AVDV

About AVDV

The fund invests primarily in a diverse group of non-U.S. small cap value companies across market sectors, industry groups, and countries.The fund seeks to achieve higher expected returns by selecting securities of companies with higher profitability and value characteristics, as well as smaller market capitalizations relative to others within the fund's small cap investment universe. To identify the desired market capitalization companies with higher profitability and value characteristics, the portfolio managers use reported and/or estimated company financials and market data including, but not limited to, shares outstanding, book value and its components, cash flows from operations, and accruals. The portfolio managers define “value characteristics” mainly as adjusted book/price ratio (though other price to fundamental ratios may be considered). The portfolio managers define “profitability” mainly as adjusted cash from operations to book value ratio (though other ratios may be considered). The portfolio managers may also consider other factors when selecting a security, including industry classification, the past performance of the security relative to other securities, its liquidity, its float, and tax, governance or cost considerations, among others. When portfolio managers identify securities with the desired capitalization, profitability, value, and past performance characteristics, they seek to include these securities in the broadly diversified portfolio. To determine the weight of a security within the portfolio, the portfolio managers use the market capitalization of the security relative to that of other eligible securities as a baseline, then overweight or underweight the security based on the characteristics described above. The portfolio managers may dispose of a security if it no longer has the desired market capitalization, profitability, or value characteristics. When determining whether to dispose of a security, the portfolio managers will also consider, among other things, relative past performance, costs, and taxes. The portfolio managers review the criteria for inclusion in the portfolio on a regular basis to maintain a focus on the desired broad set of non-U.S. companies.When selecting investments for the fund, the portfolio managers consider the distribution of market capitalization of all companies in each country in which the fund invests, meaning that a company of a given size may be considered small in one country, but not in another. Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in securities of small capitalization companies. For purposes of the fund’s 80% test, small cap companies include companies with market capitalizations not greater than that of the largest company on the MSCI World ex USA Small Cap Index at the time of investment. Though capitalizations will change from time to time, as of September 30, 2024, the total market capitalization of the largest company in the index was $10.2 billion.The fund may invest in securities that are denominated in foreign currencies and may also invest in foreign securities that are represented in the U.S. and other securities markets by American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), and other similar depositary arrangements. The fund also may invest in derivative instruments such as futures contracts, currency forwards, and swap agreements. For example, the fund may use futures on securities and U.S. indices to gain exposure to equities to manage cash flows. The fund may also engage in securities lending and invest its collateral in eligible securities.The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. The portfolio managers continually analyze market and financial data to make buy, sell, and hold decisions. When deciding whether to buy or sell a security, and how and when to implement a trade, the portfolio managers may consider the expected implementation costs and tax consequences of the trade in an attempt to gain trading efficiencies, avoid unnecessary risk, minimize tax impact, and/or enhance fund performance.