CSMD vs DFSV

CSMDCCongress SMID Growth ETF

DFSVAU.S. Small Cap Value Portfolio ETF Class Shares

In short

CSMD A stock picker in a corner of the market dominated by rules-based funds. Congress hunts growth across the small-and-mid-cap band instead of one style box, and charges above the category median for a human team's judgment.

DFSV Small-cap value, spread wide: roughly a thousand of the market's cheaper small companies, measured against the Russell 2000 Value Index. A deeper bench than most rivals carry, at a higher price than the plain index funds beside it.

Stated mandate

CSMD The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

DFSV The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• CSMD Simple mandate, wide net: long-term capital appreciation, with a SMID remit that lets the managers own smaller and mid-sized names instead of being boxed into one size band.
• Trading is the smoothest part of the package. It changes hands often enough that ordinary retail-sized orders aren't wrestling a thin market.
• Not a just-launched experiment: live since 2023, with real assets behind it rather than a rounding error, run by Congress Asset Management.

• DFSV Roughly 1,000 holdings spread the small-value bet across the whole opportunity set instead of a handful of names.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting a position on or off is rarely the hard part.
• Portfolio construction is the strong suit here: broad, diversified small-cap value exposure, with distributions paid quarterly.
• The mandate is plainly stated: long-term capital appreciation from US stocks, no side quests.

Worth knowing

• CSMD Cost is the trade-off. At 0.68% a year it sits above the typical fund in its category, while systematic rivals like AVUV run 0.25% and DUHP 0.20%.
• No index rulebook to check it against. This is a discretionary portfolio in a slice of the market that swings harder than large caps.
• Built for growth, not a paycheck: the stated goal is capital appreciation, and the fund has not been running a regular distribution.

• DFSV At 0.30% a year it costs more than the typical US value ETF (median 0.18%), and VTWV runs against the same Russell 2000 Value benchmark for 0.06%.
• Small-cap value is a bumpier corner than the large-cap value funds anchoring this group (VTV, SCHV), and the ride shows it.
• Launched in 2022, so its live record is short next to the value funds it sits beside.

Full CSMD profile⁠

Full DFSV profile⁠