AVTM vs RFFC

AVTMAAvantis Total Equity Markets ETF 1

RFFCBALPS Active Equity Opportunity ETF

In short

AVTM Avantis' one-ticket world stock market: roughly 1,700 holdings, U.S. names owned directly and the overseas sleeves held through sister Avantis funds, all tilted toward cheaper, more profitable companies.

RFFC Most active equity funds ask you to trust a stock picker. RFFC leans on one hard number instead: return on invested capital, applied to an S&P Composite 1500 opportunity set, at a fee below most of its active peers.

Stated mandate

AVTM Seeks long-term capital appreciation through a broadly diversified total-market equity allocation, using individual securities and Avantis ETFs while emphasizing securities expected to offer higher returns or better risk characteristics than a passive market-capitalization-weighted index.

RFFC RFFC is designed to pursue capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• AVTM Costs 0.22% net of a fee waiver (0.23% gross), a notch under stablemate AVGE at 0.23% and below the typical fee in its category.
• Owns U.S. companies directly rather than only stacking funds, then uses Avantis ETFs for developed and emerging markets abroad. One ticket, all market caps.sec.gov
• Benchmarked to 85% Russell 3000 and 15% MSCI ACWI ex-US IMI: a deliberately U.S.-heavy world portfolio, not a global cap-weight split.avantisinvestors.com
• One of the stronger builds in a crowded field of actively managed global equity funds.

• RFFC Stock picking with a stated rule behind it: holdings are selected on return on invested capital, a profitability measure rather than a narrative.alpsfunds.com
• 0.48% a year sits below the typical fee in its active global equity peer group, unusual for a fundamentals-first, hand-picked portfolio.
• Live since 2016, so the approach has traded through real market cycles instead of arriving with a theme.
• Measured against the S&P Composite 1500, a benchmark that reaches past mega caps into mid and small companies. Pays quarterly.

Worth knowing

• AVTM Avantis flags that much of the starting portfolio sits on a low tax basis, so the fund may realize and distribute more capital gains than other ETFs.avantisinvestors.com
• Trades thinly next to the index giants in its category, so spreads and order size matter more here.
• Launched January 2026, so the history is short, and with no index to follow the portfolio reflects Avantis' own valuation and profitability tilts.sec.gov

• RFFC A small fund that trades thinly. Spreads can run wider than in giant index products, and sizable orders can move the price.
• Active by design: the manager's ROIC calls drive the outcome, and the portfolio can diverge from its S&P Composite 1500 benchmark for long stretches.
• Cheaper shelf-mates exist in the same peer group, with GSWO at 0.15% and AVGE at 0.25% running rules-based rather than hand-picked.

Full AVTM profile⁠

Full RFFC profile⁠