EAFG vs QLVD

EAFGDPacer Developed Markets Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETF

QLVDANorthern Trust Developed Markets ex-US Quality Low Volatility ETF

In short

EAFG Pacer's Cash Cows playbook sent overseas with a growth tilt: developed-market large and mid caps screened on free cash flow, growth, momentum and profitability. A 2024 arrival in an aisle long ruled by min-vol veterans.

QLVD A defensive route into developed markets outside the US: drop the weakest quality quintile first, then build the low-volatility portfolio with limits on sector and country drift. Fee is 0.12%, net of a waiver through March 1, 2027.

Stated mandate

EAFG The fund seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Pacer Developed Markets Cash Cows Growth Leaders Index. Its strategy targets developed-markets large- and mid-capitalization companies using free cash flow and growth-oriented screening.

QLVD The fund is designed to provide exposure to developed-market companies outside the United States that have lower absolute volatility and financial strength and stability, the characteristics the issuer associates with quality.

Why people hold it

• EAFG Screens developed large and mid caps on free cash flow, then leans growth, momentum and profitability. A cash-generation lens in a corner of the market that mostly sells low volatility.paceretfs.com
• Rules-based and readable: it tracks the Pacer Developed Markets Cash Cows Growth Leaders Index, holds roughly 110 stocks, and pays quarterly inside a plain 1940 Act ETF wrapper.paceretfs.com
• Sits apart from shelf-mates like EFAV, ACWV and QLVD, which tilt toward low volatility and quality. EAFG starts from cash generation and growth instead.

• QLVD Cheapest in its peer group at 0.12% (net of a waiver through March 1, 2027, against a 0.15% gross fee), versus 0.30% for IQLT, 0.29% for IDHQ and 0.27% for DIHP, none of which are running a waiver.
• Quality is the gate, not a tilt: companies are scored on profitability, management efficiency and cash flow, and the bottom quintile is cut before the low-volatility portfolio gets built.flexshares.com
• The index caps how far it can wander from the broad market on sectors, industry groups, countries and regions, and strips out style bets other than volatility. A check on the pileups plain low-vol screens can create.flexshares.com
• Roughly 200 large and mid-cap names across developed markets, rebuilt on a quarterly schedule, and one of the stronger implementations among the international quality funds we grade. Pays quarterly.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• EAFG Charges 0.65% a year, above what the typical developed-markets factor fund costs. The screen carries a higher toll than an index-hugging alternative.
• A small, thinly traded fund. Spreads can run wider and less predictable than in the giant developed-markets index products.
• Launched in 2024, so the track record is short: no full market cycle yet to show how a cash-flow-plus-growth screen behaves overseas.

• QLVD Thinly traded for its category, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than in the category's heavyweights and bigger orders may take more work to fill.
• The 0.12% is net of a waiver dated to March 1, 2027; the gross fee is 0.15%, so cost can step up if that waiver is not renewed.
• Modest asset base by category standards, and the fund holds a representative sample rather than every index name, which can open small gaps against the index.flexshares.com

Full EAFG profile⁠

Full QLVD profile⁠