Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
AVSC vs NUSC: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVSC returned +23.6% to NUSC's +12.2%; 2% 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 $1.3bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF.
Pair scorecard
AVSC costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.4 points.
| Measure | AVSC | NUSC |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +23.6% | +12.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 5.0%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | 5.7%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Nuveen ESG USA Small-Cap Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.31% |
| Net assets, AVSC as of May 31, 2026 and NUSC as of Jul 31, 2026 | $2.8bn | $1.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 3.4% | 10.2% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and 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; NUSC against MLRG, Dec 23, 2016 to Oct 23, 2026.
AVSC returned more: +62.2% to +35.4%. NUSC swung slightly less: 19.6% to 20.5%. NUSC fell slightly less at its worst: −23.6% to −25.5%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | AVSC | NUSC | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +62.2% | +35.4% | AVSC | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +10.7% | +6.6% | AVSC | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +52.9% | +29.6% | AVSC | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 20.5% | 19.6% | NUSC (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.0% | 13.6% | NUSC (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −25.5% | −23.6% | NUSC (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 96.8% | 93.6% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 96.9% | 103.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.96 | 1.07 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.94 | 0.77 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.40 | 0.21 | AVSC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.58 | 0.30 | AVSC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.085 | 0.081 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.42 | 0.28 | AVSC | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWM | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.1% a year | −4.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.89 | −1.33 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.5% to +6.7% | −11.0% to +2.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.35 | −0.34 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 5.2% | 10.5% | 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 NUSC hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
AVSC and NUSC on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
AVSC and NUSC 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 NUSC follows Nuveen ESG USA Small-Cap Index.
- Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 AVSC returned +23.6% and NUSC +12.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.4 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.
NUSC
NUSC tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.31% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 6% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 405 positions, with the top ten at 10.2%. It sat 5.7% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, AVSC or NUSC?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVSC returned +23.6% and NUSC +12.2%.
- Which is cheaper, AVSC or NUSC?
- AVSC is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 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 NUSC, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avsc-vs-nusc
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). AVSC against NUSC. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avsc-vs-nusc
[AVSC against NUSC (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avsc-vs-nusc)
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