AVXC vs RWEM

AVXCAAvantis Emerging Markets ex-China Equity ETF

RWEMCRayliant Wilshire NxtGen Emerging 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.

RWEM A Rayliant and Wilshire tie-up in active emerging-markets equity: one job, long-term capital appreciation, at a fee below what the typical active EM peer charges. Small and thinly traded, so patience at the order screen comes with it.

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.

RWEM The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

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.

• RWEM Charges 0.52% against a 0.65% median for active emerging-markets funds. Modest toll for a stock-picking mandate in the markets where research actually earns its keep.
• Sits in the upper half of a crowded active EM field, and what it owns is its strongest suit: portfolio construction grades better than most of the group.
• The mandate is one line in the prospectus: long-term capital appreciation from emerging-markets equities. No sleeve creep, no side quests.
• Trading since 2021, so there is a multi-year live record to judge rather than a backtest and a brochure.

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.

• RWEM Thinly traded and modest in size. Spreads can run wide and larger orders can nudge the price, which quietly eats into the fee advantage.
• Emerging-markets equity swings hard. Currency moves and policy shocks land straight in the price, and this fund's volatility profile sits at the rougher end of its peer group.
• Below median is not the floor. The best-graded funds in the cohort (AVEM, JEMA, AVXC) run 0.33%, so cheaper active EM shelf space exists.

Full AVXC profile⁠

Full RWEM profile⁠