AVMC vs EPSB

AVMCAAvantis U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF

EPSBDHarbor SMID Cap Core ETF (EPSB)

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.

EPSB Most "core" equity ETFs mean large caps and a phone book of holdings. Harbor's SMID Cap Core goes the other way: an active, roughly 60-stock portfolio of US small- and mid-cap companies, launched in 2025.

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.

EPSB The Fund invests principally in common stocks and other equity securities of U.S. small- and mid-capitalization companies.

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.

• EPSB Concentrated by design: about 60 US small- and mid-cap names, so each pick carries real weight in the portfolio.
• Narrow, legible mandate. The prospectus commits it principally to common stocks and other equity securities of US small- and mid-cap companies.
• Sits where the cohort's leaders mostly don't: DFAU, FELC and AVLC are total-market or large-cap builds, while this one lives entirely down-cap.

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.

• EPSB Active pricing: 0.88% a year, against a 0.65% cohort median and index-built peers like DFAC at 0.17%. The manager has to earn that gap.
• A 2025 launch with a small asset base, so there is little live track record to judge the strategy on yet.
• Thinly traded, so spreads can run wider and order timing matters more than it would in the category's heavyweights. Distributions come once or twice a year.

Full AVMC profile⁠

Full EPSB profile⁠