Fund-vs-fund · International Equities
Mercer Core Global Shares Fund vs Smart US Large Value ETF
Both are International Equities funds available to NZ retail investors. Numbers below are sourced from the FMA Disclose register via Sorted Smart Investor and reflect the latest published quarterly fund updates.
Why these two differ
The most material structural difference between these two funds is their investment approach. The Smart US Large Value ETF (Smartshares) is effectively a single-holding wrapper — 99.9% of the portfolio sits in the Vanguard Value ETF, giving investors passive, concentrated exposure to US large-cap value stocks only. The Mercer Core Global Shares Fund, by contrast, holds a diversified spread of individual global equities, with its top five positions (Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon) each representing between 2% and 5% of the fund — a meaningfully different geographic and style footprint that includes global growth-oriented names.
Fee structures diverge significantly. Smartshares discloses an annual fund charge of 0.51%, while Mercer's is 1.24% — a 73-basis-point gap that compounds materially over time. Both funds carry a risk indicator of 5 out of 7 and an identical growth asset allocation of 98.31%.
On five-year returns, the Smartshares fund reported 15.89% per annum versus Mercer's 13.93%, though past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns and the differing underlying exposures — US value versus global diversified — mean these figures reflect different market bets rather than like-for-like execution.
Fund sizes are comparable: Smartshares at NZD 54.3 million, Mercer at NZD 60.9 million. Neither fund appears to be a KiwiSaver scheme account based on the available data, though investors should confirm this via the source documents.
Verify all figures against each fund's current PDS and latest Quarterly Fund Update on FMA Disclose before relying on any of this information.
Cached comparison generated 2026-05-21 from each fund's latest FMA Disclose QFU. Regenerated when the underlying facts change.
What's different at a glance
- Smart US Large Value ETF charges 0.73% lower in annual fund charges (0.51% vs 1.24%).
- Both are New Zealand PIE funds — investor tax is capped at the Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR), maximum 28%.
Where each fund sits in its cohort
Percentile rank vs all 81 international equities funds we've matched on Sorted Smart Investor. Mechanical only — no opinion, no forward-looking view.
Annual fund charge
Lower is better
Mercer
1.24%
Highest 19% of cohort
Smartshares
0.51%
Lower half of cohort
5-year return p.a.
Past performance — not a predictor
Mercer
13.93%
Top 6% over 5 years
Smartshares
13.03%
Top 13% over 5 years
Fund size
Larger = more stable, lower close-risk
Mercer
NZ$61m
Lower half by size
Smartshares
NZ$55m
Lower half by size
| Metric | Mercer | Smartshares | Lower / higher is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fund charge | 1.24% | 0.51% | Lower is better |
| Risk indicator (1–7) | 5 | 5 | Higher = more volatility |
| 5-year return p.a. | 13.93% | 13.03% | Higher is better (past not future) |
| Fund size | NZ$61m | NZ$55m | Larger = more stable, lower close-risk |
| Growth / income split | 98% / 2% | 98% / 2% | More growth = higher long-run return + volatility |
| NZ tax structure | PIE (PIR-capped) | PIE (PIR-capped) | PIE = simpler. FIF = annual return. |
| Currency hedging | — | — | Hedged smooths NZD/foreign FX moves at a small cost. |
| Responsible investment screening | No | No | Specific exclusions live in each fund's SIPO. |
| Available via | Direct | Direct | Platforms accepting retail subscriptions. |
Portfolio overlap
How many top-10 positions both funds hold, and at what weight. Computed from each fund's most recently disclosed top-10 holdings — exact-name matched (Microsoft Corp. = Microsoft Corporation), with a Cash / Cash & Equivalents collapse rule.
What each fund says it does
Mercer
Mercer Core Global Shares Fund
The fund invests in shares listed on share markets predominately in developed economies. The portfolio uses multiple managers and is diversified by region, manager and investment approaches. Environmental, Social and Governance characteristics are integrated into the underlying investment managers’ investment processes. The fund aims to provide a Gross Return above the return of the MSCI World Index with net dividends reinvested (in NZD) on a rolling three-year basis.Full Mercer Mercer Core Global Shares Fund profile →
Smartshares
Smart US Large Value ETF
The Smart US Large Value ETF is designed to track the return (before tax, fees and other expenses) of the CRSP US Large Cap Value Index. The Index is comprised of large US value companies.Full Smartshares Smart US Large Value ETF profile →
Documents
Crawled directly from each manager's website. How we record provenance →
Smartshares
Common questions
What's the difference between the Mercer Core Global Shares Fund and the Smart US Large Value ETF?
Which fund has lower fees, Mercer Core Global Shares Fund or Smart US Large Value ETF?
How do the 5-year returns compare?
Are both funds PIE-taxed in NZ?
Where can I read the official documents for these funds?
