AVDE vs DUKX

AVDEAAvantis International Equity ETF

DUKXDOcean Park International ETF

In short

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.

DUKX Most international funds ride out every drawdown. DUKX doesn't try to: it's a trend-following wrapper that rotates among international equity ETFs showing uptrends and can retreat to cash equivalents when they aren't.

Stated mandate

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.

DUKX The Fund seeks total return while limiting downside exposure. It actively allocates among unaffiliated international equity ETFs and cash equivalents.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• DUKX The sell rule is the product. A proprietary trailing stop discipline aims to limit drawdowns, and the fund can sit in cash equivalents when international ETFs stop trending up.oceanparkam.comoceanparketfs.com
• Index agnostic by design. Its hunting ground spans developed and emerging markets, regions, single countries, styles and factors, instead of one fixed benchmark.oceanparkam.comoceanparketfs.com
• Builds the portfolio from unaffiliated ETFs, so the exposure comes from third-party building blocks rather than a house-brand fund stuffed with its own products.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• DUKX Cost is the sticking point: 1.03% against a category median near 0.60%, with the underlying ETFs' own fees on top. It's why the fund lands in the bottom quartile of its peer group.oceanparketfs.com
• A small, thinly traded fund. Spreads and order handling matter more here than with the index heavyweights that dominate the category, such as AVDE and DFIC.
• Trend rules cut both ways: selling into downtrends can leave a strategy out of position when markets snap back. The live record starts at the July 2024 launch.oceanparketfs.com

Full AVDE profile⁠

Full DUKX profile⁠