AVLC vs USSE

AVLCAAvantis U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF

USSECSegall Bryant & Hamill 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.

USSE A boutique manager's high-conviction US large-cap picks, delivered in ETF form since 2023. Active stock selection measured against the Russell 1000, at 0.65% a year.

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.

USSE The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

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.

• USSE Genuinely active US large-cap equity with the Russell 1000 as its stated yardstick, so the lineup reflects a manager's judgment rather than an index rulebook.
• No factor label, no thematic packaging. The stated mandate is plain: US stocks, long-term capital appreciation.
• The 0.65% expense ratio sits near the middle of the active-equity pack rather than at the premium end.
• A few-hundred-million-dollar fund, so a boutique strategy arrives with mainstream ETF plumbing: intraday trading and a standard 1940 Act structure.

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

• USSE Thinly traded next to the giant index funds, so bid-ask spreads and order handling carry more weight at the moment of execution.
• It has not been paying distributions. The mandate is capital appreciation, so income is not part of the package.
• Active pricing at 0.65% is a standing cost drag versus cheap index exposure to the same US large-cap universe, and the fund's record only starts in 2023.

Full AVLC profile⁠

Full USSE profile⁠