AVLC vs DUKQ

AVLCAAvantis U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF

DUKQDOcean Park Domestic 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.

DUKQ A tactical fund of funds: it holds unaffiliated US equity ETFs and can step back into cash equivalents. One ticker, aiming at total return with a brake on downside exposure.

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.

DUKQ The Fund seeks total return while limiting downside exposure. It uses an actively managed, tactical allocation among unaffiliated U.S. equity ETFs and cash equivalents.

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.

• DUKQ The mandate is unusual for a US equity product: it can shift into cash equivalents, so the manager is not locked into staying fully invested through a slide.
• You get a basket of other issuers' ETFs, not in-house product, so the underlying picks come from the whole market.
• Plain 1940 Act ETF plumbing: daily liquidity, no K-1 at tax time, cash paid out quarterly.

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

• DUKQ Costs 0.98% a year, above the typical active US equity ETF, and well above index-style rivals such as DFAU at 0.12%.
• Thinly traded and small, which usually means wider spreads than the household names in this category.
• Launched in 2024, so the tactical calls have a short record, and time spent in cash means it can lag a market that keeps climbing.

Full AVLC profile⁠

Full DUKQ profile⁠