BSMC vs FEMV

BSMCCBrandes U.S. Small-Mid Cap Value ETF

FEMVAFidelity Enhanced Mid Cap Value ETF

In short

BSMC Brandes has run Graham-and-Dodd value investing since 1974, and BSMC puts that process in an ETF: roughly 70 out-of-favor U.S. small and mid caps, picked one business at a time, for 0.71%.

FEMV Active mid-cap value, priced like an index fund. FEMV hunts capital appreciation in the Russell Midcap Value corner of the US market for 0.23% a year, a fraction of the typical active US equity ETF fee.

Stated mandate

BSMC BSMC seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing predominantly in U.S. equity securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies that the investment team considers undervalued relative to their financial strength and upside potential.

FEMV The fund seeks capital appreciation and targets the U.S. mid-cap value segment of the equity market.

Why people hold it

• BSMC A 1974-vintage value house in ETF form. Brandes built its name on Benjamin Graham's bottom-up discipline, and the same intrinsic-value process selects the names here.brandes.com
• Concentrated on purpose: roughly 70 stocks judged on financial strength and upside versus price, not a thousand-name screen rebalanced on a calendar.
• A mandate you can hold them to: at least 80% of net assets in U.S. companies sized within the Russell 2500 range. Income is paid out quarterly.sec.gov

• FEMV 0.23% a year, well under the going rate for active US equity ETFs. At that price, cost stops being the argument against going active.
• The mandate is stated plainly: US mid-cap value, measured against the Russell Midcap Value index, aiming at capital appreciation. Little guesswork about what you own.fidelity.com
• The portfolio mix and risk profile screen well against other active US stock ETFs, with no leverage, derivatives quirks or unusual wrapper features flagged in the structure.
• Part of Fidelity's Enhanced lineup, whose large-cap sibling FELC (0.18%) ranks among the strongest active US equity funds in the peer group.

Worth knowing

• BSMC At 0.71% (no fee waiver) it prices above the category median, and AVMC at 0.18% or FEMV at 0.23% deliver mid-cap exposure for a fraction of that.
• Thinly traded with a modest asset base, so the spread you pay matters more here than with the category's heavyweights.
• Launched in 2023, so the live record is short next to the category's strongest-rated, longer-tenured options.

• FEMV Launched in 2026, so there is no long record to lean on and the risk read rests on a short history.
• A small asset base and thin trading volume are the trade-off for being early. Spreads can run wider than at a mega-fund, especially in fast markets.
• Distributions land once or twice a year, not monthly. This is a growth-of-capital mandate, not an income schedule.

Full BSMC profile⁠

Full FEMV profile⁠