Hartford US Value ETF

Hartford US Value ETF (VMAX) is an index fund that tracks the Hartford US Value Index. The index holds large US companies that look cheap compared with their earnings, cash flow, sales and dividends. Its rules also avoid stocks with weak quality or weak momentum, and they keep sector weights in check. The fee is 0.29% a year, above the 0.24% average of similar funds. With $49 million in assets as of July 31, 2026, the fund is small.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, VMAX returned +24.8%, 4th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2025 (+15.6%); its best was 2024 (+15.9%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 18.7% (Nov 25, 2024 to Apr 8, 2025), recovered by Aug 13, 2025.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 140 securities; the ten largest made up 19.93% of assets.

By sector

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $0.00 (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.90%, +3.22%, +1.88%.

VMAX tracks the Hartford US Value Index (LVMAXX). The index was designed by Lattice Strategies, the fund's adviser, and is calculated by S&P Opco, part of S&P Dow Jones Indices. It starts with the 1,000 largest US companies by free-float market value, meaning the value of shares that are available to trade. Each company gets a value score that weighs six measures equally: earnings yield, cash flow to enterprise value, revenue to enterprise value, dividend yield, and EBITDA (a measure of operating profit) to enterprise value. Enterprise value is a company's market value plus its debt, minus its cash. For financial and real estate companies, book value replaces EBITDA.

The index doesn't simply buy the cheapest stocks. An optimizer, a computer model, chooses stocks so the portfolio leans as far toward value as it can without leaning against quality (financially sound companies) or momentum (stocks that have been rising). It also keeps sector and company-size exposure under control. The index usually holds 125 to 225 stocks. The fund held 140 as of July 31, 2026. The index is rebuilt and rebalanced twice a year, in March and September. Portfolio turnover was 42%.

The fund is passive. It doesn't try to beat its index or move to cash when markets fall. It keeps at least 80% of its assets in the index's stocks. It doesn't use leverage, options or swaps. It held no derivatives as of July 31, 2026.

• VMAX charges 0.29% a year, versus an average of 0.24% for the similar funds below (7th of 9, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $30 in the first year and $368 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

VMAX adds a tilt toward cheaper large US stocks, heavy in financials, alongside a broad market core holding.

VMAX could add exposure to lower-priced large companies, such as banks, drugmakers and energy producers, to a portfolio built around a broad market fund. Its record is short. It launched in December 2023, so it hasn't been through the 2008, 2020 or 2022 sell-offs. It gained in both of its full calendar years: 15.98% in 2024 and 15.6% in 2025. Its deepest drop was about 19%, from November 25, 2024 to April 8, 2025. It recovered by August 13, 2025, about four months later. Someone who had to sell shares near that low would have locked in the loss. The fund pays dividends quarterly, and its yield was 2.06% as of October 27, 2026. In the SEC's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost $30 in fees in the first year and $368 over 10 years. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

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