MGV vs SPMO

MGVAVanguard Morningstar Mega Cap Value ETF

SPMOBInvesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF

In short

MGV Most "value" ETFs slide down into mid caps. MGV stays at the very top of the US market and buys the value half of it for five basis points. Vanguard's plain, cheap way to own the old-guard giants.

SPMO Momentum without leaving the S&P 500. SPMO ranks the index's members on momentum and keeps roughly the top 100, charging 0.13% for a rules-based bet on whatever has already been working.

Stated mandate

MGV The ETF seeks to track the Morningstar US Mega Cap Value Index and provides passive, diversified exposure to the largest value stocks in the U.S. market.

SPMO The fund tracks the S&P 500 Momentum Index before fees and expenses. It generally invests at least 90% of assets in index securities, which are selected from the S&P 500 based on high momentum scores.

Why people hold it

• MGV At 0.05% it is the cheapest fund in its factor peer group, where the median charges 0.28%. It undercuts fellow top-rated peers SIZE (0.15%) and SUSA (0.25%).vanguard.com
• Launched December 2007, straight into the crash, and now a multi-billion-dollar fund. Long history, quarterly distributions, Vanguard plumbing behind it.
• One of the strongest overall showings in its US factor peer group, built on cost and staying power rather than a clever screen.

• SPMO 0.13% a year against a 0.69% median for momentum funds, undercutting iShares' MTUM (0.15%) and matching Vanguard's VFMO (0.13%).
• The rulebook is public and tight: at least 90% of assets in S&P 500 Momentum Index names, picked on momentum scores. No stockpicker sitting on top of the screen.invesco.com
• One of the more actively traded funds in its niche and a multi-billion-dollar book, so orders usually meet a deep market rather than a thin one.
• Live since 2015 with Invesco behind it, and among the stronger overall builds in the US momentum group.

Worth knowing

• MGV About 130 names, all mega caps. The biggest holdings carry real weight, and small and mid caps are absent by design.
• It tracks a Morningstar index of the largest US value stocks, so it leaves out the market's growth giants and can move very differently from a total-market fund.vanguard.com
• Moderately traded rather than a household-name ticker, so limit orders and mid-session trading matter more here than with the very largest index ETFs.

• SPMO Roughly 100 names out of 500 means concentration arrives as a side effect: whichever sector has been leading can dominate, and the fund can look little like the S&P 500.
• Momentum is a backward-looking screen. It holds the recent leaders until the index reshuffles, which is exactly when the market turns hardest against trend followers.invesco.com
• Distributions land quarterly and are a byproduct of what the screen owns, not the point of the fund.

Full MGV profile⁠

Full SPMO profile⁠