ILCV vs SMOT

ILCVAiShares Morningstar Value ETF

SMOTCVanEck Morningstar SMID Moat ETF

In short

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.

SMOT Morningstar's moat research, aimed down the cap ladder. SMOT tracks an index of small- and mid-cap companies flagged for durable competitive advantages, and buys them only when they screen as attractively valued.

Stated mandate

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.

SMOT The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Morningstar US Small-Mid Cap Moat Focus Index, an index of small- and mid-cap companies selected for sustainable competitive advantages and attractive valuations.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• SMOT Two screens, not one: companies must show a sustainable competitive advantage AND look attractively valued. Quality and value in a single published rulebook rather than a manager's hunch.vaneck.com
• Takes the moat idea into small- and mid-cap territory, where wide-moat businesses are scarcer and less picked over than in the mega-cap crowd.vaneck.com
• Roughly 120 US stocks: concentrated enough for the moat screen to actually show up in returns, broad enough that no single name dominates the portfolio.
• Fully rules-based against a named, public benchmark (Morningstar US Small-Mid Cap Moat Focus Index), so you can read the methodology instead of guessing at it.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• SMOT The research costs money: 0.49% a year, well above plain factor workhorses like FNDX at 0.25% or VONV at 0.06%. You're paying for the moat screen.
• Thinly traded compared with the giants of the US factor aisle, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads. Distributions arrive once or twice a year, not monthly.
• Launched in 2022, so the live record is short, and in a crowded field of 100-plus US factor funds it lands in the lower half of our overall read.

Full ILCV profile⁠

Full SMOT profile⁠