BBLU vs MGC

BBLUBEA Bridgeway Blue Chip ETF

MGCAVanguard Morningstar Mega Cap ETF

In short

BBLU Active stock picking at index-fund prices: Bridgeway's blue chip mandate in an ETF wrapper for 0.15% a year, a fraction of what the typical active US equity fund charges.

MGC Mega cap without the guesswork. MGC owns roughly 190 of the largest US companies for 0.05% a year, a fraction of what most rivals in its aisle charge, and has run that way since 2007.

Stated mandate

BBLU The Fund seeks long-term total return, primarily through capital appreciation and secondarily through income.

MGC The fund seeks to track the CRSP US Mega Cap Index and provide diversified exposure to the largest U.S. stocks through passive full replication.

Why people hold it

• BBLU 0.15% a year against a 0.65% median for active US equity funds. Most stock pickers in this group charge roughly four times as much.
• Priced level with the cheapest active large-cap peers (AVLC, also 0.15%) and well under factor-rotation rivals like DYNF at 0.26%.
• One stated job, plainly written: long-term total return, mostly capital appreciation with income second, in US stocks, inside a standard 1940 Act fund.
• Stands among the stronger active US equity funds in its peer group, with the fee doing much of the heavy lifting.

• MGC 0.05% a year, against 0.20% at the two iShares mega-cap options (OEF, TOPT) and 0.47% at SIXA. Same neighborhood of stocks, much smaller toll.
• Roughly 190 names versus 100 in OEF and 20 in TOPT: the widest net in the mega-cap group, without wandering into mid or small caps.
• No engineering to decode. It buys the CRSP US Mega Cap Index outright, full replication, and has tracked that index about as tightly as an index fund can.
• Trading since 2007 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, it sits among the strongest implementations in its mega-cap peer group.

Worth knowing

• BBLU Moderately traded rather than a tape-topper, so spreads can run wider than on the giant core index funds.
• Cheap, not the floor. Broad core peers such as DFAU come in at 0.12%.
• Cash goes out annually or semiannually, not monthly, and income ranks second to appreciation in the mandate.

• MGC Giants only, by design. No mid or small caps, so the mix leans wherever the biggest US companies happen to cluster.
• Moderately traded rather than one of the tape's busiest tickers, so spreads can run a touch wider than the largest broad-market funds.
• Distributions land quarterly, not monthly.

Full BBLU profile⁠

Full MGC profile⁠