MAVF vs WTV

MAVFFMatrix Advisors Value ETF

WTVAWisdomTree U.S. Value Fund

In short

MAVF A 1996-vintage value strategy wearing an ETF ticker. Matrix picks US stocks by its own definition of cheap, aiming at appreciation and income both. Old-school active work in an aisle now ruled by rules-based screens.

WTV Most value funds shop for low price tags. WTV shops for cash coming back to shareholders: dividends plus net buybacks, filtered for quality and profitability. Actively run, priced like an index fund at 0.12%.

Stated mandate

MAVF The Fund seeks total return through capital appreciation and current income.

WTV The fund seeks income and capital appreciation through primarily U.S. equities selected for high total shareholder yield and favorable relative quality characteristics.

Why people hold it

• MAVF Actual stock picking. The portfolio is built on Matrix's own definition of value, not an off-the-shelf index screen, and the fund says so in its prospectus.
• The strategy dates to 1996, meaning it has run through the dot-com bust, 2008 and everything since. Track records that long are scarce in the value-ETF aisle.
• Two jobs, stated plainly: capital appreciation and current income. Shareholders get distributions on a set annual or semiannual rhythm.
• Simple plumbing. A standard 1940 Act US equity fund with no leverage or exotic wrapper mechanics to decode before you own it.

• WTV Charges 0.12% a year, under a quarter of the 0.55% typical for active US value funds, and less than every same-benchmark rival in its group (JAVA 0.44%, CGVV 0.33%, TEQI 0.54%).
• "Value" here means cash returned: dividend yield plus net buyback yield, with quality and profitability screens, rather than a plain low price-to-book sort.wisdomtree.com
• About 160 US stocks, a multi-billion-dollar asset base, and a live track record dating to 2007. Distributions land quarterly.

Worth knowing

• MAVF The 0.75% expense ratio sits above the typical US value fund's 0.55%, and well above index-built peers like AVLV (0.15%) and WTV (0.12%). Active judgment is the thing you're paying for.
• Small and thinly traded. Spreads can run wider than at the aisle's giants, and sizable orders can push the price around.
• In a crowded field of 50-plus US value funds, our review lands it near the back, mostly on cost and trading friction rather than how it follows its mandate.

• WTV Full equity with no downside cushion, and a value tilt that can lean into a handful of sectors. Risk is the least polished part of the profile.
• Rules-based active, not an index tracker, so results can diverge from the Russell 1000 Value in either direction.
• Buybacks supply much of the shareholder yield, and companies can scale repurchases back more easily than they cut dividends.wisdomtree.com

Full MAVF profile⁠

Full WTV profile⁠