ACEP vs CGDV

ACEPCARS Core Equity Portfolio ETF

CGDVACapital Group Dividend Value ETF

In short

ACEP A veteran New York boutique's long-running core equity strategy, wrapped in an ETF in late 2025: a human hunt for strong balance sheets, reasonable earnings growth and above-average dividend yields instead of an index screen.

CGDV A stock picker's dividend fund at near-index pricing: 0.33% a year, roughly 60 names, and a mandate for above-average yield plus growth. Live since 2022 and already grown into a multi-billion-dollar fund.

Stated mandate

ACEP The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation while also generating current income.

CGDV The fund seeks income above the average yield of U.S. stocks while also offering capital-growth potential.

Why people hold it

• ACEP Real stock picking, not a screen: the sub-adviser targets US companies it deems high quality, judged on strong balance sheets, reasonable earnings growth and above-average dividend yields.etfarchitect.comsec.gov
• Not a blank slate. The prospectus prints the sub-adviser's separate-account composite for this same core equity strategy, which dates back to October 2011.etfarchitect.com
• 0.46% all in, gross and net identical with no waiver propping it up, and near the typical fee for active dividend-income ETFs. Cheaper peers exist: CGDV at 0.33%, VUS at 0.25%; BGIG sits at 0.45%.
• Among the roughly 40 active dividend-and-income equity ETFs we cover, this one already sits in the upper half of the pack.

• CGDV Costs 0.33% a year while the typical fund in its active dividend peer group charges around 0.55%. Active stock picking, index-fund pricing.
• Dual mandate: income above the average yield of U.S. stocks plus capital-growth potential. Not a pure yield chase.capitalgroup.com
• Tens of billions in assets and heavy daily trading make it one of the easier funds in its peer group to get in and out of at a fair spread.
• Delivers its stated mandate with unusual consistency for an active fund, placing it among the strongest implementations in its dividend-income peer group.

Worth knowing

• ACEP It listed in November 2025, so the live ETF record is short and risk readings rest on limited history.
• Small and thinly traded, so spreads can run wider than on a household-name fund and bigger orders need more care at the screen.
• Current income is in the objective, but cash reaches shareholders on an annual or semiannual schedule, not monthly.

• CGDV About 60 holdings. That concentration means individual company stumbles land harder than in a fund holding hundreds of names.
• Active and benchmark-agnostic: results track the managers' calls, not an index, so it can drift well away from the broad market in either direction.
• Pays quarterly, not monthly. Worth knowing if you're building an income schedule.

Full ACEP profile⁠

Full CGDV profile⁠