AVSE vs VEM

AVSEAAvantis Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF

VEMCVirtus Emerging Markets Dividend ETF

In short

AVSE Avantis's emerging markets workhorse with a values filter bolted on: the same profitability tilt and thousands-of-stocks build as its flagship EM fund, at the same 0.33% fee, minus the issuers its team flags on ESG grounds.

VEM Most emerging-market funds sell you the growth story. This one flips the order: current income first, capital appreciation second, in a compact actively run portfolio priced below the typical active EM fee.

Stated mandate

AVSE The fund is an actively managed emerging-markets equity strategy that seeks to identify securities with higher expected returns while excluding issuers that raise concerns under the portfolio team's environmental, social, and governance evaluation.

VEM The Fund seeks current income and, secondarily, long-term capital appreciation. It invests at least 80% of its assets in dividend-paying securities economically connected to emerging-market countries.

Why people hold it

• AVSE Charges 0.33% a year, roughly half the typical fee among actively managed emerging markets funds. The cost drag stays out of the way of the strategy.
• The screen trims rather than concentrates: the portfolio still spans thousands of emerging markets stocks, not a short list of approved names.avantisinvestors.com
• Active in the Avantis sense: a systematic tilt toward more profitable companies, not a manager's hunches about which stocks pop next.
• Priced level with Avantis's mainstream EM funds (AVEM, AVXC) and JPMorgan's JEMA at 0.33%, and one of the stronger builds in the active EM group.

• VEM Costs 0.49% a year against a 0.65% median for active emerging-market funds, so less of the dividend stream gets skimmed on the way to you.
• The income mandate is written into the prospectus: at least 80% of assets in dividend payers economically tied to emerging markets. Yield is the stated goal, not a byproduct.
• About 60 names, run actively against the MSCI Emerging Markets Index rather than replicating it. Real selection, not a sliver of everything.

Worth knowing

• AVSE Thinly traded next to the index-fund giants of emerging markets, so bid-ask spreads can widen and larger orders need care.
• The ESG exclusions are the portfolio team's own judgment calls, so the holdings and the results will drift from a plain broad EM benchmark.
• Emerging markets equity brings currency swings and country-level political risk, and this fund holds that exposure directly. Pays quarterly.

• VEM Young, small and thinly traded. Spreads can be wide on funds at this size, which makes limit orders and a glance at the bid/ask worth the extra second.
• Cheaper broad EM funds exist: AVEM at 0.33% and DFEM at 0.39%. Neither leads with income, so the fee gap buys you a different job.
• Distributions arrive annually or semiannually, so the income lands in lumps rather than a monthly drip.

Full AVSE profile⁠

Full VEM profile⁠