CFO vs SMLV

CFOCVictoryShares US 500 Enhanced Volatility Wtd ETF

SMLVBState Street SPDR US Small Cap Low Volatility Index ETF

In short

CFO Most low-vol ETFs tilt toward calm stocks and stay invested. CFO does that, then adds a rules-based escape hatch: after a big enough drop from the high, the index shifts most of the portfolio to cash, then steps back in by formula.

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

CFO The Fund seeks to track the performance of the CEMP US Large Cap 500 Long/Cash Volatility Weighted Index before 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

• CFO The exit is mechanical, not a judgment call: if the reference index ends a month 10% or more below its all-time high, the index moves 75% of the stock sleeve into cash equivalents.sec.gov
• Re-entry is contrarian by design: it buys stocks back as the decline deepens (another 25% at 30% below the high, the rest at 40%) or once the index recovers to within 10% of it.sec.govvcm.com
• Weighting runs on volatility, not size: roughly 500 large caps that earned money over the past year, with the steadiest names carrying the heaviest weights.vcm.com
• Trading since 2014, so the cash switch has been tested by live drawdowns, not just a backtest. Distributions land monthly, unusual for an equity index fund.

• 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

• CFO 0.39% a year is about double the typical low-volatility peer, where LGLV charges 0.12% and QLV 0.09%. The cash machinery is what the extra buys.
• Triggers read month-end values only. A sharp slide and rebound inside a single month passes with no shift, and the exit fires after a decline is already on the board.sec.gov
• It trades lighter than the household names in the low-vol aisle, so bid-ask spreads can run wider, particularly right at the open and close.

• 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 CFO profile⁠

Full SMLV profile⁠