AVGE vs SAMT

AVGEAAvantis All Equity Markets ETF

SAMTBStrategas Macro Thematic Opportunities ETF

In short

AVGE Avantis's whole-world equity portfolio in one ticker: a fund built from its own factor ETFs across US, developed and emerging markets, tilted toward smaller and cheaper stocks, at 0.23% a year with no waiver involved.

SAMT Most thematic ETFs are one-trick: one theme, forever. SAMT runs three to five macro themes at once and rotates them as the cycle turns, steered by Strategas, the macro research shop behind it. Flat 0.66%, no waiver.

Stated mandate

AVGE The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through a broadly diversified equity portfolio. It invests directly or through Avantis ETFs and emphasizes companies expected to offer higher returns or better risk characteristics than a passive, market-cap-weighted index.

SAMT The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through active investment principally in U.S. common stocks associated with three to five macro-thematic trends. The Adviser uses technical, fundamental, qualitative, and quantitative analysis and may adjust the portfolio as trends change.

Why people hold it

• AVGE One ticker, the whole map: it owns a series of other Avantis ETFs spanning US, developed international and emerging markets.avantisinvestors.com
• 0.23% a year, below the typical global active equity fund, and that is the real number, not a temporary waiver.
• No closet indexing. The mandate emphasizes companies Avantis expects to offer higher returns or better risk traits than a passive, cap-weighted index.ifa.com
• Sits among the strongest implementations in its global active equity peer group, and it pays shareholders quarterly.

• SAMT Single-theme funds live or die by one idea. SAMT holds three to five macro themes at a time and rotates them as trends change, so no single story carries the portfolio.strategasetfs.com
• The calls come from Strategas' own macro research desk, an institutional strategy firm operating since 2006 and now part of Baird, not an outside index provider.strategasetfs.comlinkedin.com
• Roughly 50 US-listed stocks across the cap spectrum, so a theme can be played through mid and small caps, not just the usual mega-cap proxies.strategasetfs.com
• Among the easier funds in its peer group to get in and out of, which matters for a strategy that reshuffles as themes rotate.

Worth knowing

• AVGE At the fund level you hold a handful of Avantis ETFs, so the stock-level diversification is look-through and one firm's research drives the entire stack.avantisinvestors.com
• The prospectus targets roughly 70% US equity (band 63% to 77%), so the geographic mix follows Avantis's policy rather than global market weights.ifa.com
• A close sibling, AVTM, covers total equity markets at 0.22% with no waiver attached.

• SAMT At 0.66% the fee sits near the norm for active global equity funds, but broad-index rivals like AVTM (0.22%) and AVGE (0.23%) cost far less.
• Concentration cuts both ways: with roughly 50 names in a handful of themes, a trend that stalls can weigh on the whole fund. The prospectus flags this risk by name.strategasetfs.com
• No index to check the manager against. Holdings reflect the team's conviction calls, and the live record only starts at the January 2022 launch.

Full AVGE profile⁠

Full SAMT profile⁠