QLV vs SPLV

QLVANorthern Trust US Quality Low Volatility ETF

SPLVBInvesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF

In short

QLV Low vol with a quality gate: the index cuts the weakest-scoring fifth of US large and mid caps, then optimizes what's left for calm. Fee is 0.08% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027.

SPLV Low volatility without the black box. SPLV ranks the S&P 500 by the past year of daily price swings, keeps the 100 calmest names, and hands the biggest weights to the quietest ones. Rebalanced quarterly.

Stated mandate

QLV The fund seeks to track the Northern Trust Quality Low Volatility Index and provide exposure to U.S. companies selected for lower overall volatility and quality characteristics.

SPLV The fund seeks exposure to the S&P 500 Low Volatility Index, which represents the 100 least volatile stocks in the S&P 500 Index.

Why people hold it

• QLV The quality screen is the point: stocks are ranked on profitability, management efficiency and cash flow, and the bottom fifth is cut before the volatility work starts.sec.gov
• 0.08% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027: below the category median, and under USMV at 0.15% and LGLV at 0.12%.
• Sector, industry and single-stock limits inside the optimization push back on the utilities-and-staples pileup typical of low vol. Roughly 120 holdings.sec.gov
• Sits in the top quartile of its US low volatility peer group, and pays quarterly.

• SPLV The rule is plain arithmetic: rank the 500 on a year of daily price moves, keep the 100 least volatile, weight each inversely to its volatility. No optimizer, no risk model.spglobal.com
• The list is refreshed quarterly, so as market leadership calms down or heats up, the portfolio follows the data rather than a manager's read.spglobal.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the more actively traded names in the low-vol aisle, which tends to keep bid-ask costs modest.
• About 100 large US stocks, with distributions paid monthly instead of quarterly. Running on the same mandate since 2011.invesco.com

Worth knowing

• QLV One of the less-traded funds in the category, so the bid-ask spread can matter more at the point of trade than the expense ratio.
• Assets stay modest next to the category's multi-billion-dollar incumbents.
• Low volatility here is relative, not absolute: the aim is calmer than the Northern Trust 1250 parent index, not shelter from a broad selloff.sec.gov

• SPLV 0.25% a year sits above the low-vol category median of 0.20%, and cheaper builds exist: LGLV at 0.12%, QLV at 0.09%.
• The index applies no sector limits, so weights can pile into whichever corners are calmest at the time, and that mix can shift meaningfully at each quarterly reshuffle.spglobal.com
• Low volatility is not low risk. This is a fully invested stock fund with no hedge or buffer, and it moves with the market.

Full QLV profile⁠

Full SPLV profile⁠