ETF Evaluator: ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers (SMDV) Follow This ETF

ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers Overview

ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers (SMDV) is a passively managed U.S. Equity Small Value exchange-traded fund (ETF). ProShares launched the ETF in 2015.

The investment seeks investment results, before fees and expenses, that track the performance of the Russell 2000 ® Dividend Growth Index (the "index"). The fund invests in financial instruments that ProShare Advisors believes, in combination, should track the performance of the index. The index is designed to measure the performance of companies in the index that have consistently increased dividends each year for at least the last 10 years. Under normal circumstances, it will invest at least 80% of its total assets in components of the index or in instruments with similar economic characteristics.

About ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers (SMDV)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 9.79 years: Michael Neches (2015) and Devin Sullivan (2018). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: Russell 3000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Russell 2000 Dividend Growth TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers has 102 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 11.1% 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.

ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers 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). ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers has 0.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $695 million in total assets, which is below 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.

SMDV 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 ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Small Value category. ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers has an expense ratio of 0.40%, which is 16% lower 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. ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers has a portfolio turnover rate of 38%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 61% for the Small Value category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers returned 6.7%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Small Value category had an average return of 4.6%. 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.

ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers has a trailing yield of 2.29%, which is above the 1.78% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly.

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.

ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 17.7%, 0.4 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 21.3% over the past year (grade of F), 12.2% over the past three years (grade of D) and 6.7% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 7.5% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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