AVXC vs JADE

AVXCAAvantis Emerging Markets ex-China Equity ETF

JADECJPMorgan Active Developing Markets Equity ETF

In short

AVXC The China question, answered by subtraction. Avantis runs its usual emerging-markets playbook (roughly 2,800 stocks of every size, tilted toward the cheap and the profitable) with China left out entirely, for 0.33% a year.

JADE JPMorgan's stock-picker take on emerging markets: analysts pick roughly 140 names, and country bets come second. Priced at the middle of the active EM ETF pack.

Stated mandate

AVXC The fund invests in a broad set of companies across emerging-market countries, excluding China, and spanning all market capitalizations. It seeks higher expected returns by overweighting securities with lower valuations and higher profitability ratios.

JADE The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through a portfolio of equities tied economically to developing markets. It uses active security selection, emphasizing growth and value companies and businesses with sustainable earnings and disciplined capital management.

Why people hold it

• AVXC 0.33% a year, about half the typical fee among active EM funds, and the ex-China carve-out costs no more than Avantis charges on its with-China flagship, AVEM.
• Roughly 2,800 holdings spanning all market-cap sizes, so removing China doesn't turn the fund into a concentrated bet on a few large markets.avantisinvestors.com
• Actively run against MSCI Emerging Markets IMI rather than tracking it: the mandate overweights lower-valuation, higher-profitability companies.
• One of the stronger builds in the active emerging-markets group we review, on cost and portfolio construction alike.

• JADE Bottom-up by design: security selection drives the portfolio, with country and sector calls secondary. Roughly 140 stocks, not a thousand-name index sleeve.prnewswire.com
• Runs 0.65%, dead-on the median for active EM equity ETFs. Active stock picking here does not carry an above-market toll.
• Managed by J.P. Morgan's Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific equity team, and measured against the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (net total return), the standard EM yardstick.prnewswire.com
• Lands in the upper half of our active EM equity group, with risk behavior that has been tamer than most of that cohort so far.

Worth knowing

• AVXC Thinly traded next to the giants of the category, so spreads and limit orders matter more on the way in and the way out.
• Launched in 2024, so the live record is short and the risk picture is still forming.
• Leaving China out is a real departure from standard EM exposure, and the value and small-cap tilts add more distance from a plain cap-weighted index.

• JADE Cheaper cousins exist: sibling JEMA and Dimensional's DFEM buy EM equities for about half the fee, though they lean systematic rather than analyst-picked.
• Launched in 2024, still a small fund and thinly traded, so spreads can run wider than the giant EM index funds and the track record is short.
• Concentrated conviction cuts both ways: with about 140 holdings, results can drift meaningfully from MSCI EM in either direction. Distributions come once or twice a year.

Full AVXC profile⁠

Full JADE profile⁠