# AVUV ETF: fees, returns, drawdowns and holdings

> What AVUV holds, its 0.25% yearly fee, returns by year, its worst drop, and which Tactfolio strategies hold it. Updated daily.

Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF (AVUV) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by Avantis Investors (American Century). This fund owns hundreds of small US companies whose stocks look cheap and that make good profits. It charges 0.25% a year. From September 2019 to October 2026 it returned about 15.0% a year, and its worst drop was −49.4%.

Written by [the Tactfolio research team](https://tactfolio.com/about/editorial-policy). Fund facts checked October 17, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.

## Key points

- Expense ratio: 0.25% a year (about $25 on $10,000).
- Started trading on September 24, 2019.
- Last close: $120.08 on October 16, 2026.
- Return over the last year: 25.3%.
- Worst drop since 2019: −49.4%.
- No Tactfolio classic strategies hold it.

## How has AVUV done since 2019?

From September 2019 to October 2026, AVUV returned about 15.0% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 16.0% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $26,765 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.

| Period | AVUV | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 month | −2.1% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | −4.5% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | 4.5% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | 18.9% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | 25.3% | 16.8% |
| 3 years, per year | 17.9% | 22.0% |
| 5 years, per year | 10.7% | 12.8% |
| Since 2019, per year | 15.0% | 16.0% |

Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.

## AVUV returns by month and year

AVUV rose in 51 of its 86 months (59%). Its best month was April 2020, at 20.5%. Its worst was March 2020, at −28.9%.

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Full year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 (part) | 7.1% | 3.4% | −2.0% | 8.8% | −0.1% | 4.3% | 0.4% | −0.3% | −5.5% | 2.0% |  |  | 18.9% |
| 2025 | 1.8% | −5.5% | −5.8% | −5.2% | 6.7% | 3.9% | 1.4% | 8.1% | 0.1% | −1.7% | 3.4% | 1.2% | 7.4% |
| 2024 | −2.9% | 2.1% | 5.6% | −5.7% | 5.3% | −3.1% | 11.1% | −3.8% | 0.4% | −1.3% | 11.3% | −8.1% | 9.3% |
| 2023 | 9.9% | −1.3% | −8.0% | −1.5% | −3.6% | 11.0% | 8.5% | −3.6% | −3.5% | −5.0% | 8.5% | 12.3% | 22.8% |
| 2022 | −3.1% | 2.0% | 1.6% | −5.9% | 4.5% | −12.5% | 10.8% | −2.2% | −10.2% | 15.6% | 5.3% | −7.0% | −4.9% |
| 2021 | 5.1% | 13.2% | 7.1% | 2.3% | 4.8% | −1.7% | −3.4% | 2.9% | 0.3% | 4.0% | −2.1% | 4.2% | 42.2% |
| 2020 | −8.8% | −11.3% | −28.9% | 20.5% | 4.9% | 3.2% | 2.7% | 8.3% | −4.6% | 4.7% | 18.3% | 7.7% | 6.4% |
| 2019 (part) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | −0.2% | 2.1% | 2.4% | 3.9% | 8.5% |

Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.

## How risky is AVUV compared with the S&P 500?

Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.

- **Beta 1.00.** When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, AVUV tended to move about 1.00%.
- **Correlation 0.78.** AVUV moved with the S&P 500 some of the time.
- **Up and down months.** In months the S&P 500 rose, AVUV rose 102% as much on average. In months it fell, AVUV fell 110% as much.

| Measure | AVUV | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Return per year | 10.6% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 22.1% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −28.8% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.57 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 0.83 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.37 | 0.52 |

Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.

## Is AVUV above its 200-day average?

AVUV closed 2.1% above its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds AVUV only above that average would hold it today.

- Its 50-day average is 4.8% above its 200-day average.
- It closed 6.4% below its highest close of the last 52 weeks.

A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as [the 10-month moving average strategy](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/faber-10-month-moving-average.md) hold a fund only while it is above one. You can [build that rule for AVUV](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and backtest it in a minute.

## What was AVUV's worst drop?

A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. AVUV's worst fall was −49.4%, from December 19, 2019 to March 23, 2020. It got back to that high on November 23, 2020. On October 16, 2026 it was 6.4% below its highest close.

| Drop | Started | Bottom | Back to the high | Fall took | Recovery took |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −49.4% | Dec 19, 2019 | Mar 23, 2020 | Nov 23, 2020 | 3 months | 8 months |
| −28.8% | Nov 25, 2024 | Apr 8, 2025 | Dec 10, 2025 | 4 months | 8 months |
| −20.6% | Nov 8, 2021 | Sep 26, 2022 | Feb 1, 2023 | 11 months | 4 months |
| −17.2% | Feb 2, 2023 | May 4, 2023 | Jul 28, 2023 | 3 months | 3 months |
| −12.5% | Jul 31, 2023 | Oct 27, 2023 | Dec 11, 2023 | 3 months | 1 months |

Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.

## What does AVUV hold?

This fund owns hundreds of small US companies whose stocks look cheap and that make good profits. Managers pick the stocks using set rules instead of copying an index. Small company stocks can swing more than big ones.

It does not track an index. Its managers choose what it holds. It had 794 holdings as of September 30, 2026, according to Avantis Investors (American Century).

| Fact | AVUV |
| --- | --- |
| Full name | Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF |
| Issuer | Avantis Investors (American Century) |
| Expense ratio | 0.25% a year |
| Started trading | September 24, 2019 |
| Tracks | No index (actively managed) |
| Type | US stocks, ETF |
| Holdings | 794 holdings as of September 30, 2026 |
| Facts checked | October 17, 2026 on the [Avantis Investors (American Century) fund page](https://www.avantisinvestors.com/avantis-investments/avantis-us-small-cap-value-etf/) |

## What is the AVUV expense ratio?

AVUV charges 0.25% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.25% fee comes to about $25 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 28% charge more.

You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.

## Which Tactfolio strategies hold AVUV?

No classic strategy holds AVUV yet. You can add it to your own rules in the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and see how they would have done.

## How does AVUV compare with similar ETFs?

Funds that can stand in for AVUV:

- [VBR](https://tactfolio.com/etf/VBR.md): Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF, 0.05% a year
- [IJS](https://tactfolio.com/etf/IJS.md): iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF, 0.18% a year
- [IWN](https://tactfolio.com/etf/IWN.md): iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF, 0.24% a year
- [SCHA](https://tactfolio.com/etf/SCHA.md): Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF, 0.03% a year

See [all 8 AVUV alternatives](https://tactfolio.com/alternatives/AVUV.md), compared on the same dates as AVUV.

## Test AVUV in your own rules

Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder), add AVUV, and see how a rule such as "hold it only above its 200-day average" would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.

## The details

Prices come from Tactfolio's stored daily prices for AVUV and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.

Fund facts come from Avantis Investors (American Century). We checked them on October 17, 2026. Read [what a backtest simulates](https://tactfolio.com/docs/backtests.md) and [how to read drawdown and CAGR](https://tactfolio.com/docs/concepts/reading-a-backtest.md) for more on these measures.

## Research and test it

- [S&P 500 index](https://tactfolio.com/learn/sp500-index): The S&P 500 tracks about 500 large US companies. Learn how stocks get in, how the index is weighted, how to invest in it, and how far it has fallen before.
- [What is an ETF](https://tactfolio.com/learn/what-is-an-etf): An ETF is a fund that trades like a stock. Learn how ETFs work, what they cost, the main types, and the risks, with SEC sources.
- [ETF screener](https://tactfolio.com/screener.md): A free ETF screener for 162 US-listed funds. Filter by type, issuer and fee, sort by returns or worst drop, and compare funds side by side.
- [ETF expense ratio](https://tactfolio.com/learn/etf-expense-ratio): What an ETF expense ratio is, how the fund charges it, and how 0.03% vs 1% adds up over 10 and 30 years, with real fund examples.
- [Backtest a portfolio](https://tactfolio.com/trading-tools/backtest-portfolio): Backtest a portfolio of US stocks and ETFs. Enter tickers and shares, pick when to rebalance, and get the results with a link to share.
- [Backtesting](https://tactfolio.com/backtesting): Free backtesting software for stocks, ETFs, and crypto perps.

## Common questions

### What is the expense ratio of AVUV?

AVUV charges 0.25% a year, according to Avantis Investors (American Century) as of October 17, 2026. That is about $25 a year for every $10,000 you hold.

### When did AVUV start trading?

AVUV started trading on September 24, 2019. It is run by Avantis Investors (American Century).

### What does AVUV track?

AVUV does not track an index. Its managers choose what it holds.

### How much has AVUV returned per year?

From September 2019 to October 2026, AVUV returned about 15.0% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −49.4%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.

### Is AVUV above its 200-day moving average?

On October 16, 2026, AVUV closed 2.1% above its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.

### Which strategies use AVUV?

None of Tactfolio's classic strategies hold AVUV yet. You can test it in your own rules in the builder.

## Sources

- [Avantis Investors (American Century): Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF fund page](https://www.avantisinvestors.com/avantis-investments/avantis-us-small-cap-value-etf/)

> Not financial advice. Tactfolio is a research and automation tool. It is not a broker or a financial adviser. This page is for education only. Backtests are hypothetical. They show how rules would have done on past prices, not how they will do. All investing involves risk, including losing the money you put in.