FlexShares Developed Markets ex-US Quality Low Volatility Index Fund

FlexShares Developed Markets ex-US Quality Low Volatility Index Fund (QLVD) is a Northern Trust ETF. It tracks an index of roughly 170 large and mid-sized companies in developed countries outside the US, chosen for financial strength and steadier prices. Its 0.12% expense ratio is the lowest among seven similar funds, which average 0.38%. The trade-off is size: it had $54.8 million in net assets as of July 31, 2026.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, QLVD returned +13.5%, 4th of 7 among similar funds.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2024 (+4.7%); its best was 2025 (+24.2%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 9.8% (May 8, 2023 to Oct 27, 2023), recovered by Dec 26, 2023.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 175 securities; the ten largest made up 20.98% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $3K (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.00%, -0.26%, +4.80%.

QLVD tracks the Northern Trust Developed Markets ex-US Quality Low Volatility Index. Northern Trust Investments (NTI) builds the index and also manages the fund. The index starts with large- and mid-sized companies based in developed countries outside the US. It scores each company on a proprietary "quality" measure built from three things: how well management uses capital, how reliable and lasting its profits are, and how much cash it generates. The bottom fifth by that score is dropped.

An optimization model then picks and weights the remaining stocks. It aims to lower the portfolio's volatility, meaning how sharply prices swing, while keeping the quality score high. Limits on sector, country, single-stock size, beta (sensitivity to market moves) and turnover keep the index close to the broader market. As of December 31, 2025, the index held 169 stocks, with market values from $6.8 billion to $421.6 billion. It is reconstituted quarterly.

The fund uses representative sampling. That means it may hold a sample that resembles the index rather than every stock in it. As of July 31, 2026, it had 175 holdings, led by Novartis (3.8%), Royal Bank of Canada (3.0%) and Unilever (2.3%). It may also lend securities and use futures and currency forwards, which made up 0.02% of assets.

• QLVD charges 0.12% a year, versus an average of 0.38% for the similar funds below (1st of 7, cheapest first).
• The fee includes a 0.03% waiver from the adviser, which may end.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $12 in the first year and $189 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

Its index is built to swing less than developed stock markets outside the US, and its one-year beta was 0.43 as of October 27, 2026.

QLVD may add international stocks with a calmer ride than the broad market, but it still falls. It lost 17.11% in the first quarter of 2020 and 12.49% in calendar 2022. It launched in 2019, so it has no record from the 2008 crisis. Since October 2022, its deepest drop was 9.8%, from May to October 2023, and it recovered within two months. Shallower drops can mean fewer shares sold at low prices to fund withdrawals, but not none. The trailing yield was 2.98% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly. Costs are low: 0.12% a year, or $12 on $10,000 in year one. The trade-off: over five years through 2025, it returned 6.87% a year, versus 9.47% for the MSCI World ex US Index. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by closest holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports (no similar fund shares 20% or more of its holdings).