FDEV vs RODM

FDEVAFidelity International Multifactor ETF

RODMAHartford Multifactor Developed Markets (ex-US) 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.

RODM Most international factor funds pick cheap, quality and momentum stocks and let the country weights land where they may. RODM's index does the factor work inside risk limits built to de-concentrate country, currency and single-company exposure.

Stated mandate

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

RODM Seeks, before fees and expenses, to track the total return of the Hartford Risk-Optimized Multifactor Developed Markets (ex-US) Index, which covers companies in major developed markets outside the United States.

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.

• RODM The index scores developed-market companies on value, momentum and quality, then selects the highest-scoring names within its risk parameters rather than at any price.hartfordfunds.com
• A 0.29% expense ratio sits below the typical international multifactor fund, though INTF (0.16%) and FDEV (0.18%) charge less.
• Live since 2015, a multi-billion-dollar fund holding roughly 300 stocks across Europe, Canada and the Pacific: an established vehicle, not a recent launch.hartfordfunds.com
• One of the stronger implementations in the international multifactor group, with the risk-control machinery its clearest differentiator.

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.

• RODM De-concentration by design: country and company weights can look very different from a cap-weighted developed-markets benchmark, so returns will diverge from it.hartfordfunds.com
• Cash comes back annually or semiannually, not monthly or quarterly.
• Trading volume is moderate rather than heavy, so spreads can widen when the underlying overseas markets are closed.

Full FDEV profile⁠

Full RODM profile⁠