QLV vs VSMV

QLVANorthern Trust US Quality Low Volatility ETF

VSMVDVictoryShares US Multi-Factor Minimum 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.

VSMV Most minimum-volatility funds hand the whole market to a volatility optimizer. VSMV screens first, keeping stocks that rate well on earnings quality, momentum, profitability and valuation, then optimizes only those survivors for the smoothest ride.

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.

VSMV The Fund seeks to track the Nasdaq Victory US Multi-Factor Minimum Volatility Index before fees and expenses.

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.

• VSMV Two-step build: a fundamental factor screen picks the roster, then weights are set by how the chosen stocks correlate with each other, inside sector and position constraints.vcm.com
• Roughly 60 large- and mid-cap names, so the low-volatility tilt shows up in the portfolio instead of being diluted across hundreds of positions.vcm.com
• Pays monthly, a cadence more common in bond funds than equity ones. The index reconstitutes semi-annually, so the roster is not churning every month.vcm.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

• VSMV 0.42% a year is roughly double the low-volatility category median, and several times what QLV (0.09%) or LGLV (0.12%) charge for a similar brief.
• Small and thinly traded next to shelf giants like USMV, so bid-ask spreads can run wider and large orders move the price more.
• Screening on fundamentals before optimizing means the holdings can look quite different from a plain minimum-volatility index in any given stretch.vcm.com

Full QLV profile⁠

Full VSMV profile⁠