BKSE vs VB

BKSEABNY Mellon US Small Cap Core Equity ETF

VBAVanguard Morningstar Small-Cap ETF

In short

BKSE Small-cap indexing stripped to 0.04% a year, a fraction of what the typical fund in the category charges. About 600 US small caps, Morningstar's index, and a lot less name recognition than the household tickers.

VB Vanguard's small-cap workhorse: roughly 1,400 smaller US companies for three basis points. The CRSP index behind it shifts stocks between size bands in two half steps instead of one jump, which holds turnover down. Trading since 2004.

Stated mandate

BKSE The fund seeks to mirror the performance of the Morningstar US Small Cap Index. It normally invests nearly all assets in the index’s equity securities.

VB The fund seeks to track the CRSP US Small Cap Index, which measures the investment performance of small U.S. companies. It uses an indexing approach and generally replicates the index by holding its securities in approximately their index weights.

Why people hold it

• BKSE A 0.04% expense ratio sits in the cheapest tier of US small-cap index funds, well under iShares' IWM at 0.19% and a hair off Vanguard's VB and Schwab's SCHA at 0.03%.
• Roughly 600 holdings across the Morningstar US Small Cap Index, so no single name drives the fund.
• Straight index mandate: nearly all assets go into the index's own stocks, and it has been one of the tightest-tracking implementations in its peer group.
• Pays distributions quarterly, on the standard schedule for a broad equity index fund.

• VB Three basis points a year, against a small-cap category median near 0.25%. Cost is the one edge in indexing you actually keep.
• About 1,400 stocks held at roughly their index weights, so no single small-cap story carries the fund.vanguard.com
• Its CRSP benchmark migrates a stock between size segments in two 50% packets instead of one move, a design built to cut turnover.crsp.com
• Running since 2004, actively traded, and one of the strongest implementations in its 20-fund small-cap peer group.

Worth knowing

• BKSE Thinly traded and smaller than the category's household names, so bid-ask spreads can be wider and sizeable orders take more care at the screen.
• Launched in 2020, a shorter live record than small-cap funds that have run through several full market cycles.
• Small-cap stocks swing harder than large caps, and this fund holds the index as it comes with no defensive tilt.

• VB Small companies move harder in both directions than large-cap benchmarks, and this is full, unhedged exposure to that.
• Benchmarks disagree on where small cap starts. VB follows CRSP, while IWM and VTWO track the Russell 2000, so holdings and results can drift apart.
• US companies only, and distributions land quarterly rather than monthly.

Full BKSE profile⁠

Full VB profile⁠