AVUQ vs JQUA

AVUQBAvantis U.S. Quality ETF

JQUAAJPMorgan U.S. 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.

JQUA Quality investing without the quality price tag. JQUA screens U.S. companies for profitability and strong balance-sheet traits, and charges 0.12%, the lowest fee in the quality-factor group we track.

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.

JQUA JQUA is designed to provide domestic equity exposure focused on companies with strong quality and profitability characteristics, using a rules-based approach intended to enhance returns.

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

• JQUA 0.12% a year, against a roughly 0.29% median for quality-factor funds, and it undercuts the bigger badges QUAL and FQAL at 0.15%.
• About 300 U.S. names selected on quality and profitability: a broad core-shaped sleeve, not a concentrated wager on a dozen balance sheets.
• Live since 2017 and now a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund, so it has both a real track record and daily two-way flow.
• One of the stronger implementations in its peer group: it stays close to the JP Morgan US Quality Factor Index it follows while keeping costs at the bottom of the group.

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.

• JQUA A quality screen is a tilt, not a shield. Owning profitable companies means owning less of everything else, and that gap cuts both ways.
• Trades actively, though it is not the most heavily traded fund on the quality-factor shelf, which matters more for large orders than small ones.
• Distributions land quarterly and fall out of what the screen owns. Income is a byproduct here, not the mandate.

Full AVUQ profile⁠

Full JQUA profile⁠