CGCV vs HUSV

CGCVACapital Group Conservative Equity ETF

HUSVCFirst Trust Horizon Managed Volatility Domestic ETF

In short

CGCV Capital Group's stock pickers took on a three-part job in one equity fund: current income, capital growth, and preservation of principal. Roughly 100 US names, actively chosen, priced under most defensive-equity rivals.

HUSV Most low-vol funds rank stocks on the calm they already showed. HUSV pays Horizon Investments to forecast it instead, then weights hardest toward the names its models expect to move least.

Stated mandate

CGCV The fund seeks to balance current income, capital growth, and preservation of principal.

HUSV The Fund seeks capital appreciation by investing at least 80% of net assets in domestic common stocks that the sub-advisor expects to have relatively low volatility.

Why people hold it

• CGCV Charges 0.33% a year against a 0.47% median for its defensive US equity group, which is unusual for an actively run fund rather than an index tracker.
• The mandate is spelled out in the prospectus, not implied by a label: balance current income, capital growth, and preservation of principal.
• About 100 US stocks, picked by managers rather than pulled from an index, with cash paid out quarterly.
• Already a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades smoothly for its age, and one of the stronger builds in a small low-volatility peer group.

• HUSV The engine looks forward, not back: Horizon's models rank US-listed stocks by expected future volatility, and the calmest forecasts get the biggest weights.sec.gov
• Quantitative at the core, human at the edges. The sub-advisor can flex the number of holdings, the weightings and how aggressive the low-vol tilt runs as markets shift.sec.gov
• A compact book of roughly 80 domestic stocks, with a mandate to keep at least 80% of net assets in US common shares. Easy to see what you actually own.
• Trading since 2016, so the approach has been through real drawdowns rather than a backtest. Pays quarterly.

Worth knowing

• CGCV Preservation of principal is a stated goal, not a floor. This is a stock fund, and it can fall when the market does.
• It launched in 2024, so there is only a short stretch of live data behind any read on how it handles rough markets.
• Cheaper defensive shelf-mates exist: SELV runs at 0.15% and TOAK at 0.25%, though both take different routes to lower volatility.

• HUSV 0.70% a year, above the median for US low-vol funds, and the index-based rivals in the aisle (SELV, CGCV) charge well under that. Active forecasting is what the premium buys.
• Thinly traded, so spreads and order timing matter more here than in the aisle's household names.
• Low forecast volatility is an expectation, not a floor. This is a fully invested stock portfolio and it can fall with the market.sec.gov

Full CGCV profile⁠

Full HUSV profile⁠