AVSC vs RESM

AVSCAAvantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF

RESMBColumbia Research Enhanced Small Cap 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.

RESM Columbia brought its Research Enhanced approach down to small caps in December 2025 and priced it like an index fund: 0.32% a year, cheaper than most active rivals in the category. The trade-off is everything that comes with a brand-new, tiny 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.

RESM The Fund pursues its objective by investing in dividend-paying common and preferred stocks.

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.

• RESM Charges 0.32% a year, undercutting the typical actively managed US small-cap ETF and landing close to index-fund territory.
• Actively managed, so security selection decides what it owns rather than straight replication of a small-cap benchmark.
• The portfolio itself is the strongest part of the build, grading well on holdings quality within the active small-cap group.

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.

• RESM Launched in December 2025. There is no long record to judge yet, and our read on it carries less confidence than for seasoned funds.
• Assets are small and trading is thin, which can mean wider spreads than the established names in the category.
• Top-graded peers such as AVUV, AVSC and FESM charge a touch less and have years of live history behind them.

Full AVSC profile⁠

Full RESM profile⁠