What Is ETF Sage?
An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is an investment fund whose shares trade on an exchange. Rather than analyzing an ETF exactly like an individual company, investors may want to examine characteristics of the fund itself. ETF Sage is designed to help organize that research.
ETF Sage searches for ETFs that meet its structural and quality requirements and that have actually reached a 52-week low during the market week. Those candidates can then be evaluated using additional ETF-specific information.
ETF Sage does not use Stock Sage's corporate EPS history or assets-versus-liabilities test to qualify ETFs. Instead, it considers fund size, operating history, expense ratio, liquidity, diversification, NAV position, and price location relative to the ETF's 52-week low.
How ETF Sage Finds Candidates
ETF Sage begins with ETFs trading on the approved major U.S. exchanges used by the application. Before an ETF can become a normal qualified ETF Sage result, several screening and research steps are completed.
- 1
ETF Universe
- 2
Preliminary Structure and Liquidity Screen
- 3
ETF Reaches an Actual 52-Week Low
- 4
Weekly Candidate Pool
- 5
Additional ETF Research
- 6
Final Quality Screen
- 7
ETF Appeal Score
- 8
Friday ETF Sage Results
The 52-week-low step is an actual price event—not a screen for funds merely “near” the low. ETF Sage looks for the ETF's intraday low to reach or move below its reported 52-week low. The ETF can enter the weekly candidate pool when this occurs even if its price later rebounds from that low.
ETF Quality Screening
ETF Sage performs ETF-specific quality screening before a fund appears as a normal qualified customer result. The final quality screen includes sufficient operating history, sufficient assets under management, sufficient trading liquidity, and acceptable ETF structure.
Operating History
How long the ETF has existed.
Assets Under Management (AUM)
The approximate amount of investor assets held by the fund.
Liquidity
How actively the ETF trades. Greater liquidity can generally make entering or exiting a position easier without the investor's trade having as much impact on market price.
Structure
ETF Sage distinguishes conventional or diversified funds from certain specialized structures excluded from the normal qualified list.
Structures excluded from the normal qualified list
- Leveraged ETFs
- Inverse or short ETFs
- ETNs
- Single-stock ETFs
- Single-stock option-income ETFs
- Specialized 0DTE option-income products
- Autocall products
Diversified covered-call or option-income ETFs are not automatically excluded simply because they use options.
100-point research framework
Understanding the ETF Appeal Score
After an ETF reaches the appropriate stage and passes the final quality screen, ETF Sage can evaluate it using a 100-point Appeal Score. The score organizes several ETF research factors into one framework; it is not a prediction model or an instruction to buy or sell.
| Factor | Maximum Points |
|---|---|
| Price Opportunity | 20 |
| Fund Quality | 25 |
| Cost | 15 |
| Liquidity | 15 |
| Diversification | 15 |
| NAV Position | 10 |
| TOTAL | 100 |
Price Opportunity — 20 Points
Measures how close the latest observed price remains to the 52-week low that qualified the ETF for the weekly candidate pool. A fund that remains close receives more points than one that has moved substantially away. This measures price location—not future return potential.
Fund Quality — 25 Points
Evaluates AUM and operating history. Larger, more established funds can receive more points, but size and history do not guarantee superior investment performance.
Cost — 15 Points
Evaluates the expense ratio—the fund's annual operating expenses expressed as a percentage of fund assets. Lower expenses generally receive more points, but the expense ratio is not a universal pass/fail rule.
Liquidity — 15 Points
Evaluates average daily dollar trading volume. ETF Sage considers both price and average share volume; more liquid ETFs generally receive more points.
Diversification — 15 Points
Uses the reported number of holdings. Generally, ETFs with more holdings receive more points. If holdings information is unavailable, ETF Sage does not automatically assume poor diversification; missing information can receive neutral treatment.
NAV Position — 10 Points
NAV means Net Asset Value: the value of the ETF's underlying assets on a per-share basis. Market price can trade slightly above or below NAV. A small discount can receive favorable scoring, but a very large discount is not automatically better because unusual discounts may deserve investigation.
Dividend and Distribution Yield
Dividend or distribution yield can be useful when researching an ETF, particularly an income-oriented fund. It is deliberately not part of the 100-point ETF Appeal Score.
A high distribution yield does not automatically make an ETF more attractive. Investors should also examine strategy, cost, structure, price behavior, diversification, and other characteristics rather than evaluating a fund only by its yield.
Researching an Individual ETF
ETF Lookup lets a user research an ETF by ticker or fund name. Available research may include:
- ETF name and ticker
- Current price
- Assets Under Management
- Expense ratio
- Dividend or distribution yield
- Average volume
- Asset class
- NAV
- Holdings information
- 52-week price information
- Available ETF-specific report information
Five Completed Calendar Years
ETF Sage can provide five completed calendar years of price history. For each year, the research can show the annual high, annual low, and percentage increase from that year's low to that year's high. The current partial calendar year is excluded so every displayed year represents a completed annual period.
Distribution Information
When available, an individual ETF report may provide an ex-dividend date, record date, payment date, declaration date, distribution amount, yield information, and distribution frequency.
The ex-dividend date is particularly important for understanding eligibility for an announced distribution. A history of distributions does not guarantee that a future distribution will occur.
Fictional ETF Comparison
Fictional educational examples—not real securities.
Fictional example
ABC Growth ETF
78
Appeal Score
- Strong Fund Quality
- Strong Liquidity
- Moderate Cost
- Moderate Diversification
- Near its qualifying 52-week low
Fictional example
XYZ Income ETF
74
Appeal Score
- Strong Fund Quality
- Moderate Liquidity
- Higher expense ratio
- Strong distribution yield
- Moderate NAV Position
Fictional example
LMN Broad Market ETF
82
Appeal Score
- Strong Fund Quality
- Low expense ratio
- Strong Liquidity
- High Diversification
- Price has moved somewhat farther from its qualifying low
These scores and descriptions are fictional and do not reveal or imply exact component calculations.
Which ETF is best?
ETF Sage is not designed to answer that question for the investor. A higher Appeal Score means the ETF scored more strongly under the ETF Sage research framework. It does not guarantee outperformance.
An income-oriented investor may care about different characteristics than a growth-oriented investor. A broad-market investor may emphasize diversification, while another investor may emphasize cost or liquidity. The Appeal Score organizes research. The investor still makes the decision.
ETF Sage Research Workflow
- 1ETF Sage searches the ETF universe.
- 2Preliminary structure and liquidity requirements are applied.
- 3The ETF reaches an actual 52-week low during the week.
- 4The ETF enters the weekly candidate pool.
- 5Additional ETF information is evaluated.
- 6Final quality requirements are applied.
- 7Qualified ETFs receive an ETF Appeal Score.
- 8Review the ETF's individual research information.
- 9Compare the ETF's characteristics with your own investment objectives and risk tolerance.
- 10Decide whether additional research is warranted.
ETF Sage narrows and organizes research. It does not make the final investment decision.
ETF Sage vs. Stock Sage
| Stock Sage | ETF Sage |
|---|---|
| Individual companies | Exchange-traded funds |
| Uses company-specific financial qualification | Uses ETF-specific structure and quality screening |
| Reviews company EPS history | Reviews ETF characteristics such as AUM and operating history |
| Reviews company assets and liabilities | Reviews ETF liquidity, cost, diversification, and structure |
| Looks for qualifying stocks near or at its Stock Sage price criteria | Requires an actual 52-week-low event for the weekly ETF candidate process |
| Company research | Fund research |
Neither tool replaces investor judgment.
Knowledge Check
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