QLV: FLEXSHARES US QUALITY LOW VOLATILITY INDEX FUND
What this ETF is trying to do
The FLEXSHARES US QUALITY LOW VOLATILITY INDEX FUND (ticker: QLV) is an ETF designed to invest in high-quality U.S. companies. These are companies that the fund's strategy identifies as having lower "volatility," which means their prices tend to have smaller, less frequent swings up and down compared to the broader market.
What the numbers show
The numbers show that QLV has grown in value over several time periods.
• One Year: The share-price return was approximately 11.30%. When you include cash distributions, the one-year total return was approximately 13.08%.
• Three Years: The share-price return was approximately 53.18%, while the three-year total return was approximately 61.09%.
• Year-to-Date (YTD): So far this year, the share-price return is about 11.18% and the total return is about 12.40%.
To visualize the price change, imagine you had invested $10,000 in this ETF roughly one year ago. Based on the estimated starting price of $71.98, your investment's share value would be worth approximately $11,130 today, based on the current price of $80.11.
Income and distribution explanation
This ETF provides cash to investors through distributions. The distribution yield is approximately 1.47%. These payments are usually made quarterly (four times a year).
It is important to understand that "price return" only measures how much the share price moves. "Total return" is a more complete measure because it includes both the share-price movement and the cash distributions you received.
NAV erosion explanation
The supplied data is sufficient to evaluate price erosion, but it does not include enough historical NAV-per-share data to confirm or rule out NAV erosion.
Regarding price-based evidence, the fund has an erosion score of 100. This is labeled as "No price erosion detected" and carries a "good" severity rating. There is no severe erosion-risk flag for this ETF.
Pros
• Positive Returns: The fund has shown positive share-price and total returns over the last year, three years, and five years.
• Low Price Erosion Risk: The current erosion-risk measurements are rated as "good."
Cons
• Partial Information: The list of top holdings is only a partial list. While we can see some major companies, there are 123 total holdings in the fund.
Top Holdings (Partial List):
• NVIDIA Corp: 6.60%
• Microsoft Corp: 6.26%
• Apple Inc: 5.78%
• Johnson & Johnson: 4.36%
• Amazon.com Inc: 2.48%
• ExxonMobil Holdings Corp: 2.37%
• Costco Wholesale Corp: 2.20%
• Visa Inc Class A: 2.18%
• Broadcom Inc: 1.90%
• Alphabet Inc Class A: 1.88%
*(Note: Holdings can change over time.)*
Beginner takeaway
QLV is an ETF that focuses on stable, high-quality companies. For investors looking at the numbers, it has shown growth in both its share price and its total return over several years. While it pays a distribution (income), the yield is relatively modest at 1.47%.
Top Holdings
Structured portfolio holdings supplied by the ETF data provider. These figures are not generated by the AI article.
| # | Holding | Ticker | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NVIDIA CORP | NVDA | 6.60% |
| 2 | MICROSOFT CORP | MSFT | 6.26% |
| 3 | APPLE INC | AAPL | 5.78% |
| 4 | JOHNSON & JOHNSON | JNJ | 4.36% |
| 5 | AMAZON.COM INC | AMZN | 2.48% |
| 6 | EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP | XOM | 2.37% |
| 7 | COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP | COST | 2.20% |
| 8 | VISA INC CLASS A | V | 2.18% |
| 9 | BROADCOM INC | AVGO | 1.90% |
| 10 | ALPHABET INC CLASS A | GOOGL | 1.88% |