AVSC vs BSVO

AVSCAAvantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF

BSVOAEA Bridgeway Omni Small-Cap Value ETF

In short

AVSC Avantis's whole-field small cap fund: roughly 1,500 US small companies in one ticker, run by the manager's own rules rather than a published index, at 0.25% a year.

BSVO Statistical value screens cast wide across cheap small caps, run by a Houston quant shop that gives away half its profits. Live as a mutual fund since 2010, an ETF since 2023, at 0.45% a year, below the typical active small-cap fund.

Stated mandate

AVSC The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation and invests primarily in a diversified group of U.S. small-cap companies across market sectors and industries, with at least 80% of assets normally invested in U.S. small-cap equity securities.

BSVO The Fund seeks long-term total return on capital, primarily through capital appreciation. It is actively managed and invests mainly in a broad, diverse group of small-cap stocks selected as value stocks using statistical value measures.

Why people hold it

• AVSC 0.25% a year versus a 0.52% median for active US small-cap funds. Less than half the going rate for a hands-on manager.
• Roughly 1,500 holdings spread across sectors and industries, so one small-cap blowup barely dents the fund.
• One of the strongest all-round implementations in the active US small-cap group on cost, portfolio build and ease of trading.
• Pays quarterly, trades with steady daily volume, and pulled in over a billion dollars since its 2022 launch.

• BSVO At 0.45% with no waiver propping it up, it costs less than the category median and less than JPSV (0.55%), the other fund we track against the Russell 2000 Value Index.
• Value is a statistical screen here, not a hunch, applied across a broad, diverse group of small caps, so no single stock story carries the fund.etfarchitect.com
• Not a 2023 startup. The strategy dates to 2010 as a Bridgeway mutual fund and converted into this ETF on March 13, 2023, carrying its history with it.etfarchitect.cometfarchitect.com 2
• Sub-adviser Bridgeway is a statistically driven Houston firm that donates half its profits to nonprofits, a pledge written into its original 1993 business plan.bridgeway.comwikipedia.org

Worth knowing

• AVSC Undiluted small-cap equity, kept at least 80% invested in the asset class. It rides the small-cap cycle with deeper swings than a large-cap fund.
• No declared index to check it against. The manager's stock-selection rules are the product, so you are buying a process, not a published benchmark.
• Its sibling AVUV works the value slice of the same universe at the same 0.25%. Own both and you are doubling up on overlapping small-cap names.

• BSVO Actively managed, with the Russell 2000 Value Index as a yardstick rather than a target, so results can drift from that benchmark in either direction.
• Cheap small caps swing hard, and the prospectus keeps at least 80% of net assets in small-cap stocks, so there is no cash cushion by design.etfarchitect.com
• Cheaper systematic rivals sit in the same aisle, including DFSV at 0.30% and AVSC at 0.25%, neither relying on a waiver. Payouts come once or twice a year, not monthly.

Full AVSC profile⁠

Full BSVO profile⁠