GARP vs MGV

GARPBiShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF

MGVAVanguard Morningstar Mega Cap Value ETF

In short

GARP Growth at a reasonable price is usually a stock-picker's discipline. GARP hard-codes it: US large and mid caps screened for growth, then filtered for value and quality, roughly 130 names, at a fee under the factor-fund norm.

MGV Most "value" ETFs slide down into mid caps. MGV stays at the very top of the US market and buys the value half of it for five basis points. Vanguard's plain, cheap way to own the old-guard giants.

Stated mandate

GARP The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. growth stocks that exhibit favorable value and quality characteristics.

MGV The ETF seeks to track the Morningstar US Mega Cap Value Index and provides passive, diversified exposure to the largest value stocks in the U.S. market.

Why people hold it

• GARP Fee of 0.15% runs at roughly half the 0.28% median for its US factor peer group, and undercuts iShares' own SUSA at 0.25%.
• Three screens, one ticker: MSCI ranks US large and mid cap growth stocks, then keeps the ones with favorable value and quality marks.ishares.com
• Rules first: holdings come from the MSCI USA Quality GARP Select Index, a disclosed rulebook rather than a manager's call on what counts as reasonably priced.ishares.com
• A multi-billion-dollar iShares fund that pays quarterly, and one of the better-standing options in its US factor cohort.

• MGV At 0.05% it is the cheapest fund in its factor peer group, where the median charges 0.28%. It undercuts fellow top-rated peers SIZE (0.15%) and SUSA (0.25%).vanguard.com
• Launched December 2007, straight into the crash, and now a multi-billion-dollar fund. Long history, quarterly distributions, Vanguard plumbing behind it.
• One of the strongest overall showings in its US factor peer group, built on cost and staying power rather than a clever screen.

Worth knowing

• GARP Roughly 130 names drawn from a growth universe: a concentrated slice of the US market, not a broad-market core.
• Value and quality act as filters on a growth list, not the starting point, so it sits nearer growth funds than a deep value sleeve.
• Launched in 2020 and moderately traded rather than a volume giant, so spreads are worth checking, especially on larger orders.

• MGV About 130 names, all mega caps. The biggest holdings carry real weight, and small and mid caps are absent by design.
• It tracks a Morningstar index of the largest US value stocks, so it leaves out the market's growth giants and can move very differently from a total-market fund.vanguard.com
• Moderately traded rather than a household-name ticker, so limit orders and mid-session trading matter more here than with the very largest index ETFs.

Full GARP profile⁠

Full MGV profile⁠