AVMC vs BSMC

AVMCAAvantis U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF

BSMCCBrandes U.S. Small-Mid Cap Value ETF

In short

AVMC The forgotten middle of the US market, run the Avantis way: roughly 600 mid-cap names tilted toward cheaper stocks with stronger profits, at 0.18% a year. Systematic active management priced like an index fund.

BSMC Brandes has run Graham-and-Dodd value investing since 1974, and BSMC puts that process in an ETF: roughly 70 out-of-favor U.S. small and mid caps, picked one business at a time, for 0.71%.

Stated mandate

AVMC Seeks long-term capital appreciation through a broad portfolio of U.S. mid-cap companies, emphasizing securities with lower valuations and higher profitability ratios.

BSMC BSMC seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing predominantly in U.S. equity securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies that the investment team considers undervalued relative to their financial strength and upside potential.

Why people hold it

• AVMC 0.18% a year, against a 0.65% median for active US equity funds. Index-fund pricing on an active mandate.
• Spreads the value-and-profitability tilt across roughly 600 mid-caps, so it leans on the screen rather than a handful of concentrated picks.avantisinvestors.com
• One of the strongest implementations in our active US equity group, sitting with large-cap sibling AVLC and the Dimensional core funds.
• Pure mid-cap exposure with a quarterly distribution, filling the gap most portfolios leave between mega-caps and small caps.

• BSMC A 1974-vintage value house in ETF form. Brandes built its name on Benjamin Graham's bottom-up discipline, and the same intrinsic-value process selects the names here.brandes.com
• Concentrated on purpose: roughly 70 stocks judged on financial strength and upside versus price, not a thousand-name screen rebalanced on a calendar.
• A mandate you can hold them to: at least 80% of net assets in U.S. companies sized within the Russell 2500 range. Income is paid out quarterly.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• AVMC Trades lighter than the giant index ETFs, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads at the moment you transact.
• Launched in 2023, so the live record is short. There's no published index behind it either: outcomes come from Avantis' own valuation and profitability rules.
• All mid-cap, no mega-cap ballast, plus a tilt away from expensive names. Both can put it out of step with a market led by the largest growth stocks.

• BSMC At 0.71% (no fee waiver) it prices above the category median, and AVMC at 0.18% or FEMV at 0.23% deliver mid-cap exposure for a fraction of that.
• Thinly traded with a modest asset base, so the spread you pay matters more here than with the category's heavyweights.
• Launched in 2023, so the live record is short next to the category's strongest-rated, longer-tenured options.

Full AVMC profile⁠

Full BSMC profile⁠