CSM vs VYM

CSMCProShares Large Cap Core Plus

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

CSM A survivor of the 2009 130/30 craze. CSM runs 130% long a four-factor screen of big U.S. companies and 30% short, so net exposure lands near the market while the factor tilts get turned up.

VYM The no-frills dividend workhorse. VYM buys the higher-yielding end of the US market, roughly 600 names, for four basis points: no quality screen, no dividend-growth-streak test, just yield, at scale since 2006.

Stated mandate

CSM The Fund seeks pre-expense investment results that track the UBS 130/30 Index. It uses equity securities and derivatives to maintain exposure to a rules-based, multi-factor portfolio of leading large-cap U.S. companies with 130% long and 30% short exposure.

VYM The Fund seeks to track a benchmark index measuring the investment return of common stocks from companies characterized by high dividend yields.

Why people hold it

• CSM The shorting is the whole point: 130% long, 30% short. Net exposure sits near 100% of the market, but the factor bets carry more weight than a long-only screen allows.
• Four factors in one rulebook (value, growth, momentum, profitability) spread across roughly 300 large U.S. companies, so no single style is steering the whole portfolio.proshares.com
• Long-short mechanics inside an ordinary 1940 Act ETF: no lockups, no accreditation, no K-1. It tracks a published benchmark, the UBS 130/30 Index, rather than a manager's hunches.
• Trading since 2009, which is a long run for a long-short strategy. Most of the 130/30 wave that launched alongside it did not last. Distributions come quarterly.

• VYM Four basis points a year, against a peer-group median near 0.32%. Cheaper than cohort neighbors VONV (0.06%) and FNDX (0.25%).
• Running since 2006 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so ordinary orders tend to fill at tight spreads.
• Simple mandate: track the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index of US common stocks screened on yield. No manager discretion, no options overlay, plain 1940-Act fund.vanguard.com
• Pays quarterly, and among 100-plus value and multifactor rivals it stands as one of the strongest overall packages in the group.

Worth knowing

• CSM 0.45% a year is toward the high end for large-cap multifactor. Plain-vanilla peers like VONV (0.06%) and IUSG (0.04%) cost a fraction, though neither shorts anything.
• One of the lighter-traded funds in its category, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the volume leaders in large-cap factor land.
• The short sleeve cuts both ways: it adds borrow and derivative costs, and it drags when the market's lowest-ranked names are the ones running.

• VYM The screen is yield, not payout growth or dividend quality, so a company can qualify simply because its share price fell.
• This is a value slice by design, tilted to established payers, so it behaves differently from a total US market fund.
• Roughly 600 holdings, but weight leans toward the largest payers, so the top of the roster does more of the work than the count suggests.

Full CSM profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠