CFA vs SMLV

CFACVictoryShares US 500 Volatility Wtd ETF

SMLVBState Street SPDR US Small Cap Low Volatility Index ETF

In short

CFA CFA puts its low-volatility tilt in the weighting rather than a screen: roughly 500 US large caps, each sized by its own volatility instead of its market value. A 2014-vintage take on the factor.

SMLV Low volatility is usually a large-cap game. SMLV runs the same calm-stocks screen down where the swings actually live: US small caps, roughly 400 of them, for 0.12% a year.

Stated mandate

CFA The fund aims to track the performance of the CEMP US Large Cap 500 Volatility Weighted Index before accounting for fees and expenses.

SMLV The fund's advertised mandate is exposure to U.S. small-capitalization companies selected for low volatility.

Why people hold it

• CFA Sizes positions by volatility instead of market value, so the market's largest companies don't automatically become the fund's largest holdings.
• Holds about 500 large caps rather than narrowing to a short list, so the calm-down effect comes from position sizing, not from what gets cut out.
• Tracks its stated index closely, and the portfolio matches what the name advertises: broad US large-cap, volatility-weighted.
• Running since 2014, with a monthly distribution cadence rather than the quarterly rhythm of most equity funds.

• SMLV Costs 0.12% a year, under the 0.20% median for its low-volatility peer group.
• The low-vol shelf is stacked with large-cap mandates (USMV, LGLV, ONEV). This one applies the screen to US small caps instead.ssga.com
• Roughly 400 holdings, so no single small cap steers the fund. It has tracked its index through live markets since 2013.
• Sits in the upper half of its low-volatility cohort on our overall read.

Worth knowing

• CFA At 0.39% a year it costs roughly double the typical US low-volatility fund. Rivals like LGLV and QLV charge a fraction of that for the same broad idea.
• Thinly traded next to the giants of the category, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads at the moment you transact.
• Volatility weighting reshuffles risk, it doesn't remove it. The fund stays fully invested in large-cap stocks and moves with them in a selloff.

• SMLV Thinly traded next to the giants of the category, so the spread you pay at the point of trade matters more here.
• Low volatility is relative, not absolute. This is still small-cap equity, and it rides rougher than the large-cap min-vol funds it shares a shelf with.
• Distributions land quarterly, not monthly.

Full CFA profile⁠

Full SMLV profile⁠