FDLS vs VONV

FDLSDInspire Fidelis Multi Factor ETF

VONVAVanguard Russell 1000 Value ETF

In short

FDLS A multi-cap, multi-factor index fund from a boutique shop, priced at 0.66% a year. Launched in 2022, it fishes across the whole size ladder rather than parking in mega-caps like most factor funds do.

VONV The plain-vanilla value trade, done cheap: about 900 large US value stocks, full replication of the Russell 1000 Value Index, 0.06% a year. No factor cocktail, no premium price tag, and one of the strongest implementations in its factor peer group.

Stated mandate

FDLS The Fund seeks its investment objective through a policy requiring, under normal market conditions, that at least 80% of net assets be invested directly or indirectly in specified investments.

VONV The fund seeks to track the Russell 1000 Value Index, representing large-capitalization value stocks in the United States. It uses passive indexing and full replication to remain closely aligned with that benchmark.

Why people hold it

• FDLS Charges 0.66% a year, meaningfully below the median for the funds it's graded against. Modest pricing for a rules-based factor blend from a small issuer.
• Rules first. It tracks the WI Fidelis Multi-Cap, Multi-Factor Index, so what lands in the portfolio comes from a published rulebook rather than a manager's hunch.
• Multi-cap by design: small and mid caps sit beside large caps, a wider net than the large-cap-only factor funds that dominate the shelf.
• Despite the small nameplate, it grades out in the upper tier of its peer group, with the portfolio itself among the sturdier pieces of the picture.

• VONV 0.06% a year, a fraction of the typical fee among factor ETFs. On a rules-based value index there is little room for cleverness, so cost does most of the work.vanguard.com
• Full replication, not sampling: it owns the index's roughly 900 names and has stayed tightly aligned with the Russell 1000 Value benchmark since launching in 2010.
• Same Russell benchmark as pricier rivals for less: the Goldman MarketBeta version (GVUS) charges 0.12% to track the identical value index.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, among the easiest in its group to get in and out of, and it distributes quarterly.

Worth knowing

• FDLS Thinly traded. Spreads can widen, and the price on a market order can sit further from the fund's underlying value than it would on a heavily traded ETF.
• Assets are in the small-fund range. Smaller funds run with less cushion and carry more closure or merger risk than the giants.
• It gets graded next to options-income strategies, but the mandate here is plain equity factor exposure: no options premium, no capped upside. Payouts come quarterly.

• VONV One screen, one style. Value only, with no quality or momentum overlay, so the ride follows the value side of the market wherever it goes.vanguard.com
• This is the entire value bucket, not a best-ideas portfolio. About 900 holdings means results hug the large-cap value category rather than stray from it.
• Cheaper exists nearby: Vanguard's VYM charges 0.04%, but it screens for dividend yield, a different portfolio than a Russell value index.

Full FDLS profile⁠

Full VONV profile⁠