AVSC vs TMFS

AVSCAAvantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF

TMFSFMotley Fool Small-Cap 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.

TMFS The Motley Fool's stock-picking bench in an ETF wrapper: an actively managed basket of US small caps chosen for quality and growth, with no index to hide behind and a fee that reflects the human effort.

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.

TMFS The actively managed ETF seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of small-capitalization companies. It uses a quality-growth approach and generally invests at least 80% of net assets in small-cap companies.

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.

• TMFS Genuinely active, not an index in disguise: managers pick US small caps on quality and growth, with at least 80% of net assets in small-cap companies per the prospectus.
• Trading since 2018, so there is a real multi-year live record from a named research house instead of a back-test.
• One legible job: US-listed equities only, small-cap quality-growth style, no overseas sleeve or mid-cap drift written into the mandate.

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.

• TMFS The 0.85% expense ratio sits well above the median for active small-cap funds, and the highest-graded rivals in the group (AVUV, AVSC) charge a fraction of that.
• Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so spreads can be wider and bigger orders can push the price around.
• The mandate is capital appreciation, not income, and against its active small-cap peer group the fund lands in the bottom quartile on our review.

Full AVSC profile⁠

Full TMFS profile⁠