AVDS vs CGIE

AVDSAAvantis International Small Cap Equity ETF

CGIEBCapital Group International 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.

CGIE An actively run passport out of the US: roughly 80 international names picked for quality and staying power, free to roam into emerging markets, at a fee below the typical active international ETF.

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.

CGIE The fund seeks prudent capital growth and principal preservation through primarily developed-market companies, emphasizing long-term growth potential and resilience in international equities.

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.

• CGIE Undercuts the typical fund in its category at 0.54% a year, below the peer median fee.
• Roughly 80 stocks, not a phone book. The mandate advertises a quality focus and pairs long-term growth potential with principal preservation.capitalgroup.com
• The passport covers developed and emerging markets, so managers can follow a business wherever it happens to be listed.capitalgroup.com
• Plain plumbing: a standard 1940 Act fund from Capital Group, already a multi-billion-dollar fund, and it sits in the upper half of its active international peer group.

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.

• CGIE Cheap it is not next to the systematic crowd: AVDE (0.23%) and DFIC (0.22%) charge less than half as much, so the stock picking here has to earn its keep.
• Concentration cuts both ways. With about 80 holdings, single companies and countries carry more weight than in a thousand-stock index fund.
• Launched in 2023, so the record is short, and it pays distributions once or twice a year rather than monthly.

Full AVDS profile⁠

Full CGIE profile⁠