ETF Evaluator:
Essential 40 Stock ETF ()
Follow This ETF
(as of Aug 26)
Best Performing in Large Value Over the Last Year
| 72.4% | iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (VLUE) |
| 39.0% | SEI QiM U.S. Lrg Cap Value Actv ETF (SEIV) |
| 34.8% | LSV Disciplined Value ETF (LSVD) |
| 34.7% | iShares Core Dividend ETF (DIVB) |
| 34.4% | Avantis US Large Cap Value ETF (AVLV) |
Risk
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Risk
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ETF Details
Essential 40 Stock ETF Overview
Essential 40 Stock ETF (ESN) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Large Value exchange-traded fund (ETF). KKM Financial LLC launched the ETF in 2014.
The investment seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Essential 40 Stock Index.
The fund is an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that normally invests at least 80% of its net assets in the common stocks of companies that comprise the Essential 40 Stock Index, which measures the investment return of the equity securities of forty blue-chip U.S. companies. Generally, the adviser anticipates that the fund will hold all forty of the securities that comprise the index in proportion to their weightings in the index.
About Essential 40 Stock ETF (ESN)
There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 10.41 years: Jeff Kilburg (2014) and Daniel Deming (2017). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.
The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100% and S&P 500 Equal Weighted TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Essential 40 Stock ETF has 43 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 32.0% 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.
Essential 40 Stock ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. Essential 40 Stock ETF has 5.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 94.9% There is 5.0% 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). Essential 40 Stock ETF has 0.1% of the portfolio in cash.
Assets Under Management
The fund has $320 million in total assets, which is below the $5 billion average for the Large 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.
ESN 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 Essential 40 Stock ETF expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Large Value category. Essential 40 Stock ETF has an expense ratio of 0.70%, which is 87% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a F. 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. Essential 40 Stock ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 11%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 40% for the Large Value category.
Recently, in the month of July 2026, Essential 40 Stock ETF returned 0.7%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Large Value category had an average return of 2.4%. 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.
Essential 40 Stock ETF has a trailing yield of 0.77%, which is below the 1.70% category average.
The fund normally distributes its income annually 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.
Essential 40 Stock ETF Grades
Year to date, the ETF has returned 16.6%, 2.2 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 26.2% over the past year (grade of B), 16.9% over the past three years (grade of C) and 12.3% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 11.3% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).
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ESN Trailing NAV Total Returns Data as of 7/31/26
| Last Month |
Last Quarter |
Ann'l. 1Yr |
Ann'l. 3Yr |
Ann'l. 5Yr |
Ann'l. 10Yr |
|
| ESN Return (NAV) | 0.7% | 6.6% | 26.2% | 16.9% | 12.3% | 11.3% |
| ESN Return (Price) | 0.7% | 6.6% | 26.3% | 16.9% | 12.4% | 11.4% |
| NAV +/- Price Return | -0.021% | -0.023% | -0.090% | -0.054% | -0.031% | -0.015% |
| Large Value Avg | 2.4% | 5.9% | 24.1% | 16.3% | 11.3% | 12.1% |
| ESN Grade (NAV) | F | B | B | C | B | D |
| +/- Category (NAV) | -1.7% | 0.7% | 2.2% | 0.6% | 1.0% | -0.8% |
| ESN Tax-Cost Ratio | na | na | 0.4% | 0.9% | 1.6% | 1.0% |
ESN Annual NAV Total ReturnsData as of 7/31/26
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| ESN Return (NAV) | 16.6% | 16.3% | 12.7% | 23.9% | -10.8% | 23.8% | 10.4% | 22.1% | -5.9% | 11.7% | -1.3% |
| ESN Return (Price) | 16.6% | 16.5% | 12.6% | 23.9% | -10.8% | 23.8% | 10.4% | 22.1% | -5.9% | 11.7% | -1.3% |
| NAV +/- Price Ret | 0.001% | 0.012% | -0.005% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Large Value Avg | 14.4% | 14.8% | 15.5% | 13.1% | -6.5% | 26.7% | 5.4% | 27.4% | -6.6% | 17.7% | 15.7% |
| ESN Grade (NAV) | B | B | D | A | F | F | B | F | B | F | F |
| +/- Category | 2.2% | 1.5% | -2.8% | 10.8% | -4.3% | -2.9% | 5.0% | -5.2% | 0.7% | -6.0% | -17.0% |
| Risk Measures | |
| Beta: | 0.77 |
| R-Squared: | 77% |
| Standard Deviation: | 11.4% |
| Category Risk Index: | 0.93 |
| Category Risk Rating: | Below Average |
| Total Risk Index: | 0.93 |
| Total Risk Rating: | Below Average |
| Portfolio Characteristics | |
| Yield: | 0.8% |
| Total Assets: | $ 321 Mil |
| Share Class Assets: | $ 321 Mil |
| Turnover: | 11.0% |
| Expense Ratio: | 0.70% |
| Index Fund: | No |
| Index Tracked: | S&P 500 (TR) (1970) |
| Index Weighting: | 100% |
| Leveraged: | No |
| Socially Responsible Fund: | No |
| Capital Gains Distribution Frequency: | Annually |
| Income Distribution Frequency: | Annually |
Management Team
| Number of Managers: 2 | |||
| Longest Tenure: 12.2 years | |||
| Average Tenure: 10.4 years | |||
| Managers (Year): Kilburg Jeff (2014), Deming Daniel (2017) | |||
Portfolio Composition (as of 7/31/26)
| # of Holdings: | 43 |
| % in Top 10 Holdings: | 32.0% |
| Fund is Non-Diversified: | No |
| % in Foreign Issues: | 5.0% |
Portfolio Allocation |
|
| Domestic Stock: | 94.9% |
| Foreign Stock: | 5.0% |
| Preferred Stock: | 0.0% |
| Domestic Bond: | 0.0% |
| Foreign Bond: | 0.0% |
| Convertible Bond: | 0.0% |
| Other: | 0.0% |
| Cash: | 0.1% |
Purchase Information
| Legal Structure: | Open Ended Investment Company |
| Fund Family: | KKM Financial LLC |
| Phone Number: | 800-451-5493 |
| Website: | www.ascentiafunds.com |
| Inception Date: | June 11, 2014 |
Expenses and Fees
| Expense Ratio (%): | 0.70% (Rating: Above Avg) |
| Category Average Expense Ratio (%): | 0.37% |
