SPLV vs USMV

SPLVBInvesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF

USMVAiShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF

In short

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.

USMV The household name in low-volatility investing. Since 2011 USMV has tracked an MSCI index built around U.S. stocks with calmer price behavior, holding roughly 160 names for 0.15% a year.

Stated mandate

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.

USMV The fund seeks to track an index targeting U.S. stocks with lower-volatility characteristics.

Why people hold it

• 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

• USMV Costs 0.15% a year, below the typical fee in its low-volatility peer group.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.
• Running since 2011 on a published MSCI rulebook, with one of the stronger implementations among U.S. low-vol funds.ishares.com
• Straightforward plumbing: index-tracked U.S. stocks, quarterly distributions, no derivatives layer to decode.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• USMV Not the cheapest ticket in the aisle. QLV and LGLV both undercut it on fee.
• "Minimum volatility" describes how the index picks and weights stocks, not a floor under losses. This is still a fully invested equity fund.
• Roughly 160 holdings is a far narrower slice than a total-market fund, so results can drift from the broad U.S. index in either direction.

Full SPLV profile⁠

Full USMV profile⁠