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Is American Century U.S. Quality Value ETF (VALQ) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Launched on 01/11/2018, the American Century U.S. Quality Value ETF (VALQ - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Value category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.
This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by American Century Investments, and has been able to amass over $300.12 million, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the AMERICAN CENTURY U.S. QUALITY VALUE INDX.
The American Century U.S. Quality Value Index seeks to select securities of large and mid-capitalization companies that are undervalued or have sustainable income.
Cost & Other Expenses
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.29%.
VALQ's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.85%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For VALQ, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 23.3% of the portfolio --while Healthcare and Industrials round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) accounts for about 2.82% of the fund's total assets, followed by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) and Bristol Myers Squibb Co (BMY).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 23.65% of VALQ's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, VALQ has lost about -1.38%, and is up about 8.94% in the last one year (as of 04/01/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $54.09 and $69.85.
The fund has a beta of 0.86 and standard deviation of 12.54% for the trailing three-year period. With about 225 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
American Century U.S. Quality Value ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Fidelity High Dividend ETF (FDVV) tracks Fidelity Core Dividend Index and the iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV) tracks S&P 900 Value Index. Fidelity High Dividend ETF has $8.53 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF has $24.05 billion. FDVV has an expense ratio of 0.15% and IUSV changes 0.04%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Value
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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Is American Century U.S. Quality Value ETF (VALQ) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Launched on 01/11/2018, the American Century U.S. Quality Value ETF (VALQ - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Value category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.
This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by American Century Investments, and has been able to amass over $300.12 million, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the AMERICAN CENTURY U.S. QUALITY VALUE INDX.
The American Century U.S. Quality Value Index seeks to select securities of large and mid-capitalization companies that are undervalued or have sustainable income.
Cost & Other Expenses
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.29%.
VALQ's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.85%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For VALQ, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 23.3% of the portfolio --while Healthcare and Industrials round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) accounts for about 2.82% of the fund's total assets, followed by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) and Bristol Myers Squibb Co (BMY).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 23.65% of VALQ's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, VALQ has lost about -1.38%, and is up about 8.94% in the last one year (as of 04/01/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $54.09 and $69.85.
The fund has a beta of 0.86 and standard deviation of 12.54% for the trailing three-year period. With about 225 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
American Century U.S. Quality Value ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Fidelity High Dividend ETF (FDVV) tracks Fidelity Core Dividend Index and the iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV) tracks S&P 900 Value Index. Fidelity High Dividend ETF has $8.53 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF has $24.05 billion. FDVV has an expense ratio of 0.15% and IUSV changes 0.04%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Value
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.