Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
AVSC vs ESML: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVSC returned +23.6% to ESML's +17.7%; 26% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $2.8bn on May 31, 2026 for Avantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF, and $2.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF.
Pair scorecard
ESML costs 0.08 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.9 points.
| Measure | AVSC | ESML |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +23.6% | +17.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 5.0%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | 5.3%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | MSCI USA Small Cap Extended ESG Focus Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.17% |
| Net assets, AVSC as of May 31, 2026 and ESML as of Oct 27, 2026 | $2.8bn | $2.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 26% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 3.4% | 5.2% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jan 21, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026 · 248 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: AVSC against IWM, Jan 21, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026; ESML against PBUS, Apr 20, 2018 to Oct 23, 2026.
AVSC returned more: +62.2% to +53.3%. ESML swung slightly less: 19.6% to 20.5%. ESML fell slightly less at its worst: −23.5% to −25.5%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | AVSC | ESML | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +62.2% | +53.3% | AVSC | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +10.7% | +9.4% | AVSC | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +52.9% | +44.4% | AVSC | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 20.5% | 19.6% | ESML (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.0% | 13.4% | ESML (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −25.5% | −23.5% | ESML (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 96.8% | 97.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 96.9% | 104.1% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.96 | 1.11 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.94 | 0.76 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.40 | 0.35 | AVSC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.58 | 0.50 | AVSC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.085 | 0.085 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.42 | 0.40 | AVSC (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWM | PBUS | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.1% a year | −4.4% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.89 | −1.14 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.5% to +6.7% | −11.9% to +3.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.35 | −0.27 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 5.2% | 11.3% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 248 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, AVSC and ESML hold 26% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
26% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
AVSC and ESML on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
AVSC and ESML are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. AVSC follows No index, actively managed and ESML follows MSCI USA Small Cap Extended ESG Focus Index.
- Holdings in common. 26% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 AVSC returned +23.6% and ESML +17.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +23.6% with distributions reinvested, against +14.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000.
AVSC is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.25% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,540 positions, with the top ten at 3.4%. It sat 5.0% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
ESML
ESML tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.17% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 12% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 903 positions, with the top ten at 5.2%. It sat 5.3% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, AVSC or ESML?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVSC returned +23.6% and ESML +17.7%.
- Which is cheaper, AVSC or ESML?
- ESML is cheaper, by 0.08 percentage points a year. That is about $8 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, AVSC against ESML, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avsc-vs-esml
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). AVSC against ESML. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avsc-vs-esml
[AVSC against ESML (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avsc-vs-esml)
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