ROSC vs VONV

ROSCCHartford Multifactor Small Cap ETF

VONVAVanguard Russell 1000 Value ETF

In short

ROSC Small caps with the risk dials turned down. ROSC's index leans toward cheaper, more profitable small companies and caps concentration, targeting up to 15% less volatility than the cap-weighted small-cap universe over a full market cycle.

VONV The plain-vanilla value trade, done cheap: about 900 large US value stocks, full replication of the Russell 1000 Value Index, 0.06% a year. No factor cocktail, no premium price tag, and one of the strongest implementations in its factor peer group.

Stated mandate

ROSC The Fund seeks U.S. small-cap core equity exposure through a rules-based index whose constituents are selected and weighted using a multifactor methodology. The index targets up to a 15% reduction in volatility over a complete market cycle.

VONV The fund seeks to track the Russell 1000 Value Index, representing large-capitalization value stocks in the United States. It uses passive indexing and full replication to remain closely aligned with that benchmark.

Why people hold it

• ROSC The volatility target is written into the index: up to 15% less than the cap-weighted small-cap universe over a full market cycle, set by rules rather than manager calls.sec.gov
• A cheap-and-profitable tilt: the index screens for lower valuations than the Russell 2000 alongside quality and momentum, spread across roughly 300 names.hartfordfunds.com
• Hartford's own Lattice unit builds the index and publishes the full methodology, so the rules behind the portfolio are public reading.hartfordfunds.com

• VONV 0.06% a year, a fraction of the typical fee among factor ETFs. On a rules-based value index there is little room for cleverness, so cost does most of the work.vanguard.com
• Full replication, not sampling: it owns the index's roughly 900 names and has stayed tightly aligned with the Russell 1000 Value benchmark since launching in 2010.
• Same Russell benchmark as pricier rivals for less: the Goldman MarketBeta version (GVUS) charges 0.12% to track the identical value index.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, among the easiest in its group to get in and out of, and it distributes quarterly.

Worth knowing

• ROSC It trades lightly, so spreads can run wider than on the giant small-cap index funds and order type matters more.
• The 0.34% fee sits a shade above its multifactor peer group's median and well above vanilla factor funds like VONV (0.06%) and IUSG (0.04%).
• The history predates the strategy: launched in 2015 as a global small-cap fund (then ROGS), it became a US-only multifactor fund in November 2019.sec.govsec.gov 2

• VONV One screen, one style. Value only, with no quality or momentum overlay, so the ride follows the value side of the market wherever it goes.vanguard.com
• This is the entire value bucket, not a best-ideas portfolio. About 900 holdings means results hug the large-cap value category rather than stray from it.
• Cheaper exists nearby: Vanguard's VYM charges 0.04%, but it screens for dividend yield, a different portfolio than a Russell value index.

Full ROSC profile⁠

Full VONV profile⁠