Best ETFs
Schwab and Vanguard charge the same 0.03%. Their small-cap funds are 3.7 percentage points apart
Royce Quant Small-Cap Quality Value ETF
$52.20+0.25 (+0.48%)
- 0.60%
- $39M
- +29.2%
- 1.04%
- 0M sh
- $51.94
- low $39.95high $55.30
The ETF.net SQLV Grade
B
Score 62 out of 100
- 10 of 41
Score 62 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.C49 out of 100Rank 21 of 41Mission
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.A71 out of 100Rank 5 of 38Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A71 out of 100Rank 9 of 41Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A74 out of 100Rank 10 of 41Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.B68 out of 100Rank 11 of 41
Our read on SQLV
BAn active small-cap fund with an algorithm at the wheel. Royce's quant screen ranks US small caps on value, quality and momentum, then spreads the money across roughly 300 names instead of a concentrated stock-picker's short list.
The fund seeks long-term capital growth.
Why people hold it
- Three screens, not one. The rules-based system scores value, quality and momentum together, so a stock needs more than a low price tag to earn a slot.
- Roughly 300 holdings means no single small-cap blowup steers the whole fund, which matters in a corner of the market where individual names swing hard.
- Subadvised by Royce Investment Partners, a shop built around small caps, wrapped in a repeatable quantitative process rather than gut-feel picking. Trading since July 2017.sec.gov
- Portfolio construction is the strongest leg here, and the fund sits in the upper half of its active US small-cap peer group overall.
Worth knowing
- At 0.60% a year it costs more than the typical fund in its peer group, and well more than systematic rivals like AVUV and AVSC at 0.25%.
- One of the smaller, more thinly traded funds in the category. Light volume tends to mean wider spreads, and small asset bases get reviewed by issuers over time.
- A proprietary screen builds a portfolio that can look very different from a plain small-cap index, so stretches of divergence in either direction come with the design.
SQLV Holdings
- Stocks
- 303
- 8%
- DXC
Sectors
- Financials19.3%
- Health Care18.7%
- Technology14.8%
- Consumer Discretionary13.2%
- Industrials10.3%
- Consumer Staples7.7%
- Communication5.6%
- Energy4.4%
- Materials4.3%
- Real Estate1.6%
- Utilities0.3%
Geography
- United States98.75%
- Cayman Islands0.53%
- Bermuda0.42%
- Brazil0.30%
SQLV Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Not enough history yet.
SQLV$12,916
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 | SQLV |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +21.3% |
| 1 month | −1.8% |
| 3 months | −0.8% |
| 1 year | +29.2% |
| 3 years | +15.1% |
| 5 years | +7.4% |
| 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 | SQLV |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +21.3% | |
| 2025 | +2.5% | |
| 2024 | +4.7% | |
| 2023 | +21.2% | |
| 2022 | −12.8% | |
| 2021 | +37.1% | |
| 2020 | +7.2% |
SQLV in the news
SQLV Dividends
- 1.04%
- $0.54
- $0.15 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
SQLV Risk
- 18.5%
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.
- 0.53
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.
- −26.9%
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.
- 1.00
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
SQLV Cost
0.60%
SQLV0.60%
- The middle half of US Active Small-Cap funds
- Median 0.55%
20 of the 39 US Active Small-Cap funds charge less.
Other funds in US Active Small-Cap
- BSIXSETC 6 Meridian Small Cap Equity ETFExpense ratio 0.31%1 year return +18.7%
- BFSMLFranklin Small Cap Enhanced ETFExpense ratio 0.45%1 year return —
- BSCDSJPMorgan Fundamental Data Science Small Core ETFExpense ratio 0.40%1 year return +27.9%
- BFSEGFidelity Enhanced Small Cap Growth ETFExpense ratio 0.28%1 year return —
- BSEISSEI Exchange Traded Funds - SEI Select Small Cap ETFExpense ratio 0.55%1 year return +17.8%