AVDS vs ESIM

AVDSAAvantis International Small Cap Equity ETF

ESIMCEventide International 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.

ESIM Eventide takes its faith-based screen overseas. ESIM filters non-US large and mid caps through its Business 360 process, then optimizes what survives to line up with its Bloomberg benchmark on beta, style and sector.

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.

ESIM The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in non-U.S. companies selected through Eventide’s values-based screening process. It is actively managed with a long-only approach and seeks to limit tracking error to its Strategy Benchmark.

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.

• ESIM Values screen first, then math. Business 360 narrows the non-US universe; optimization then aligns the portfolio's beta, style and sector with its Bloomberg World ex US benchmark.eventideinvestments.com
• At 0.59%, it sits right at the median cost for actively managed international funds in its peer group.
• Eventide's first dedicated ex-US fund, so one faith-based framework now runs across US and international shelves. Distributions are paid quarterly.eventideinvestments.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.

• ESIM Trading opened in December 2025, so the record is short. The screen also means holdings can look different from the benchmark, in either direction.eventideinvestments.com
• Broad international core rivals cost a lot less: AVDE at 0.23% and DFIC at 0.22%. The extra fee buys the screen and the active work.
• A young, small fund can trade thinly, so bid/ask spreads matter more here than with the category's giants. Limit orders are the usual fix.

Full AVDS profile⁠

Full ESIM profile⁠