AVSC vs CSMD

AVSCAAvantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF

CSMDCCongress SMID Growth 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.

CSMD A stock picker in a corner of the market dominated by rules-based funds. Congress hunts growth across the small-and-mid-cap band instead of one style box, and charges above the category median for a human team's judgment.

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.

CSMD The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

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.

• CSMD Simple mandate, wide net: long-term capital appreciation, with a SMID remit that lets the managers own smaller and mid-sized names instead of being boxed into one size band.
• Trading is the smoothest part of the package. It changes hands often enough that ordinary retail-sized orders aren't wrestling a thin market.
• Not a just-launched experiment: live since 2023, with real assets behind it rather than a rounding error, run by Congress Asset Management.

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.

• CSMD Cost is the trade-off. At 0.68% a year it sits above the typical fund in its category, while systematic rivals like AVUV run 0.25% and DUHP 0.20%.
• No index rulebook to check it against. This is a discretionary portfolio in a slice of the market that swings harder than large caps.
• Built for growth, not a paycheck: the stated goal is capital appreciation, and the fund has not been running a regular distribution.

Full AVSC profile⁠

Full CSMD profile⁠