ETF Evaluator: Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF (CALF) Follow This ETF

Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF Overview

Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF (CALF) is a passively managed U.S. Equity Small Value exchange-traded fund (ETF). Pacer launched the ETF in 2017.

The investment seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows Index (the "index"). Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the fund's total assets (exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in the component securities of the index. The index uses an objective, rules-based methodology to provide exposure to small-capitalization U.S. companies with high free cash flow yields.

About Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF (CALF)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 6.64 years: Bruce Kavanaugh (2017) and Danke Wang (2022). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: Russell 2000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and S&P SmallCap 600 TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF has 201 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 20.3% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF has 1.4% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 98.5% There is 1.4% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF has 0.3% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $3 billion in total assets, which is above the $2 billion average for the Small Value category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

CALF Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Small Value category. Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF has an expense ratio of 0.59%, which is 23% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 130%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 60% for the Small Value category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF returned 7.0%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Small Value category had an average return of 1.2%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF has a trailing yield of 1.12%, which is below the 1.71% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 22.5%, 2.8 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 36.7% over the past year (grade of B), 8.6% over the past three years (grade of F) and 6.3% per year over the past five years (grade of F).

For more ETF grades, analysis and screening tools to help your investment discovery, join AAII for a $2, full-access trial. Learn more here: https://invest.aaii.com/membership.

Otherwise, for more information about Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.