NISM vs TACN

NISMDNYLI International Small-Mid Cap Equity ETF

TACNAT. Rowe Price Active Core International Equity ETF

In short

NISM Active stock-picking in a corner Wall Street barely covers: New York Life hands the keys to Ausbil's Global SmallCap team in Sydney, which builds a 50 to 100 name portfolio of non-US companies sized from roughly $500 million to $35 billion.

TACN T. Rowe Price's index-aware take on developed international stocks: it shadows the MSCI EAFE benchmark while nudging weights, and the fee is waived to 0.00% through January 30, 2027 (0.20% gross).

Stated mandate

NISM The Fund seeks long-term capital growth.

TACN The fund's goal is to achieve long-term capital growth.

Why people hold it

• NISM Sub-advised by Ausbil, an Australian active-equity specialist in New York Life's boutique network, running a global small-cap strategy that predates this ETF wrapper.nylim.combusinesswire.com
• Concentrated by design: the mandate targets 50 to 100 non-US names, so each pick carries real weight instead of being diluted across a thousand-stock index.businesswire.com
• Spans small and mid caps (roughly $500 million to $35 billion), covering the size band pure small-cap funds stop short of and large-cap international funds skip.businesswire.com
• Fully active, with no index to hug: a macro read, then regional and sector tilts, then company-level research, then risk-aware portfolio construction.businesswire.com

• TACN Fee waived to zero through January 30, 2027, then the 0.20% gross rate applies. Top-scoring active international peers AVDE (0.23%) and DFIC (0.22%) charge more, with no waiver.troweprice.com
• Built around the MSCI EAFE Index: an optimizer modestly over- and underweights names, targeting tracking error above most passive funds and below most active ones.sec.govtroweprice.com
• Names come from T. Rowe's quant models plus bottom-up fundamental research (valuation, profitability, financial stability, earnings quality), with at least 80% of net assets normally in equities.sec.govtroweprice.com
• Despite being new, it already stands among the strongest-rated funds in a crowded active international equity group, with long-term capital growth as the stated goal.

Worth knowing

• NISM At 0.70% a year, it costs more than the typical fund in its active international peer group (median 0.59%) and well more than systematic peers like AVDE at 0.23% or AVDS at 0.30%.
• Launched in 2026 with a small asset base and light trading, so spreads can run wider than the category's giants and there is little live record to study.
• Distributions come once or twice a year at most. The stated goal is long-term capital growth, not an income stream.

• TACN Launched December 10, 2025, so the track record is short and assets are still small. Trading is thin, which can mean wider spreads than at big index rivals.
• The zero fee is contractual, not permanent: it runs through January 30, 2027, after which the 0.20% gross expense ratio kicks in.troweprice.com
• Low tracking error is the design, not a bug. The active tilt is deliberately modest, so the portfolio is built to hug EAFE rather than stray from it.sec.gov

Full NISM profile⁠

Full TACN profile⁠