ETF Evaluator: ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF (OUSM) Follow This ETF

ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF Overview

ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF (OUSM) is a passively managed U.S. Equity Small Blend exchange-traded fund (ETF). ALPS launched the ETF in 2016.

The investment seeks to track the performance (before fees and expenses) of the O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend Index. Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets in the components of the index. The index is designed to reflect the performance of publicly-listed small-capitalization dividend-paying issuers in the United States that meet certain market capitalization, liquidity, high quality, low volatility and dividend yield thresholds, as determined by O'Shares Investment Advisers, LLC (the "index provider").

About ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF (OUSM)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 3.22 years: Ryan Mischker (2022) and Charles Perkins (2024). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US 1000 Val TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and O'Shares U.S. Small-Cap Qual Divd TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF has 110 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 22.0% 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.

ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF has 0.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 99.8% There is 0.0% 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). ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF has 0.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $862 million in total assets, which is below the $4 billion average for the Small Blend 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.

OUSM 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 ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Small Blend category. ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF has an expense ratio of 0.48%, which is 14% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. 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. ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 39%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 50% for the Small Blend category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF returned 2.4%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Small Blend category had an average return of -2.1%. 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.

ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF has a trailing yield of 1.93%, which is above the 1.17% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly 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.

ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 12.4%, 5.6 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 14.3% over the past year (grade of F), 11.4% over the past three years (grade of F) and 8.3% per year over the past five years (grade of B).

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 ALPS O'Shares US Sm-Cp Qul Div ETF, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.