On the ETF Screener page or ETF Info page (such as Vanguard Total World Stock ETF [VT] ), look for this “Custom Filters” button to select your criteria:
What are the “Custom Filters” I can use?
Key Filters
Asset Class: The category of investments that have similar financial characteristics and behave similarly in the market. Assets within a class are subject to the same laws and regulations, and generally respond to the same economic factors in a comparable way.
Equity: Also known as stock, it represents ownership in a company. They generally offer the potential for higher returns but come with greater volatility versus Fixed Income (bonds).
Market Cap
The total dollar value of a company’s outstanding shares, calculated by multiplying the current share price by the total number of shares held by stockholders. Different index providers have different thresholds for large, mid and small cap stocks. They usually define market cap categories as a certain number or percentage of the top / middle / bottom stocks of all the listed companies by market cap within a universe.
Sector
The industry or type of business that the company participates in. A widely adopted standard is Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).
Factor
A measurable characteristic, or driver of risk and return, of the ETF, based on business fundamentals (e.g. earnings growth, debt ratio) or share price characteristics (e.g. price-to-earnings ratio, share price volatility).
For a more in-depth introduction on screening Equity ETFs, please read How to find my suitable Equity ETF?.
Fixed Income: They are in most cases debts issued by government or corporates, and usually provide regular income or interest payments. Fixed Income investments are generally considered less risky than Equity.
Duration
A measure of a bond’s price sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Long duration bonds generally have higher sensitivity to changes in interest rates than short duration bonds.
Bond Issuer
The legal entity, typically a government or corporation, that borrows capital by selling bonds to investors. The issuer is responsible for making regular interest (coupon) payments and repaying the principal at the bond’s maturity.
Rating
An assessment of an issuer’s creditworthiness and ability to repay its debt on time, usually assigned as a letter grade by independent agencies like S&P Global, Moody’s, or Fitch. Investment Grade bonds are higher-rated bonds (AAA to BBB-/Baa3) considered to have lower default risk, while High Yield bonds are lower-rated bonds (BB+/Ba1 and below) that offer higher interest rates to compensate for increased risk of default.
Bond Type
Description of the structure of the bond or the market that the fixed income investment has exposure to.
For a more in-depth introduction on screening Fixed Income ETFs, please read How to find my suitable Fixed Income ETF?.
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Commodity: Raw materials, including Agriculture, Energy, Industrial Metals, Precious Metals, and Diversified. For a more in-depth introduction on screening Commodity ETFs, please read How to find my suitable Commodity ETF?.
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Currency: Digital currencies (e.g. Bitcoin, Ethereum) or Traditional currencies (e.g. USD, EUR). For a more in-depth introduction on screening Currency ETFs, please read How to find my suitable Currency ETF?.
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Multi-Asset: The underlying holdings of the ETF has major exposure to more than one of the above asset classes. Select Multi-Asset ETFs based on the target allocation and investment objective of the fund. For a more in-depth introduction on screening Multi-Asset ETFs, please read How to find my suitable Multi-Asset ETF?.
Code / Name Search: Search ETFs by their code or name that you wish to include in your analysis. This powerful filter allows you to define your universe flexibly to compare ETFs in your watchlist, or group multiple search results together.
Compare ETFs in your watchlist
Select multiple ETFs directly by their code or name, and compare their fund profile, return and risk.
Group multiple search results together
For instance, if you want to screen for “Artificial Intelligence” and “Cybersecurity” ETFs in the same screening. You can first search by typing “Artificial Intelligence” and select all or some of the filtered results that you are interested in, then make another search by typing “Cybersecurity” and select those “Cybersecurity” ETFs that you want to include additionally in the screening. Finally, the filtered results will return both “Artificial Intelligence” and “Cybersecurity” ETFs you selected.
Fund Characteristics
Exposure: Whether an ETF goes up or down when the underlying assets (stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies) increase in value.
Long
Description: Price of ETF moves in the same direction as the underlying assets.
Example: Invesco QQQ Trust [QQQ]
Inverse
Description: Price of ETF moves in the opposite direction as the underlying assets. Beware that inverse ETFs are usually designed to track daily returns, not long-term performance. These funds may not deliver the expected return due to volatility drag on compounded return.
Example: ProShares Short QQQ [PSQ]
Absolute
Description: The ETF takes both long and inverse positions. The performance of ETF has lower correlation tothat of the asset class it has exposure to, or the ETF targets a positive return in both up and down markets.
Instrument: Holdings and fund strategy of the ETF.
Vanilla
Description: ETFs hold underlying assets such as stocks, bonds, etc. directly, without using leverage or derivatives as a major component to deliver returns.
Example: Invesco QQQ Trust [QQQ]
Leveraged
Description: When underlying assets move 1%, the ETF moves by more than 1%. 2x and 3x are common leverage ratios of leveraged ETFs.
Example: ProShares UltraPro QQQ [TQQQ]
Derivatives-Overlay
Description: A derivative is a financial contract whose value is derived from the value of an underlying asset. However, the change in value of derivatives is not necessarily 1:1 to the change in value of its underlying assets. Examples of derivatives include options and futures. Derivative-Overlay ETFs use derivatives on top of core underlying holdings to enhance returns or manage risks.
FX Hedged: This indicates whether the appreciation or depreciation of the currency of underlying assets affects the return of the ETF.
Unhedged
Description: Performance of ETF reflects the fluctuations in the currency of the underlying asset. For instance, If the ETF holds a European stock denominated in Euro, and Euro appreciates against USD, the ETF captures the gain of the stock in both share price gain in Euro terms and the appreciation of Euro against USD.
Hedged
Description: Since currency risk is hedged, the ETF captures the share price gain in foreign currency terms, but not the appreciation or depreciation of the foreign currency against USD.
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Benchmark: A specific market index that the ETF tracks closely. For instance, S&P 500 Index is the benchmark of Vanguard S&P 500 ETF [VOO], meaning the performance of VOO is expected to be very close to that of S&P 500 Index.
Management: Whether the ETF is passively or actively managed.
Passive
Description: A passive ETF tracks and closely matches the performance of a specific market index (the benchmark), without frequent managerial intervention, and usually has a lower expense ratio.
Example: iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF [IWN]
Active
Description: An active ETF is managed by a team of investment professionals, aiming to outperform a benchmark or achieve a specific investment target.
Replication: The method that the ETF tracks the performance of its benchmark.
Active
Description: The ETF is managed by a team of investment professionals and does not closely track a particular benchmark.
Example: Capital Group Growth ETF [CGGR]
Physical
Description: The ETF physically buys and holds the actual securities (stocks, bonds, etc.) that make up the underlying index.
Example: Invesco QQQ Trust [QQQ]
Synthetic
Description: The ETF uses financial derivatives to achieve the index’s performance instead of buying the physical securities.
Example: ProShares UltraPro QQQ [TQQQ]
Geography
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Region: The key region where the aggregate underlying holdings of the ETF has major exposure to. Key regions include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, Global. Global means the holdings of the ETF in aggregate have meaningful exposure to more than one specific region. For holdings which look-through data are not available, for instance a “fund-of-fund” ETF that holds a number of other ETFs, the listing venue of the underlying funds would become the regional exposure.
Market: The economic development of the region or country where the aggregate underlying holdings of the ETF has major exposure to.
Developed
Description: More advanced, industrialized economies with high income, stable systems and mature finance.
Emerging
Description: Transitioning nations with fast-growing, industrializing economies but greater volatility and risk.
Blend Market
Description: The ETF has exposure to both Developed and Emerging markets.
Example: Vanguard Total World Stock ETF [VT]
Country: The country where the aggregate underlying holdings of the ETF has major exposure to. Apart from single countries, other options of non-single-countries are also available.
Blend Country
Description: The ETF has major exposure in more than one single country.
Example: Vanguard Total World Stock ETF [VT]
Exclusion
Description: Holdings that have exposure to one or more specific countries are excluded from the ETF.
Example: Ex-U.S. – Vanguard Total International Stock ETF [VXUS]; Ex-North America – iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF [IEFA]
Sub-Region
Description: The ETF has major exposure in more than one country but not all countries within a specific region.
Example: Eurozone – iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF [EZU]; ASEAN – Global X FTSE Southeast Asia ETF [ASEA]
Basic Information
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Expense Ratio: An annual fee, expressed as a percentage of the fund’s assets, that the ETF charges to cover its operating costs, including management, administration, etc. The expense ratio is deducted from the fund’s returns.
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Yield: The income distributed by the ETF over a specific period, e.g. monthly, annually, etc. The distributed income is generated by underlying investments (e.g. dividends from stocks or interest from bonds), or sometimes also includes a distribution from capital. It is expressed as a percentage of the fund’s market value.
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Trade Inception: The date when the ETF began trading.
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Exchange: The specific stock exchange (e.g. Nasdaq, NYSE) where the ETF shares are listed and traded by investors throughout the day.