ALTL vs MGV

ALTLDPacer Lunt Large Cap Alternator ETF

MGVAVanguard Morningstar Mega Cap Value ETF

In short

ALTL Most factor funds blend their bets. ALTL flips a switch: each month it holds either the S&P 500's 100 lowest-volatility names or its 100 highest-beta ones, never both, based on a relative-strength signal.

MGV Most "value" ETFs slide down into mid caps. MGV stays at the very top of the US market and buys the value half of it for five basis points. Vanguard's plain, cheap way to own the old-guard giants.

Stated mandate

ALTL ALTL seeks to track an index that alternates between low-volatility and high-beta stocks within the S&P 500. The rules-based index rotates monthly using a relative-strength signal.

MGV The ETF seeks to track the Morningstar US Mega Cap Value Index and provides passive, diversified exposure to the largest value stocks in the U.S. market.

Why people hold it

• ALTL The mechanism is refreshingly simple to hold in your head: one relative-strength reading, two possible portfolios, checked monthly. You own S&P 500 large caps either way, just the calm 100 or the jumpy 100.paceretfs.com
• Rules do the deciding, not a manager's gut. The Lunt Capital index is calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices, and the switch fires on schedule regardless of how the headlines feel.paceretfs.com
• The rotation happens inside the fund. You are not the one selling a low-vol basket and buying a high-beta one in your own account every time the signal turns.paceretfs.com
• Both sleeves are drawn from the same 500-stock universe, so the portfolio stays roughly 100 recognizable US large caps rather than wandering into small caps or overseas names.composer.trade

• MGV At 0.05% it is the cheapest fund in its factor peer group, where the median charges 0.28%. It undercuts fellow top-rated peers SIZE (0.15%) and SUSA (0.25%).vanguard.com
• Launched December 2007, straight into the crash, and now a multi-billion-dollar fund. Long history, quarterly distributions, Vanguard plumbing behind it.
• One of the strongest overall showings in its US factor peer group, built on cost and staying power rather than a clever screen.

Worth knowing

• ALTL At 0.60%, the fee sits at the expensive end of US factor ETFs. Plain-vanilla peers in the group price far lower: MGV at 0.05%, SIZE at 0.15%.
• All-or-nothing by design. Hold the wrong sleeve for a month and there is no other sleeve cushioning it. The prospectus flags alternator strategy risk and high portfolio turnover.paceretfs.com
• Shares change hands lightly compared with the category's giants, so bid-ask spreads and order type matter more here than with a mega-liquid index fund.

• MGV About 130 names, all mega caps. The biggest holdings carry real weight, and small and mid caps are absent by design.
• It tracks a Morningstar index of the largest US value stocks, so it leaves out the market's growth giants and can move very differently from a total-market fund.vanguard.com
• Moderately traded rather than a household-name ticker, so limit orders and mid-session trading matter more here than with the very largest index ETFs.

Full ALTL profile⁠

Full MGV profile⁠