SMLV vs SPLV

SMLVBState Street SPDR US Small Cap Low Volatility Index ETF

SPLVBInvesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF

In short

SMLV Low volatility is usually a large-cap game. SMLV runs the same calm-stocks screen down where the swings actually live: US small caps, roughly 400 of them, for 0.12% a year.

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

SMLV The fund's advertised mandate is exposure to U.S. small-capitalization companies selected for low volatility.

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

• SMLV Costs 0.12% a year, under the 0.20% median for its low-volatility peer group.
• The low-vol shelf is stacked with large-cap mandates (USMV, LGLV, ONEV). This one applies the screen to US small caps instead.ssga.com
• Roughly 400 holdings, so no single small cap steers the fund. It has tracked its index through live markets since 2013.
• Sits in the upper half of its low-volatility cohort on our overall read.

• 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

• SMLV Thinly traded next to the giants of the category, so the spread you pay at the point of trade matters more here.
• Low volatility is relative, not absolute. This is still small-cap equity, and it rides rougher than the large-cap min-vol funds it shares a shelf with.
• Distributions land quarterly, not monthly.

• 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 SMLV profile⁠

Full SPLV profile⁠