SPLV takes 100 stocks from the S&P 500 that have exhibited the lowest volatility over the past year and weights holdings by the inverse of their volatility, so the largest components show the least amount of volatility. USMV also tracks low volatility stocks, but the ETF targets variances and correlations for all stocks, along with other risk factors.
PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio
For more information on low-vol strategies, visit our low-volatility category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.