AVUQ vs FQAL

AVUQBAvantis U.S. Quality ETF

FQALAFidelity Quality Factor ETF

In short

AVUQ Most quality ETFs screen a large-cap index and call it a day. AVUQ is Avantis running an active, all-cap book of roughly 600 U.S. growth names, judging them on profitability and price together, for 0.15% a year.

FQAL Fidelity's own quality screen, boxed into an ETF: roughly 130 U.S. companies picked for profitability, steady cash flow and clean balance sheets, at 0.15% a year, well under the typical fee in the quality-factor group.

Stated mandate

AVUQ Seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in high-quality U.S. growth companies across all market capitalizations and selecting and weighting them using relative profitability and valuations to seek higher expected returns.

FQAL The fund prioritizes U.S. companies exhibiting higher profitability, stable cash flows, and strong balance sheets.

Why people hold it

• AVUQ 0.15% a year puts it level with the household names in quality factor investing (QUAL, FQAL) and under a good chunk of the peer group.
• Price is part of the quality test. The fund selects and weights on relative profitability and valuation together, so expensive profit machines get less room.avantisinvestors.com
• All-cap by design: roughly 600 holdings reaching into mid and small companies, where quality index funds usually stop at the large-cap tier.
• Actively managed rather than locked to a benchmark, so the portfolio can be adjusted continuously instead of waiting on a set index reconstitution date.avantisinvestors.com

• FQAL Costs 0.15% a year, roughly half the typical fee among quality-factor ETFs. That puts it in the cheapest tier of the group, alongside JQUA, VFQY and QUAL.
• The rulebook is Fidelity's own: the Fidelity U.S. Quality Factor Index, tracked tightly. One of the closer index implementations in its peer group.
• Live since 2016 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, so this is a settled product rather than a launch still finding its footing.
• The screen is explicit about what it wants: higher profitability, stable cash flows, strong balance sheets. No vague 'quality' hand-waving.

Worth knowing

• AVUQ Launched in 2025, so there is not yet a full market cycle to judge it by. Older rivals in the quality aisle have years of behavior on the tape.
• It measures itself against a growth index (MSCI USA IMI Growth), so the sector mix leans growth rather than the broad market blend some quality funds hold.
• Volume is light next to the category's giants, so limit orders matter more than they would in a heavily traded fund.

• FQAL Roughly 130 stocks, not the whole market. A narrower bench means individual names and sector tilts carry more weight than in a total-market fund.
• Trading volume is light next to the category's biggest quality funds, which can show up as wider bid-ask spreads.
• Distributions come quarterly, but the screen hunts profitability and balance-sheet strength, not yield.

Full AVUQ profile⁠

Full FQAL profile⁠