AVLC vs RULE

AVLCAAvantis U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF

RULEFAdaptive Core 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.

RULE RULE is the algorithm with an exit button: a price-trend model ranks a go-anywhere lineup and can shift the whole portfolio to cash when signals break. The ticker is the pitch; 1.84%, with no fee waiver, is the toll.

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.

RULE The fund seeks long-term growth of capital while also pursuing income.

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.

• RULE Its price-trend model scores assets and can move the entire portfolio into cash or money-market ETFs when signals turn down, a sell discipline most all-equity peers skip.sec.gov
• Go-anywhere by charter: stocks of any size, plus equity and fixed-income ETFs, so one ticker covers ground that usually takes several.sec.gov
• Concentrated rather than sprawling, at roughly 40 positions, so each pick carries real weight.
• Benchmarks itself to the S&P 500 Total Return Index, a yardstick you already know.

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

• RULE Costs 1.84%, with no fee waiver in place and above the category median; two of the category's standouts run far cheaper, DFAU at 0.12% and AVLC at 0.15%.
• Frequent trading is built into the strategy, which the prospectus flags for higher transaction costs and bigger tax bills in a taxable account.sec.gov
• A small fund that trades lightly, so spreads can run wider than at the category's giants.

Full AVLC profile⁠

Full RULE profile⁠