Cambria Value & Momentum ETF

Cambria Value & Momentum ETF (VAMO) is an actively managed fund that holds about 100 US stocks that look cheap and are trending upward. Unlike most stock funds, it can hedge up to 100% of its stock portfolio with S&P 500 futures when its models flag an overvalued or falling market. Its sensitivity to broad market swings has been low, but its 0.65% expense ratio is well above the 0.26% average for similar funds.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, VAMO returned +8.4%, 7th of 7 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +9.2%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2023 (+5.6%); its best was 2021 (+32.1%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 17.3% (Nov 7, 2022 to May 31, 2023), recovered by Dec 27, 2023.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 100 securities; the ten largest made up 11.68% of assets, and 7.27% sat in cash and money-market holdings.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $22.9M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: -2.31%, +2.85%, +1.86%.

VAMO does not track an index. Cambria Investment Management runs it with a quantitative model that looks for US-listed stocks that pass two tests. First, the stock must look cheap on measures such as price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, price-to-book and EV/EBITDA, which compares a company's total value with its operating earnings. Second, it must have strong momentum: its price sits above its long-term trend and ranks highly on short-, medium- and long-term price trends. Liquidity and sector filters apply, and no sector can exceed 25% of the fund.

Cambria adjusts the portfolio to its target allocations monthly, so the fund trades a lot. Turnover was 74% in the latest prospectus. As of July 31, 2026, the fund held 100 stocks of fairly similar size, and the top 10 made up just 11.7% of assets. Oil refiners led the list: PBF Energy (1.5%), Par Pacific (1.5%), HF Sinclair (1.2%) and Valero (1.1%).

The unusual part is the hedge. When Cambria judges the US market overvalued or its trends unfavorable, the fund may hedge up to 100% of its stocks with S&P 500 futures or options, which gain when the index falls. Up to 20% of assets may sit in money market instruments or high-quality debt, partly to back those futures. On July 31, 2026, the fund held 7.3% in cash and a small short S&P 500 E-mini futures position.

• VAMO charges 0.65% a year, versus an average of 0.26% for the similar funds below (7th of 7, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.59% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $66 in the first year and $810 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It can hedge its stock exposure, and its one-year beta (how much it moves with the market) was 0.26 as of October 27, 2026, so it has moved differently from broad stock index funds.

VAMO's hedging can make it a counterweight to broad stock funds. In the 2022 bear market (January 3 to October 12, 2022), it gained 8.9% and finished the year up 8.54%. But it lost money every year from 2018 to 2020. Its worst year was 2018, at -11.56%, and it fell 18.87% in the first quarter of 2020. It launched in 2015, so it has no 2008 record. Its deepest drop in price data since June 2020 was 17.3%, from November 2022 to May 2023, and it took about seven months to recover. Anyone selling shares during a stretch like that would lock in losses.

It adds little income: the trailing yield was 0.69% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly. Its 0.65% expense ratio works out to $66 in the first year on $10,000 in the SEC's standard example. Past results don't predict future returns, 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).