AVLC vs NLSI

AVLCAAvantis U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF

NLSIFNEOS Long/Short Equity Income 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.

NLSI NEOS built its name selling S&P 500 options for income. NLSI straps that overlay onto an actively run long/short U.S. stock book and pays monthly. An income-first spin on a hedge-fund staple.

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.

NLSI The Fund seeks high monthly income with potential equity appreciation. It uses an actively managed long/short U.S. equity strategy and an options overlay.

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.

• NLSI Two engines under one ticker: an actively managed long/short U.S. equity portfolio, plus an SPX put-spread overlay written to generate monthly cash.neosfunds.com
• The overlay uses index options, which qualify as Section 1256 contracts: gains split 60% long-term and 40% short-term no matter how long they were held.neosfunds.comneosfunds.com 2
• Shorts sit beside longs by design, putting more weight on the manager's stock selection and less on the market's direction.neosfunds.com
• Distributions land monthly, and each one comes with a 19a-1 notice breaking out option premium, dividends, gains and return of capital.neosfunds.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

• NLSI Total expenses run 2.89% a year, far above typical active U.S. equity ETFs. Much of it is dividend and interest cost on the short book, but it hits returns the same way.neosfunds.com
• Launched in December 2025, so a proprietary long/short model is running with very little public track record behind it, in a small fund next to its category's giants.
• Payouts have been classified as return of capital, which reduces your cost basis rather than adding to it. Useful for deferral, not the same thing as pure yield.neosfunds.com

Full AVLC profile⁠

Full NLSI profile⁠