Avantis Global Equity ETF beats benchmark with 15.15% inaugural return

• 15.15% net return after fees and expenses
• 4.51 percentage-point performance advantage over benchmark
• $922,099 profit on $8.15 million in net assets
• Trading moved from Cboe to ASX under AVNG
• No distributions declared for the reporting period

Fund Outperforms MSCI World Benchmark

Avantis Global Equity Active ETF (ASX:AVNG) recorded a 15.15% return after fees and expenses for the period ended 30 June 2026, compared with 10.64% for its MSCI World IMI Index benchmark. That represents an advantage of 4.51 percentage points, although the figure covers the fund’s inaugural reporting period rather than a conventional full financial year.

The fund was constituted in February 2025, registered in April and commenced operations in September 2025. Its financial statements nevertheless cover the period from 15 April 2025 to 30 June 2026, meaning the reported performance period and the operational history do not align neatly. There is also no comparative financial period, limiting what can be inferred from the first set of accounts.

$8.15 Million Portfolio Built Around One ETF

Avantis finished the period with net assets of $8.15 million and a profit of $922,099. The fund held $8.13 million in financial assets at fair value, representing 99.80% of net asset value, with the portfolio invested in the Avantis Global Equity UCITS ETF managed by American Century Investment Management.

That structure gives investors exposure to a global portfolio of large-, mid- and small-capitalisation companies in developed markets, but it also leaves the Australian fund heavily dependent on a single underlying vehicle. The accounts record $926,798 in gains on that investment during the period. A sensitivity analysis supplied in the report indicates that a 10% movement in the investment portfolio would have changed profit and net assets by approximately $812,915 in either direction.

Cboe Listing Replaced by ASX Quotation

The fund began trading on Cboe in October 2025 under the code AVTG AU before being dequoted on 27 March 2026. It commenced trading on the ASX under AVNG on 1 April, making the exchange switch one of the more notable structural developments in an otherwise straightforward first annual report.

Applications during the period totalled $7.22 million for 706,901 units. No distributions were declared, while the Investment Manager held 449,304 units worth $5.18 million at period end, equivalent to a 63.56% interest in the fund. The filing does not provide detailed underlying holdings, so the reported return offers little visibility into which companies or sectors drove the result.

Audit Clears Valuation of Listed Assets

Deloitte issued an unmodified audit opinion. Its key audit matter was valuation of the listed unit trust investment, the balance that drives almost the entire net asset value and therefore the fund’s reported performance. The auditor said it tested holdings against custodian records and assessed prices against publicly available information.

The strong first-period result is therefore clear in the accounts, but it is still an early data point. Future comparisons will need to account for the fund’s short operating history, market and currency movements, the concentration in the underlying ETF and the practical trading conditions for AVNG on the ASX.

Bottom Line?

The next meaningful test will be whether the early benchmark advantage persists once AVNG has a longer ASX trading record and a full comparable reporting period.

Questions in the middle?

• Can the 4.51 percentage-point benchmark advantage be sustained across a conventional full-year period?
• Will the fund’s dominant underlying ETF holding change as assets, applications and redemptions develop?
• How will AVNG trade relative to its net asset value as ASX liquidity builds and the Investment Manager’s large unit holding is considered?