GMOI vs IDLV

GMOICGMO International Value ETF

IDLVBInvesco S&P International Developed Low Volatility ETF

In short

GMOI GMO made its name running valuation-driven money for institutions. GMOI is that machinery in an ETF wrapper: an active portfolio of the international stocks GMO's own models read as deepest value, not the ones an index labels that way.

IDLV Screens developed markets for calm instead of size: roughly 200 international large and mid caps chosen by an S&P low volatility index, run on the same rulebook since 2012.

Stated mandate

GMOI The Fund seeks total return.

IDLV The Fund seeks exposure to large- and mid-cap stocks from international developed markets through the S&P BMI International Developed Low Volatility Index. It invests at least 90% of total assets in securities comprising that Index.

Why people hold it

• GMOI Actively managed, not index-following. GMO's Systematic Equity team selects the international names its proprietary valuation models identify as most undervalued.gmo.comsec.gov
• The valuation work covers tangible and intangible assets, so cheapness comes from GMO's own return forecasts rather than reported book value alone.sec.gov
• The mandate reaches both developed and emerging markets, a wider net than the developed-only factor funds it sits beside, such as IDMO and QLVD.
• Pays quarterly, and the stated goal is total return, so income arrives as a byproduct of the holdings rather than something the strategy chases.

• IDLV The low-vol screen is a rule, not a mood. The fund keeps at least 90% of assets in the S&P BMI International Developed Low Volatility Index it advertises.invesco.com
• Holdings line up with the stated mandate: about 200 developed-market large and mid caps, no drift into off-label names.
• Live since 2012, so this is a long-running version of the low-volatility idea abroad, not a freshly launched factor experiment. Distributions come quarterly.

Worth knowing

• GMOI 0.60% a year runs above the typical international factor ETF and well above index peers like QLVD (0.15%) and EFAV (0.20%). Active stock picking is what the extra buys.
• Deep value is a narrow slice by design. The portfolio can look nothing like a broad international index and travel a very different path from one.gmo.com
• The ETF launched in October 2024. GMO has run value strategies far longer, but this fund's own record is still short.

• IDLV At 0.25% it runs above the cohort median of 0.18%, and well above plain cap-weighted developed peers like VEA and SPDW at 0.03%. The volatility screen is what the extra buys.
• Thinly traded for its category, so limit orders and mid-session trading matter more here than with the giants of developed-markets indexing.
• A volatility screen reshuffles the map: country and sector weights can sit far from a standard developed-markets index, and the fund can lag when riskier stocks lead.

Full GMOI profile⁠

Full IDLV profile⁠