ISMD vs SNPE

ISMDCInspire Small/Mid Cap ETF

SNPEAXtrackers S&P 500 Scored & Screened ETF

In short

ISMD A values screen most investors meet in large-cap form, aimed instead at US small and mid caps. Running since 2017, it tracks an index built on Inspire's own Impact Score, so the screening is rules-based rather than a manager's judgment call.

SNPE The S&P 500 with roughly 200 names screened out, for 0.10% a year. SNPE keeps the plumbing of a plain core index fund and lets S&P's rules, not a stock picker, decide who stays in the basket.

Stated mandate

ISMD The Fund seeks to replicate, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Inspire Small/Mid Cap Impact Index.

SNPE The fund seeks investment results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of its underlying index.

Why people hold it

• ISMD The values filter is codified. It tracks the Inspire Small/Mid Cap Impact Index, screened by the Inspire Impact Score, so exclusions follow published rules instead of a manager's discretion.
• Screening doesn't hollow out the portfolio. Holdings construction and diversification are the fund's strongest measured trait, well ahead of where its overall standing sits.
• No mandate drift. It stays what the prospectus says it is: a US equity fund in the small and mid cap range, tracking its stated index rather than wandering into large caps.
• Live since 2017 and now in the $250M to $1B range, with quarterly distributions. That's past the fragile startup stage for a niche screened strategy.

• SNPE A 0.10% expense ratio puts it in the cheap seats of the screened-index crowd, alongside XVV (0.08%) and ESGV (0.09%) and well under the group's typical fee.
• Plain index plumbing: it aims to match the S&P 500 Scored & Screened Index before fees, and it has hugged that mandate closely.
• Roughly 300 stocks, so the screen actually bites. Around 200 S&P 500 members are cut outright rather than quietly trimmed.
• A multi-billion-dollar Xtrackers fund running since 2019 with steady daily volume and quarterly payouts. Not a thin, untested launch.

Worth knowing

• ISMD The screen carries a price. At 0.53%, it costs meaningfully more than the plain broad-market trackers in its peer group, such as ILCB and GUSA.
• It's thinly traded, so bid-ask spreads can be wider than on the giant index funds it sits beside.
• Small and mid caps swing harder than large caps, and the screen narrows the pool further. Expect a bumpier ride than a total-market fund.

• SNPE Cutting ~200 names concentrates what's left. The megacap leaders of the parent index end up carrying even more weight here.
• The screens are S&P's, not yours. They are rules-based and reapplied at each rebalance, so the roster can shift without warning.
• Not the outright cheapest option in the group: XVV and ESGV shave a basis point or two off the fee.

Full ISMD profile⁠

Full SNPE profile⁠