ULVM vs VYM

ULVMBVictoryShares US Value Momentum ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

ULVM Most factor funds make you pick a side: cheap stocks or winning stocks. ULVM buys the overlap, holding roughly 130 US names that screen well on both value and momentum, with weights tilted toward the calmer ones.

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

ULVM The Fund seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the MSCI USA Select Value Momentum Blend Index.

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

• ULVM Costs 0.25% a year, under the median for US multifactor ETFs, and matches Schwab's FNDX while doing a more specialized job.
• Sticks tightly to the MSCI USA Select Value Momentum Blend Index, one of the closer index implementations in its multifactor peer group.
• The index family is built to weight toward lower-volatility names and keep turnover moderate, so the value-momentum tilt arrives with less churn than a raw factor sleeve.msci.com
• Pays distributions monthly, not the quarterly cadence most US equity funds run on.

• 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

• ULVM Thinly traded for its size. Spreads can widen, and that cost lands on you at the moment you trade, on top of the expense ratio.
• About 130 stocks, a slice of the large-cap universe, so individual names and sector tilts swing the fund more than in a broad value index.
• Plain value exposure costs less: VONV runs 0.06% and GVUS 0.12%. The momentum screen and volatility weighting are what the extra fee buys.

• 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 ULVM profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠