AVDS vs EPIN

AVDSAAvantis International Small Cap Equity ETF

EPINDHarbor International Equity ETF (EPIN)

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.

EPIN Harbor doesn't pick the stocks here. It hires EARNEST Partners, an employee-owned boutique, to run a concentrated book of roughly 60 companies from developed markets outside the US, delivered in an 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.

EPIN The Fund invests primarily in equity securities, principally common stocks, of companies across developed markets outside the United States.

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.

• EPIN Roughly 60 names, not a thousand. A bottom-up, research-driven portfolio where every holding has to earn its slot rather than ride along in an index.harborcapital.com
• Clean mandate: common stocks of companies based in developed markets outside the US. No emerging-market drift, no bond sleeve, no hedging overlay.
• Harbor's whole model is renting talent, curating outside boutique managers instead of running money in-house. EARNEST Partners has been selecting stocks for over 25 years.harborcapital.com

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.

• EPIN 0.80% a year sits above the typical active international fund (0.60%), and systematic rivals such as AVDE (0.23%) and DFIC (0.22%) charge a fraction of it.
• Launched in 2025 and lightly traded so far, so there's little live record to judge the process by and spreads can run wider than at the category's giants.
• The subadvisor weighs certain ESG factors when judging company quality, so names can be included or excluded for reasons other than the numbers.harborcapital.com

Full AVDS profile⁠

Full EPIN profile⁠