QUS vs VYM

QUSAState Street SPDR MSCI USA StrategicFactors ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

QUS Most factor ETFs pick one lane. QUS runs three at once: quality, value and low volatility blended into a single broad US portfolio, at 0.15% a year, well under what the typical multifactor fund charges.

VYM The no-frills dividend workhorse. VYM buys the higher-yielding end of the US market, roughly 600 names, for four basis points: no quality screen, no dividend-growth-streak test, just yield, at scale since 2006.

Stated mandate

QUS The fund seeks to track the MSCI USA Factor Mix A-Series Capped Index before fees and expenses. Its strategy combines low-volatility, quality, and value exposures in one smart-beta portfolio.

VYM The Fund seeks to track a benchmark index measuring the investment return of common stocks from companies characterized by high dividend yields.

Why people hold it

• QUS Three factors, one ticket. The index combines quality, value and low-volatility exposure, so a diversified tilt does not mean stacking three separate funds.ssga.com
• At 0.15%, the fee is less than half the median in its multifactor cohort and undercuts Schwab's FNDX at 0.25%.
• Roughly 500 US names keeps this broad rather than a narrow bet, and the fund has tracked its MSCI index closely since launching in 2015.
• A multi-billion-dollar State Street fund, and one of the stronger multifactor implementations in its peer group.

• VYM Four basis points a year, against a peer-group median near 0.32%. Cheaper than cohort neighbors VONV (0.06%) and FNDX (0.25%).
• Running since 2006 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so ordinary orders tend to fill at tight spreads.
• Simple mandate: track the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index of US common stocks screened on yield. No manager discretion, no options overlay, plain 1940-Act fund.vanguard.com
• Pays quarterly, and among 100-plus value and multifactor rivals it stands as one of the strongest overall packages in the group.

Worth knowing

• QUS It is thinly traded next to the category's giants, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than on plain index heavyweights.
• Blending three factors mutes each one. By design this tracks neither a pure value fund like VONV nor a pure low-volatility sleeve.
• Distributions land once or twice a year, not quarterly, so this is not shaped like an income fund such as VYM.

• VYM The screen is yield, not payout growth or dividend quality, so a company can qualify simply because its share price fell.
• This is a value slice by design, tilted to established payers, so it behaves differently from a total US market fund.
• Roughly 600 holdings, but weight leans toward the largest payers, so the top of the roster does more of the work than the count suggests.

Full QUS profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠