AVSU vs SNPE

AVSUBAvantis Responsible U.S. Equity ETF

SNPEAXtrackers S&P 500 Scored & Screened ETF

In short

AVSU Most ESG funds hand you a screened S&P 500. AVSU screens the whole US market, roughly 1,300 names across every size, then leans toward cheaper, more profitable companies. A quant tilt wearing a values filter, at 0.15%.

SNPE The S&P 500 with roughly 200 names screened out, for 0.10% a year. SNPE keeps the plumbing of a plain core index fund and lets S&P's rules, not a stock picker, decide who stays in the basket.

Stated mandate

AVSU Seeks long-term capital appreciation through a broad portfolio of U.S. companies across market capitalizations. The strategy applies ESG exclusions and emphasizes companies with lower valuations and higher profitability.

SNPE The fund seeks investment results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of its underlying index.

Why people hold it

• AVSU At 0.15%, it undercuts the median fee in its US ESG peer group, where the typical fund charges 0.25%.
• Roughly 1,300 holdings measured against the Russell 3000, so mid and small caps ride along, not just the S&P 500 names screened by peers like EFIV and XVV.
• The tilts are written into the mandate, not implied: ESG exclusions plus a stated emphasis on lower valuations and higher profitability.
• The portfolio lines up closely with what the prospectus describes, and it stands in the upper half of a crowded US ESG-and-values field.

• SNPE A 0.10% expense ratio puts it in the cheap seats of the screened-index crowd, alongside XVV (0.08%) and ESGV (0.09%) and well under the group's typical fee.
• Plain index plumbing: it aims to match the S&P 500 Scored & Screened Index before fees, and it has hugged that mandate closely.
• Roughly 300 stocks, so the screen actually bites. Around 200 S&P 500 members are cut outright rather than quietly trimmed.
• A multi-billion-dollar Xtrackers fund running since 2019 with steady daily volume and quarterly payouts. Not a thin, untested launch.

Worth knowing

• AVSU Thinly traded next to the category's household names, so spreads and order size carry more weight here.
• The value and profitability tilts, plus smaller companies, mean it can behave differently from a screened S&P 500 fund for long stretches, in either direction.
• "Responsible" means Avantis's own ESG exclusion rules, not an industry standard. The fund opened in 2022, so its live record is still young.

• SNPE Cutting ~200 names concentrates what's left. The megacap leaders of the parent index end up carrying even more weight here.
• The screens are S&P's, not yours. They are rules-based and reapplied at each rebalance, so the roster can shift without warning.
• Not the outright cheapest option in the group: XVV and ESGV shave a basis point or two off the fee.

Full AVSU profile⁠

Full SNPE profile⁠