AVES vs FTHF

AVESAAvantis Emerging Markets Value ETF

FTHFDFirst Trust Emerging Markets Human Flourishing ETF

In short

AVES Avantis starts with the emerging markets universe and tilts it: cheap valuations, profitable companies, roughly 1,800 names from megacaps down to small caps. Broad EM exposure with a deliberate value-and-quality slant, priced under the typical multifactor rival.

FTHF First Trust's emerging markets fund tracks a "human flourishing" index, layering profitability and quality screens onto roughly 100 EM stocks. No other fund in its peer group follows the same benchmark.

Stated mandate

AVES The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

FTHF The fund seeks to track the Emerging Markets Human Flourishing Index before fees and expenses and normally invests at least 80% of net assets in securities comprising that index.

Why people hold it

• AVES Charges 0.36% a year, below the 0.48% median for emerging markets multifactor funds. EM is where fee gaps usually run widest.
• Two screens, not one: it tilts toward cheap valuations and toward high profitability, so the deep-value bucket gets a quality filter on the way in.avantisinvestors.com
• Roughly 1,800 holdings across the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Value opportunity set, meaning small caps ride along rather than getting screened out.
• Portfolio build sits in the top quartile of its EM multifactor peer group in our review, and the fund is a multi-billion-dollar, regularly traded name.

• FTHF A mandate nobody else runs: it is the only fund in its emerging markets multifactor peer group tracking the Emerging Markets Human Flourishing Index.ftportfolios.com
• The index screen is advertised on profitability and quality, so the basket leans toward EM companies that earn their keep rather than whoever has the biggest market cap.ftportfolios.com
• Rules-based and readable: roughly 100 stocks, with at least 80% of net assets normally in index constituents. You can see what you own and why.ftportfolios.com
• Distributions run on a quarterly schedule, the standard cadence for a diversified equity index fund.

Worth knowing

• AVES Value in emerging markets means leaning into cheaper, cyclical corners of the market, plus currency swings. A bumpier ride than a plain broad EM index.
• Cost is not the floor here: peer EMGF runs a multifactor EM portfolio for 0.26%, ten basis points less.
• Launched in 2021, so its live record is shorter than the older EM factor funds it lines up against.

• FTHF The specialty index carries a specialty price: 0.75% a year, versus 0.26% at EMGF and 0.36% at AVES. You are paying up for the screen.
• Launched in 2023 and thinly traded, so the record is short and spreads can run wider than in the category's household-name funds.
• It is emerging markets equity, full stop: currency swings, local politics and single-country concentration ride along with the factor screen.

Full AVES profile⁠

Full FTHF profile⁠