AVLC vs CBSE

AVLCAAvantis U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF

CBSEDClough Select Equity ETF

In short

AVLC Active management with index-fund manners: roughly 900 U.S. large caps, with the dial turned toward cheaper, more profitable companies. Avantis charges 0.15% a year to do it.

CBSE A hand-picked active equity fund with an unusual triple job: current income, capital growth, and preservation of principal. Small, thinly traded, and priced like a manager you hire rather than an index you rent.

Stated mandate

AVLC The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. It invests broadly in U.S. large-capitalization companies while using active decisions to overweight lower valuations and higher profitability.

CBSE The Fund seeks current income, capital growth, and preservation of principal.

Why people hold it

• AVLC 0.15% a year against a 0.65% median for active U.S. equity funds. That is passive-style pricing on an actively run book.
• Holds about 900 names against the Russell 1000, so the value and profitability tilts sit on top of broad market exposure instead of a concentrated bet.avantisinvestors.com
• One of the stronger builds in the active U.S. equity group, priced in the same neighborhood as the Dimensional core funds (DFAU, DFAC) it competes with.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades steadily, so spreads and liquidity are rarely the sticking point. Distributions are paid quarterly.

• CBSE Genuinely active: the managers buy individual names screened for above-average financial characteristics, undervaluation or growth potential, instead of mirroring an index.
• One mandate, three jobs. The stated objective pairs current income and capital growth with preservation of principal, an unusual combination to write into a single equity fund.
• What is inside the portfolio is the strongest part of the package, holding up better than the fund's cost or risk profile.
• Trading since 2020, so there is live history to judge rather than a backtest.

Worth knowing

• AVLC Launched in 2023. The tilt philosophy is well worn at Avantis, but this fund's own live record is still short.
• Active, not index-tracking. The Russell 1000 is a reference point, not a leash, so holdings and weights can drift from it.
• Leaning toward cheaper, higher-profitability companies means stretches where it moves differently from the plain cap-weighted market, in either direction.avantisinvestors.com

• CBSE At 0.85% a year, it prices above the typical active US equity ETF and many times index-style rivals like DFAU (0.12%) and FELC (0.18%), leaving it in the group's lower tier on cost.
• It is a small fund that does not trade much, so spreads can widen and limit orders matter more than with a mega-cap index ETF.
• Despite the income language in the objective, distributions land once or twice a year rather than monthly.

Full AVLC profile⁠

Full CBSE profile⁠