AVUS vs VYM

AVUSAAvantis U.S. Equity ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

AVUS Most multifactor funds outsource the job to an index. AVUS doesn't: Avantis runs a whole-market U.S. portfolio actively, leaning toward smaller, cheaper, more profitable companies, and charges 0.15% to do it.

VYM The no-frills dividend workhorse. VYM buys the higher-yielding end of the US market, roughly 600 names, for four basis points: no quality screen, no dividend-growth-streak test, just yield, at scale since 2006.

Stated mandate

AVUS The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing broadly in U.S. companies of all market capitalizations, while emphasizing smaller companies and those with stronger profitability and value characteristics.

VYM The Fund seeks to track a benchmark index measuring the investment return of common stocks from companies characterized by high dividend yields.

Why people hold it

• AVUS 0.15% a year, well under the typical fee in its multifactor peer group.
• No index to shadow. Managers can act on price and profitability data as it changes instead of waiting for a calendar rebalance date.avantisinvestors.com
• Roughly 1,900 stocks across large, mid and small caps: a full-market holding with the tilts built in, not a narrow factor sleeve.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the easier names in its cohort to trade, which keeps the cost of getting in and out low.

• VYM Four basis points a year, against a peer-group median near 0.32%. Cheaper than cohort neighbors VONV (0.06%) and FNDX (0.25%).
• Running since 2006 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so ordinary orders tend to fill at tight spreads.
• Simple mandate: track the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index of US common stocks screened on yield. No manager discretion, no options overlay, plain 1940-Act fund.vanguard.com
• Pays quarterly, and among 100-plus value and multifactor rivals it stands as one of the strongest overall packages in the group.

Worth knowing

• AVUS The small-cap and value leanings are the whole point, so the portfolio can look nothing like a megacap-led S&P 500 fund in either direction.
• Cheap, not the cheapest shelf. Index peers such as VYM (0.04%) and VONV (0.06%) undercut it on fee.
• Actively managed with no published index behind it, so what you get is Avantis's rulebook and its execution rather than a benchmark you can check line by line.avantisinvestors.com

• VYM The screen is yield, not payout growth or dividend quality, so a company can qualify simply because its share price fell.
• This is a value slice by design, tilted to established payers, so it behaves differently from a total US market fund.
• Roughly 600 holdings, but weight leans toward the largest payers, so the top of the roster does more of the work than the count suggests.

Full AVUS profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠