AVES vs JHEM

AVESAAvantis Emerging Markets Value ETF

JHEMCJohn Hancock Multifactor Emerging Markets 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.

JHEM Dimensional designs the index, John Hancock wraps it in an ETF: roughly 900 emerging-market stocks, sorted country by country toward cheaper, more profitable, smaller companies. Fee is 0.49%, net of a waiver through July 31, 2027.

Stated mandate

AVES The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

JHEM The fund seeks, before fees and expenses, investment results that closely correspond to the performance of the John Hancock Dimensional Emerging Markets 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.

• JHEM Dimensional Fund Advisors builds and maintains the index, classifying stocks country by country on market cap, relative price and profitability.sec.gov
• Wide net: roughly 900 names drawn from the top 80% of each eligible country's market cap, with frontier markets allowed in.sec.gov
• 0.49% net of a waiver through July 31, 2027 (0.58% before it) lands near the category median fee.
• Running since 2018 on the same Dimensional index, so there is a real multi-year record behind the rules.

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.

• JHEM Cheaper routes to emerging-market factors exist: EMGF charges 0.26% and FDEM 0.25%, neither under a waiver.
• Dimensional sells the value tilt directly now, via DFEV at 0.43% net of a waiver through February 28, 2027.
• Distributions come once or twice a year, not quarterly, and the frontier-market allowance can pull in thinner markets.sec.gov

Full AVES profile⁠

Full JHEM profile⁠