SMLV vs VSMV

SMLVBState Street SPDR US Small Cap Low Volatility Index ETF

VSMVDVictoryShares US Multi-Factor Minimum 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.

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

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

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

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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 SMLV profile⁠

Full VSMV profile⁠