AVDS vs CGIC

AVDSAAvantis International Small Cap Equity ETF

CGICBCapital Group International Core Equity 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.

CGIC Capital Group's stock pickers go shopping outside the US, developed and emerging markets alike, chasing growth plus a paycheck. Real active management at 0.54%, which undercuts the typical active international fund.

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.

CGIC The fund seeks long-term capital growth together with current income by investing primarily in common stocks and other equity securities of companies outside the United States, including emerging markets and developing countries.

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.

• CGIC Priced under its peer group: 0.54% a year against a 0.60% median for active international equity funds. Active stock selection without the usual active markup.
• A two-part mandate, not just growth. The fund seeks long-term capital growth together with current income from non-US equities, and distributions are paid quarterly.
• Genuinely go-anywhere: developed and emerging markets both in the hunting ground, spread across roughly 170 stocks rather than a concentrated bet.
• Sits in the top quartile of its 58-fund active international equity group on our review, and it trades actively, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.

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.

• CGIC Systematic rivals cost a fraction: AVDE runs 0.23% and DFIC 0.22%. You are paying up for human judgment, so the stock picking has to earn that gap.
• Young fund, launched June 2024. There is not much of a track record yet, which limits how much its risk history can tell you.
• Emerging and developing markets sit inside the mandate alongside developed ones, which brings currency moves and single-country politics into the ride.

Full AVDS profile⁠

Full CGIC profile⁠