AVMC vs SMIZ

AVMCAAvantis U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF

SMIZBZacks Small/Mid Cap 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.

SMIZ Zacks built its name on tracking analyst earnings-estimate revisions. SMIZ is that research run as an active US small/mid blend: 150-250 names, rebalanced monthly, at 0.55% net of a waiver through April 1, 2027.

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.

SMIZ The Fund seeks positive risk-adjusted returns through investments in equity securities of small and midsize U.S. companies and related derivatives.

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.

• SMIZ The engine is Zacks' home turf: upward earnings estimate revisions, their size, how recent estimates land versus consensus, and the frequency of earnings surprises. Scored on Zacks data, rebalanced monthly.sec.gov
• Genuinely blended, not small-cap wearing a smid label: the prospectus pins about 30%-70% of assets in each sleeve, so neither end of the size range quietly takes over the portfolio.sec.gov
• Wide for a stock-picking fund: 150-250 positions, any economic sector, drawn from the Russell 2000 and Russell Midcap universes. One bad quarter at one holding stays a rounding error.sec.gov
• Priced near the middle of the active small/mid pack: 0.55% net of a waiver through April 1, 2027, against a 0.60% gross ratio.

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.

• SMIZ You pay for the human and the model. Rules-based rivals in the same aisle run cheaper, including AVMC at 0.18% and JMEE at 0.35%, both without waivers propping up the number.
• Thinly traded next to the category's heavyweights, so bid-ask spreads and order timing carry more weight here than with the big index smid funds.
• Young by fund standards (listed in 2023), and distributions arrive annually or semiannually rather than on a monthly drip.

Full AVMC profile⁠

Full SMIZ profile⁠