Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF

Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF (BAFE) is an actively managed fund. It holds a concentrated portfolio of 44 stocks, led by Taiwan Semiconductor, Microsoft and Amazon as of June 30, 2026. Its managers mix growth and value styles and look for strong businesses at what they judge to be bargain prices. It costs 0.54% a year, above the 0.30% average of funds with similar holdings, and its record only goes back to its November 2024 launch.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, BAFE returned +10.5%, 4th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2025 (+9.8%); its best was 2025 (+9.8%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 18.4% (Jan 30, 2025 to Apr 8, 2025), recovered by Jul 3, 2025.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 44 securities; the ten largest made up 42.19% of assets.

By sector

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors withdrew a net $4.6M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +1.53%, +1.48%, +11.82%.

BAFE is an actively managed ETF with no index to follow: the adviser, Brown Advisory LLC, picks each stock and must keep at least 80% of net assets in equities. Its "flexible equity" approach allows growth or value stocks of any size, though it generally favors companies worth over $2 billion when bought. Up to 15% may go abroad, including emerging markets, sometimes through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), U.S.-traded certificates for foreign shares.

The adviser looks for strong or improving businesses at what it considers bargain prices. It weighs market position, financial strength, earnings, management and free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business). Sustainability research may factor in, but no minimum standard applies. It builds the portfolio stock by stock and may give favorite ideas bigger weights.

Instead of scheduled rebalancing, the adviser monitors holdings and sells or trims when a stock's price exceeds its estimate of what the business is worth, when risk outweighs reward, or to raise cash for a better idea. Portfolio turnover, the share of holdings replaced in a year, was 14%. As of June 30, 2026, the fund held 44 positions and no derivatives; the top 10 made up 42% of assets, led by Taiwan Semiconductor (via an ADR, 7.1%), Microsoft (4.8%) and Amazon (4.3%).

• BAFE charges 0.54% a year, versus an average of 0.3% for the similar funds below (7th of 9, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.5% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• The fee includes a 0.03% waiver from the adviser, which may end.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $55 in the first year and $711 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

With 44 stocks, a manager-driven approach and less than two years of history, BAFE fits better as a stock-picking addition beside a broad index fund than as the main holding, even though its swings so far have been close to the market's.

BAFE launched in November 2024, so it has no record from the 2008, 2020 or 2022 market declines. Its deepest drop was 18.4%, from January 30 to April 8, 2025. It regained its earlier peak by July 3, 2025, about three months later. Its only full calendar year, 2025, returned 9.74%. That is a short and fairly mild history. It says little about how the fund would hold up for a retiree selling shares during a long bear market. Income is small: the yield was 0.26% as of October 27, 2026, and the fund pays once a year. In the SEC's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost $55 in fees in the first year and $711 over 10 years. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

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