Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF

Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF (AVDV) is an actively managed fund from American Century Investments that held 1,751 smaller companies outside the US as of May 31, 2026. Rather than tracking an index, its managers tilt toward stocks that look cheap relative to their accounting value and earn strong cash flow. Its 0.36% yearly fee (expense ratio) is below the 0.42% charged by its closest match, Dimensional International Small Cap Value ETF (DISV).

• Over the year to Nov 2, 2026, AVDV returned +22.1%, 1st of 4 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +13.6%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 40.1% and regained its old high 8 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-11.5%); its best was 2025 (+49.4%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 43% (Jan 2, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020), recovered by Dec 4, 2020.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 1,708 securities; the ten largest made up 6.61% of assets.

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors added a net $279.7M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: -4.93%, +0.95%, +7.46%.

AVDV is actively managed: managers pick holdings rather than copy an index. Normally at least 80% of assets sit in small-cap stocks, meaning companies with a modest total stock-market value. A company qualifies if it is no bigger than the largest member of the MSCI World ex USA Small Cap Index when added ($26.9 billion as of September 30, 2025). Size is judged by country, so a firm may be small in one market but not another.

Among those, managers favor smaller firms with stronger value and profitability. Value mainly means a high adjusted book-to-price ratio: a low share price relative to the company's net worth on its books. Profitability mainly means strong operating cash flow relative to book value. Each stock starts at its market-value weight and is tilted up or down on these traits; past performance, liquidity, costs and taxes can also count. Stocks that no longer fit may be dropped.

Trading is light: the prospectus filed December 29, 2025 reports 4% turnover, the share of holdings replaced yearly. The fund may use futures, currency forwards and swaps, for example to keep cash invested, and may lend securities against collateral. It may also process share creations and redemptions in cash, which can trigger capital gains and make it less tax-efficient than ETFs that exchange securities.

• AVDV charges 0.36% a year, versus an average of 0.46% for the similar funds below (1st of 4, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $37 in the first year and $456 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It adds smaller, cheaply priced companies outside the US, a part of the market that many US-focused portfolios hold little of.

AVDV launched in September 2019, so it has no record from the 2008 crisis. In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 40.1% from February 19 to March 23, 2020. Its deepest drop, 43%, took about 8 months to recover. In the 2022 downturn it fell 27.7% and needed nearly 15 months to regain its high. Its worst calendar year was 2022, a loss of 11.23%. Drawing income in those periods meant cashing in shares at depressed prices.

It pays quarterly, and its yield over the prior year was 3.25% as of October 29, 2026. The SEC's standard example assumes $10,000 invested and 5% yearly returns. On that basis, its 0.36% expense ratio costs $37 in the first year and $456 over 10 years. Past results don't predict future ones, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.