AVSC vs SMLL

AVSCAAvantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF

SMLLFHarbor Active Small Cap ETF (SMLL)

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.

SMLL Harbor's 2024 entry into small caps skips the thousand-stock dragnet: roughly 50 U.S. small-cap names, actively picked, chasing long-term total return. A concentrated stock-picker's take in a corner of the market ruled by broad quant sweeps.

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.

SMLL The Fund seeks long-term total return.

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.

• SMLL Roughly 50 holdings, not a thousand. This is a concentrated active portfolio, so individual stock picks actually move the needle instead of getting diluted into an index blur.
• The mandate is refreshingly plain: long-term total return from U.S. small-cap equities, mainly common and preferred stock. No sleeves, no derivatives overlay, no story to decode.
• Backed by Harbor, a manager with a long history of packaging outside stock-picking teams into funds rather than running everything in-house.

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.

• SMLL You pay 0.80% a year for the active seat. Systematic small-cap rivals like AVUV and AVSC charge 0.25%, so the stock picking has real ground to make up.
• Concentration cuts both ways. With about 50 names, a handful of picks can drive returns in either direction far more than in a broad small-cap basket.
• Launched in 2024 and thinly traded, so the track record is short and bid-ask spreads tend to be wider than on the category's household names.

Full AVSC profile⁠

Full SMLL profile⁠