HQGO vs ILCV

HQGOCHartford US Quality Growth ETF

ILCVAiShares Morningstar Value ETF

In short

HQGO Hartford's growth sleeve with a seatbelt: an in-house index that leans on growth and quality while keeping a foot in value and momentum, packed into roughly 100 US stocks. Young, small, and priced above plain index growth.

ILCV Value done the thorough way: roughly 400 large- and mid-cap US stocks screened on five separate value measures, not just cheap book value. Running since 2004 at four basis points, it's one of the cheapest tickets into the value factor.

Stated mandate

HQGO The Fund seeks to provide total returns corresponding to the Hartford US Quality Growth Index, which invests in U.S. equities emphasizing growth and quality while retaining exposure to value and momentum.

ILCV The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. large- and mid-cap stocks selected with value-oriented measures including forward earnings, book value, sales, cash flow, and dividend yield.

Why people hold it

• HQGO Four factors, one ticker. The index emphasizes growth and quality but retains value and momentum exposure, so it is not a pure chase-the-winners growth build.
• The portfolio has stayed tightly aligned with the Hartford US Quality Growth Index it advertises, one of the closer index-to-holdings matches in its multifactor group.
• Concentrated on purpose: roughly 100 names rather than a sprawling growth basket, so individual positions carry real weight.
• A conventional 1940 Act fund tracking a named, published index, with quarterly distributions. No derivatives wrapper, no outcome period to track.

• ILCV Charges 0.04% a year against a 0.32% median for its factor peer group. Undercuts well-regarded rivals like VONV (0.06%) and FNDX (0.25%).
• Value gets defined five ways: forward earnings, book value, sales, cash flow and dividend yield. Wider lens than a single price-to-book screen.ishares.com
• Spreads the bet across about 400 large- and mid-cap names and distributes quarterly.
• Trading since 2004 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, it ranks among the strongest implementations in its factor cohort.

Worth knowing

• HQGO 0.34% a year is the price of the factor blend. Plain US growth beta in the same cohort runs far cheaper, with IUSG at 0.04%.
• Small asset base and light trading volume, so spreads tend to be wider than at the cohort's giants.
• Launched December 2023, so the record is short and does not cover a full market cycle.

• ILCV One of the quieter tickers in its category. Thin volume means spreads matter more here than on a mega-cap index fund, and limit orders are the usual tool.
• Value-only by design. It skips the market's priciest growth leaders, so it moves differently from a total-market fund in both directions.ishares.com
• Large and mid caps only. Small-cap value sits outside the mandate.

Full HQGO profile⁠

Full ILCV profile⁠