barESN
2026 YTD+20.6%
2025+16.5%
2024−3.0%

History from Oct 21, 2024

ESN in the news

ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on ESN yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.

ESN Dividends

Adds up every distribution paid per share over the last 12 months, divided by the last completed close. Distributions are counted by ex-date. Data through Sep 22, 2026.
0.75%Last 12 months
Payout per share
$0.16Last 12 months
Last payment
$0.16 per share
Paid on
Shares bought on or after this date do not qualify for this distribution.
Frequency
Annual

Distribution history

2024–2026

One bar per payment. 2 payments from 2024 to 2026 YTD. Dec 11, 2024 $0.11; Dec 11, 2025 $0.16. Use the arrow keys to read each point.202420252026YTD
Ex-datePay dateAmount per share
Dec 11, 2025Dec 19, 2025$0.16
Dec 11, 2024Dec 19, 2024$0.11

ESN Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
11.1%
Annualised · 22 months to Aug 2026
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.

Return above 3-month US Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
1.33
vs 3-month T-bills · 22 months to Aug 2026
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.

The largest fall from a peak to the low that followed.
−13.6%
23 months · trough Apr 2025
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.

How strongly the fund’s returns move with its asset-class index.
0.72
vs its asset-class index
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

Expense ratio0.95%
  • The middle half of US Active Equity funds
  • Median 0.70%

97 of the 124 US Active Equity funds charge less.

ESN costs $95.00 a year on $10,000. The median US Active Equity fund costs $70.00.