AVLC vs FCTE

AVLCAAvantis U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF

FCTECSMI 3Fourteen Full-Cycle Trend 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.

FCTE Most active large-cap funds hold hundreds of names. FCTE holds about 20, pulled from the S&P 500 by a quality screen and then trend and momentum rules that get rerun every month. A concentrated, high-turnover swing at the index it measures itself against.

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.

FCTE The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by identifying and holding stocks that the Adviser believes can outperform the S&P 500.

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.

• FCTE Roughly 20 equally weighted S&P 500 stocks, re-screened monthly on quality, trend and momentum. Genuine concentration, not a core index fund wearing an active label.3fourteensmi.comsec.gov
• The wrapper does real work: the issuer notes this is typically a high-turnover strategy, and the ETF structure can limit the capital gains that holding those 20 stocks directly would kick off.3fourteensmi.com
• The mandate is plain-spoken. US stocks the adviser believes can beat the S&P 500, drawn from the S&P 500, benchmarked against it. No ambiguity about what you are buying.3fourteensmi.com
• Run jointly by 3Fourteen Research and SMI Advisory Services, whose co-portfolio manager has helped steer the SMI fund family since it launched in 2005.3fourteensmi.com

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

• FCTE At 0.85% a year it sits above the typical active US equity fund's 0.65%, and far above the cheapest systematic peers in the group (DFAU at 0.12%, DYNF at 0.26%).
• Twenty names means one stock can swing the fund, and the monthly re-screen means today's lineup may not be next quarter's. Volatility comes with the concentration.3fourteensmi.com
• It opened in July 2024, so a strategy named for the full cycle has not yet lived through one, and shares trade thinly. Limit orders are your friend.

Full AVLC profile⁠

Full FCTE profile⁠