AVSC vs SAWS

AVSCAAvantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF

SAWSCAAM Sawgrass U.S. Small Cap Quality 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.

SAWS Most small-cap funds are built to chase the upside. SAWS writes the other half into its mandate: the prospectus objective names downside protection and low standard deviation alongside growth, pursued through an active, multi-screen model.

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.

SAWS The Fund seeks risk-adjusted returns, upside participation, downside protection, low standard deviation, and 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.

• SAWS The mandate is unusually specific for a small-cap fund: risk-adjusted returns, upside participation, downside protection and low standard deviation, and the portfolio has tracked that description closely.
• Five screens stacked into one small-cap sleeve: quality, profitability, value, momentum and low volatility, blended by a proprietary model rather than an off-the-shelf index.
• At 0.55% a year, active stock selection priced close to the middle of the active small-cap field rather than at a premium to it.

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.

• SAWS A small fund that trades lightly. Bid-ask spreads can be wide, and that cost lands in your fill price, most visibly on bigger orders.
• Launched in 2024, so the record is short and covers one market regime. No full drawdown cycle yet to test the downside-protection half of the mandate.
• Bigger systematic rivals such as AVUV, AVSC and DUHP charge 0.20% to 0.29% and stand higher in the cohort; SAWS sits in the lower half of its peer group.

Full AVSC profile⁠

Full SAWS profile⁠