ETC 6 Meridian Quality Growth ETF

ETC 6 Meridian Quality Growth ETF (SXQG) is an actively managed fund from Exchange Traded Concepts. It uses a computer-driven screen to pick U.S. stocks with strong profits, low debt and growth, such as NVIDIA, Microsoft and Apple. Its 0.55% expense ratio is above the 0.43% average for similar funds and well above the 0.15% charged by iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (QUAL). It paid no dividends in the year to October 27, 2026.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, SXQG returned 0.0%, 9th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +4.9%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-23.9%); its best was 2023 (+28.4%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 34% (Nov 16, 2021 to Jun 16, 2022), recovered by Feb 9, 2024.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 93 securities; the ten largest made up 49.14% of assets.

By sector

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors withdrew a net $6.4M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +4.81%, +2.58%, -3.56%.

SXQG does not track an index. Its sub-adviser, Madison Avenue Financial Solutions, LLC, runs a quantitative process, meaning stocks are picked by rules and data rather than by gut feel. It starts with the broad U.S. stock market and drops micro-caps, which are companies worth less than $500 million. It also removes stocks with weak momentum, measured as the 12-month price return excluding the latest month. And it removes stocks that score poorly on a liquidity measure, which compares dollar trading volume with shares outstanding.

The remaining stocks are ranked on a mix of measures covering profitability, growth and the ability to pay debts. The prospectus defines quality as high and improving profits, low debt, low default risk, and little new stock or debt issued compared with dividends and buybacks. The top-ranked stocks are candidates for the fund. Holdings are weighted by market value, so bigger companies get bigger weights. Each one is capped at 5% when it is bought, but positions can grow past that later. NVIDIA was 5.7% of the fund as of August 31, 2026.

The fund doesn't aim for any sector, but the prospectus says it expects to hold a large share in information technology. As of August 31, 2026, technology made up 35.1% of the fund, the top 10 of its 93 holdings made up about 49%, and the fund held no derivatives. Portfolio turnover was 54%, meaning the manager replaced roughly half the portfolio over a year.

• SXQG charges 0.55% a year, versus an average of 0.43% for the similar funds below (6th of 9, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.31% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $56 in the first year and $689 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It is a small, actively managed, technology-heavy growth fund that fell 34% at its worst and trailed similar funds over one and three years to October 27, 2026.

SXQG launched in May 2021, so it has no record in the 2008 or 2020 crashes. In the 2022 bear market it fell 31.1% from January 3 to June 16, 2022, and took about 19 months to recover, in January 2024. Its deepest drop was 34%, from November 2021 to June 2022, and it took about 20 months to recover. Its worst calendar year was 2022, at -23.89%. Someone who had to sell shares for spending money in a year like that would have locked in losses. The fund paid no dividends in the year to October 27, 2026, so any cash would have to come from selling shares. In the SEC's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $56 in the first year and $689 over 10 years. Past results don't predict future ones, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.