AVDS vs BCIL

AVDSAAvantis International Small Cap Equity ETF

BCILDBancreek International Large Cap ETF

In short

AVDS Avantis casts a wide net: roughly 3,000 non-US developed small caps, weighted with an eye on price, profitability and how much cash companies plow back in. Active management that looks a lot like an index fund with its thumb on the scale.

BCIL A boutique quant shop's concentrated take on international large caps: screen the developed world for structurally advantaged business models, then own a few dozen of them. Active, focused, and priced like the specialist product it is.

Stated mandate

AVDS The ETF seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in a broad group of non-U.S. small-cap companies and considering valuation, profitability, and investment levels when selecting and weighting securities.

BCIL The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• AVDS Charges 0.30% a year, about half the typical fee in its active international peer group. Cheap is a durable edge in a corner of the market where fees usually run high.
• Roughly 3,000 holdings, so no single stock or country steers the outcome. This is small-cap breadth, not a concentrated stock-picking bet.
• The tilts are the whole design: valuation, profitability and investment levels shape both what it owns and how much of each, measured against MSCI World ex USA Small Cap.avantisinvestors.com
• Sits among the strongest builds in a crowded field of active international equity funds. Broad, systematic, low-fee: the boxes that tend to stay ticked.

• BCIL Genuinely active and genuinely concentrated: a few dozen non-US large caps, not a sprawling index tracker wearing an active label.bancreeketfs.com
• Stock picking runs on a quantitative framework hunting companies with structurally advantaged business models, so the selection process is systematic rather than gut feel.bancreeketfs.combancreeketfs.com 2
• Plain mandate, plainly stated: developed-market equity outside the US, seeking long-term capital appreciation, with distributions on a quarterly schedule.

Worth knowing

• AVDS Thinly traded compared with the big international names. Limit orders and a look at the spread earn their keep here.
• Launched in 2023, so the live record is short even though the approach behind it is not new.
• Costs more than Avantis' broad international fund AVDE (0.23%). Small caps abroad are pricier to research and trade, and they swing harder.

• BCIL 0.80% a year sits above the typical active international fund and well above systematic rivals like AVDE (0.23%) and DFIC (0.22%). You are paying for the model.
• Launched in 2024, so there is no track record across a full market cycle. The fund also leans heavily on proprietary models and third-party data you cannot inspect.bancreeketfs.com
• It is small and lightly traded next to the index giants in its category, so bid-ask spreads can add cost beyond the headline fee.

Full AVDS profile⁠

Full BCIL profile⁠