AVEM vs EPEM

AVEMAAvantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF

EPEMDHarbor Emerging Markets Equity ETF (EPEM)

In short

AVEM Emerging markets taken whole: roughly 3,900 stocks, large down to small, with an active tilt toward cheaper and more profitable companies. Avantis charges about half the typical active EM fee to do it.

EPEM Harbor's 2025 entry into emerging markets goes narrow: an actively run book of roughly 40 stocks, where most EM funds spread across hundreds. Concentrated by design, and priced like it.

Stated mandate

AVEM Seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in a broad range of companies across emerging-market countries and all market capitalizations.

EPEM The Fund seeks long-term total return.

Why people hold it

• AVEM Fee is 0.33% a year against a 0.65% median for active emerging-markets funds, so the active tilt starts from a low-cost base.
• Owns roughly 3,900 names across the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI universe, including small caps, rather than a short stock-picker's list.avantisinvestors.com
• Active, but rules-driven: the portfolio leans toward lower valuations and higher profitability instead of relying on manager hunches.
• Running since 2019 and now a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund. One of the strongest implementations in its emerging-markets peer group.

• EPEM Roughly 40 stocks, not several hundred. Each pick carries real weight instead of getting diluted into an index-sized tail.
• One clean mandate: long-term total return from emerging market equities. No ex-China carve-out, no factor overlay, nothing to decode.
• Plain long-only stock exposure in a standard ETF wrapper. No leverage, no derivatives sleeve, no structural quirks flagged.

Worth knowing

• AVEM Emerging-market equity is a bumpy asset class, and returns arrive in dollars, so local currency swings add a second layer of movement.
• The value and profitability tilts are the whole point, which means the fund is built to drift from a plain market-cap EM index, sometimes for long stretches.
• No China carve-out: this one takes the full EM opportunity set. Avantis runs AVXC on the same approach for those who want it without China.

• EPEM The 0.84% fee runs above the going rate for active EM, and well-regarded rivals like AVEM and DFEM sit near 0.33% to 0.39%. The stock picking has a hurdle to clear.
• Small asset base and light trading since launch, so spreads can run wider than at the category's giants.
• A 2025 launch means no full market cycle on record yet, and it currently sits in the lower reaches of its active EM peer group.

Full AVEM profile⁠

Full EPEM profile⁠