AVES vs QLVE

AVESAAvantis Emerging Markets Value ETF

QLVEBNorthern Trust Emerging Markets Quality Low Volatility 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.

QLVE Most emerging-markets factor funds chase value. QLVE goes the other way: cut the weakest fifth on quality, then optimize what is left toward lower volatility. Cost is 0.18% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027.

Stated mandate

AVES The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

QLVE The Fund is designed for investors seeking emerging-markets exposure with an emphasis on quality and low volatility. It seeks to match, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Northern Trust Emerging Markets Quality Low Volatility 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.

• QLVE At 0.18% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027, it undercuts every top-scoring fund in its peer group, including EMGF at 0.26% and FDEM at 0.25%.
• The index cuts the lowest-quality fifth of emerging-markets large and mid caps on profitability, cash flow and capital deployment, then optimizes the rest for lower volatility.flexshares.comnortherntrust.com
• Sector, industry and country weights are held within set bands of the parent benchmark and turnover is capped near 12% a rebalance, curbing the sector drift low-vol screens invite.northerntrust.comsec.gov
• Sits in the upper half of its emerging-markets factor peer group and has stayed close to its stated index.

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.

• QLVE Thinly traded with a small asset base, so spreads can run wider than the category heavyweights and limit orders matter more.
• Roughly 160 holdings with meaningful weight in the largest names, so it is more top-heavy than a broad emerging-markets index fund.
• Lower volatility is the design goal, not an outcome the fund controls: the index aims to be calmer than its parent, and the fund tracks it either way.sec.govflexshares.com

Full AVES profile⁠

Full QLVE profile⁠