FDEV vs QWLD

FDEVAFidelity International Multifactor ETF

QWLDBState Street SPDR MSCI World StrategicFactors ETF

In short

FDEV Four factors (value, quality, momentum, low volatility) blended into one developed-markets index fund at 0.18% a year. Fidelity's answer to paying up for a single-factor tilt overseas.

QWLD Three factor tilts (value, quality, low volatility) blended into one developed-world index instead of three separate bets. Live since 2014, priced below the typical multifactor peer, and it spans all 23 developed markets rather than an ex-US slice.

Stated mandate

FDEV The fund seeks returns generally corresponding to the Fidelity International Multifactor Index before fees and expenses.

QWLD The fund seeks to track the total return of the MSCI World Factor Mix A-Series Index before fees and expenses. The index combines value, low-volatility, and quality exposures across large- and mid-cap stocks in 23 developed countries.

Why people hold it

• FDEV 0.18% a year, less than half the typical fee in its international multifactor group, and within a rounding error of the cheapest name there (INTF at 0.16%).
• One index does the work of four screens: value, quality, momentum and low volatility applied together, instead of you stacking separate single-factor funds.
• Roughly 220 developed-market stocks outside the US, picked by published index rules rather than a manager's hunches, with cash paid out quarterly.
• Sits in the top quartile of a 29-fund international factor cohort, which is a crowded field full of far pricier attempts at the same job.

• QWLD Costs 0.30% a year against a 0.38% median for its multifactor peer group. Cheap for a strategy that runs three screens at once.
• The index blends value, quality and low volatility in one wrapper, so no single factor's cold spell drives the whole result. MSCI does the rebalancing; you hold one ticker.ssga.com
• Well over a thousand large- and mid-cap names across 23 developed countries. Most rivals here carve out the US; this one keeps the whole developed world in the basket.
• A decade-plus of live history under State Street, with tracking that has stayed tight to the index it advertises. It sits in the upper half of its multifactor cohort.

Worth knowing

• FDEV Thinly traded. Spreads can quietly cost more than the fee, so limit orders matter more here than with the category's household names.
• A 2019 launch still in the mid-size asset range, so there is no decades-long record to lean on the way older international index funds offer.
• Blending four factors means none of them drives the bus. When value or momentum alone runs hot, this owns only a slice of that move.

• QWLD Thinly traded with a modest asset base, so spreads can run wider than the household-name international funds. Order type and size matter more here.
• Distributions land once or twice a year, not quarterly. Income-focused holders get a lumpier cadence.
• Cheaper multifactor options exist: INTF charges 0.16% and FDEV 0.18%, though both fish in ex-US waters rather than the full developed world.

Full FDEV profile⁠

Full QWLD profile⁠