Avantis Responsible International Equity ETF

Avantis Responsible International Equity ETF (AVSD) is an actively managed fund from American Century Investments that holds more than 2,000 stocks of companies outside the US, after screening out businesses tied to oil and gas, tobacco and gambling. It leans toward smaller, cheaper and more profitable companies. Its 0.23% fee is higher than broad index funds like VEA (0.03%), and at about $359 million in assets as of August 31, 2026, it is small.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, AVSD returned +11.7%, 9th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2024 (+6.7%); its best was 2025 (+37.0%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 25.6% (Mar 29, 2022 to Oct 12, 2022), recovered by Jul 13, 2023.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 2,047 securities; the ten largest made up 8.61% of assets.

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors withdrew a net $114.3M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.02%, +1.46%, +1.82%.

AVSD is actively managed and does not track an index. Its managers start with non-US companies of all sizes. Then they remove those that fail environmental, social and governance (ESG) screens, using MSCI and Sustainalytics ratings plus their own judgment. Out go companies with significant revenue from oil and gas, civilian firearms, tobacco, cannabis, gambling, palm oil or adult entertainment. So do thermal coal producers, the worst 5% on carbon emissions intensity and firms with weak governance scores. A stock is screened when the fund purchases it. The fund doesn't have to sell a stock whose ESG profile later slips.

Each remaining stock starts at its market-value weight. The managers then hold more of smaller companies and of those that look cheap (a low price relative to book value) and profitable (high operating cash flow relative to book value). They hold less of large, expensive, less profitable ones. As of August 31, 2026, that produced 2,047 stocks. The top 10 made up just 8.61% of assets, led by ASML, HSBC and Roche at about 1% each. Japan was the largest country at 22.75%.

There is no set rebalancing date. The managers review holdings continually and weigh trading costs and taxes. Turnover was 3%, per the prospectus. The fund can lend out its securities. It may also handle creations and redemptions in cash, which can make it less tax-efficient than ETFs that swap securities in kind.

• AVSD charges 0.23% a year, versus an average of 0.15% for the similar funds below (6th of 9, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $24 in the first year and $293 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It adds non-US developed-market stocks, tilted toward smaller value companies, to a portfolio that may lean heavily on US shares.

For investors whose stocks are mostly US companies, AVSD adds markets such as Japan, Canada and the UK, with a tilt toward smaller, cheaper companies. Its record is short. It launched in March 2022, so it missed the 2008 and 2020 crashes and the start of the 2022 bear market. It still fell 25.6% from March 29 to October 12, 2022. It got back to its earlier peak on July 13, 2023, about nine months after the low. It hasn't had a losing calendar year since, and its weakest full year, 2024, gained 6.7%. Anyone who needed to sell shares during that 2022 slide would have sold well below the earlier peak. The trailing yield was 2.79% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly. The 0.23% fee is above the 0.15% peer average. 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.