AVDS vs QUIZ

AVDSAAvantis International Small Cap Equity ETF

QUIZCZacks Quality 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.

QUIZ Zacks made its name reading sell-side earnings revisions. QUIZ points that engine overseas: an active, roughly 80-stock portfolio of developed-market companies outside the US, and the firm's first international fund since its 2025 launch.

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.

QUIZ The Fund seeks positive risk-adjusted returns by investing at least 80% of assets in equity securities, including common stock and depositary receipts, issued by publicly listed companies in non-U.S. markets.

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.

• QUIZ The model ranks companies on the agreement, size and direction of analyst earnings revisions plus earnings surprises, then layers on quality screens such as return on equity, earnings stability and dividend consistency.sec.govyahoo.com
• 0.55% net of a waiver through September 1, 2027, which lands near the median for active international equity funds. Real active management, not boutique pricing.
• About 80 names, so each pick carries weight. The mandate commits at least 80% of assets to non-US equities, mostly developed markets like Japan, Germany and the UK, with 60 days' notice before that policy changes.sec.gov

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.

• QUIZ That 0.55% is contractual, not permanent. The gross fee is 1.68%, and the waiver runs through September 1, 2027, so the filings are worth a look as the date approaches.
• Live since 2025, so the overseas version of the model has a short record. Zacks has run this approach in US funds, but the international build is its own experiment.yahoo.com
• Cheap systematic rivals crowd this shelf: DFIC at 0.22%, AVDE at 0.23%, and TACN at 0% (fee fully waived through January 30, 2027). QUIZ is also smaller and thinner-traded than those giants.

Full AVDS profile⁠

Full QUIZ profile⁠