AVDS vs TIER

AVDSAAvantis International Small Cap Equity ETF

TIERBT. Rowe Price International Equity Research 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.

TIER Roughly 40 T. Rowe Price analysts pick the stocks, while sector and industry weights stay close to the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The wager here is name-by-name research abroad, not a call on which sector or region takes the lead.

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.

TIER The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. It is an actively managed ETF investing primarily in non-U.S. stocks across developed and emerging markets, using bottom-up research and seeking excess returns relative to the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index.

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.

• TIER Charges 0.38%, below the 0.60% median for active international equity funds in its peer group.
• The portfolio is built from the picks of roughly 40 T. Rowe Price equity research analysts, with portfolio managers holding oversight and final discretion.troweprice.com
• Sector and industry weights hug the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index, so results relative to that benchmark hinge on stock selection rather than sector bets.troweprice.com
• One ticker covers both developed and emerging markets, spread across roughly 300 stocks, in a fully transparent active ETF wrapper.prnewswire.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.

• TIER Index-like sector weights cut both ways: the fund has less room to reallocate across sectors than active funds with a freer hand, and can lag them as a result.troweprice.com
• It began trading in June 2025, so the track record is short, and it remains a small, thinly traded fund where bid-ask spreads deserve a look before you trade.
• Cheaper systematic rivals cover similar ground, with AVDE at 0.23% and DFIC at 0.22%.

Full AVDS profile⁠

Full TIER profile⁠