BUSA vs SEIV

BUSACBrandes U.S. Value ETF

SEIVASEI QiM U.S. Large Cap Value Active ETF

In short

BUSA Brandes has run Benjamin Graham-style value money since 1974. BUSA is that half-century discipline in an ETF wrapper: about 60 US large caps, actively picked, measured against the Russell 1000 Value.

SEIV Active quant value stock-picking at an index-fund price. SEIV screens U.S. large caps for cheap valuations plus quality, momentum and low volatility, then runs a concentrated book of roughly 80 names for 0.15% a year.

Stated mandate

BUSA The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through an actively managed portfolio invested primarily in U.S. company equity securities. It generally targets companies with market capitalizations above $5 billion.

SEIV The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through primarily U.S. common stocks priced below fundamental valuation measures, using a quantitative, active stock-selection approach.

Why people hold it

• BUSA Brandes was founded in 1974 by a student of Benjamin Graham and has run value portfolios ever since. BUSA, launched in 2023, is that house discipline in an ETF.brandes.combrandes.com 2
• About 60 US names, chosen against the Russell 1000 Value. The mandate generally targets companies above $5 billion in market cap, so this is large-cap territory.
• The portfolio is the strongest part of the package: a focused, genuinely active book rather than an index clone with an active fee stapled on. Distributions run quarterly.

• SEIV 0.15% a year for genuine active selection, against a 0.55% median in its U.S. value peer group. It matches the cheapest large-value quant funds rather than charging active prices.
• Value is not the only screen. The model also weighs quality, momentum and low volatility, which is how a cheap-stock strategy tries to avoid the cheap-for-a-reason trap.
• Other funds measured against the S&P 500 in this cohort charge far more (LSVD 0.40%, GSPY 0.50%, VNSE 1.34%). SEIV runs its version at 0.15%.
• Sits among the strongest implementations in a crowded U.S. value field, and trades with enough regular activity to be workable for ordinary retail order sizes.

Worth knowing

• BUSA At 0.60% it sits above the typical fee in its value cohort, and systematic rivals like AVLV (0.15%) and WTV (0.12%) charge a fraction of that. Stock picking costs.
• Thinly traded next to the giants of US value, so spreads can run wider and order size matters more than it would in a household-name fund.
• Roughly 60 holdings means individual names carry real weight, and a value book can look nothing like the broad market for long stretches, in either direction.

• SEIV About 80 stocks measured against a 500-name benchmark. That concentration means stretches where it looks nothing like the S&P 500, in either direction.
• Launched in 2022, so the live record is short, and the asset base is mid-sized rather than among the giants of the value aisle.
• You get the factor recipe, not the trade-by-trade logic: selection sits inside a quantitative model. Distributions land quarterly, not monthly.

Full BUSA profile⁠

Full SEIV profile⁠