AADR vs AVDE

AADRDAdvisorShares Dorsey Wright

AVDEAAvantis International Equity ETF

In short

AADR Most international funds buy the whole market and sit still. AADR runs a Dorsey Wright relative-strength playbook instead: rank stocks on momentum, hold about 40 of the leaders, and rotate out of the laggards.

AVDE Active management at almost-index prices: Avantis runs roughly 3,300 developed-market stocks outside the US without tracking a benchmark, for 0.23% a year. One of the strongest implementations in its active international peer group.

Stated mandate

AADR The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation above international benchmarks such as the MSCI EAFE Index.

AVDE Invests in a broad range of stocks of all sizes across non-U.S. developed countries, with active portfolio management rather than replication of a specified index.

Why people hold it

• AADR The momentum bet is the product, not a tilt. Its relative-strength screen is openly advertised, and the stated goal is capital appreciation above international benchmarks like the MSCI EAFE Index.advisorshares.com
• Concentrated on purpose: roughly 40 names spanning developed and emerging markets, so individual picks carry real weight instead of getting diluted across hundreds of positions.
• Live since 2010, giving the relative-strength approach a long public record across several very different international market cycles. Distributions come quarterly.

• AVDE 0.23% a year, well under half the typical fee in its active international peer group. Active management usually costs more than this.
• Index-like breadth without an index: about 3,300 stocks of all sizes across non-US developed countries, chosen by managers rather than copied from a benchmark.avantisinvestors.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting in and out tends to be cheap and easy. It pays out quarterly.
• Sits at the top of a crowded field alongside rivals like DFIC and JIRE, priced within a basis point or two of both.

Worth knowing

• AADR At 1.17% a year, it costs roughly double the typical active international equity fund, and index-flavored peers like AVDE and DFIC charge a small fraction of that.
• A small fund that trades thinly, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the category's heavyweights.
• Momentum leadership rotates. A concentrated book chasing relative strength can turn over often and move very differently from broad EAFE exposure in either direction.

• AVDE Developed markets only. Emerging markets are a separate purchase if you want them.
• No index to grade the manager against, so results come down to Avantis's own portfolio calls rather than a published benchmark.
• It is all-equity and all-foreign: stock market swings plus currency moves both show up in the price.

Full AADR profile⁠

Full AVDE profile⁠