Avantis All International Markets Equity ETF (AVNM)

AVNM (Avantis All International Markets Equity ETF) gives an investor one way to own a big slice of the world stock market outside the United States. It is sponsored by American Century Investments and trades on the NASDAQ under ticker AVNM. The fund holds companies from developed countries (Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada) and emerging markets (Brazil, India, China, Mexico, and dozens of others), and it applies a factor tilt toward value and quality stocks — the same philosophy that runs through American Century’s other Avantis funds.

What it holds

The fund holds thousands of stocks from roughly 50 countries — a mix of developed and emerging economies. Developed markets include Europe (Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland), Japan, Australia, and Canada. Emerging markets span Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The distribution shifts with market capitalization: the largest markets like Japan, the UK, and China make up the biggest slices, but the fund holds small positions across much smaller markets as well.

This is not a country bet or a bet on emerging markets. It is a global ex-US bet, scaled to the size of each market. If Japan is the third-largest stock market in the world, AVNM holds more Japanese stocks than it does stocks from a smaller market. The geographic tilt follows the data, not a manager’s judgment call.

The value and quality lens

Like AVMC (the U.S. mid-cap sibling) and AVMV (the U.S. value fund), AVNM applies a rules-based tilt toward value and quality. It looks for stocks that are trading cheaply relative to their earnings and book value, and it favors companies with higher profitability and lower financial leverage. This is not a “growth-at-any-price” fund. It is a disciplined approach that excludes the most-expensive, most-leveraged firms and leans toward the profitable and undervalued ones.

The value tilt is particularly relevant in the international markets, where pockets of the world have been significantly cheaper than U.S. stocks for long stretches. Japan, for instance, has had cheap valuations on average for decades. Europe has had similar stretches. By tilting toward value across all these markets, the fund may capture some of the outperformance that has historically come from those regions without concentrating the bet in any single country or sector.

Currency and diversification

AVNM is unhedged, meaning it does not use derivatives to shield the investor from fluctuations in the dollar against foreign currencies. If you buy the fund when the dollar is weak and the pound is strong, and then the dollar strengthens, your pounds are worth less in dollar terms, and the fund’s value falls — even if the underlying British stocks go up. Conversely, if the dollar weakens, a currency tailwind boosts returns. Over long periods, currency movements tend to wash out, but they can create real differences year to year.

The upside of being unhedged is that the fund is cheaper. Hedging currencies costs money, and that cost comes out of returns. An unhedged fund avoids that drag. The downside is volatility — currency moves add an extra layer of unpredictability. For a truly global investor, unhedged makes sense; for a U.S.-centric investor who views international stocks as a diversifier, hedged alternatives might feel more stable.

The fund’s diversification across dozens of countries and thousands of stocks is its protective feature. A crisis in one country (political instability, a banking collapse, a currency crash) hurts that piece of the portfolio but is unlikely to sink the whole fund.

Tracking the index

AVNM tracks the Avantis All International Equity Index, a rules-based methodology that American Century publishes. The index is reconstituted and rebalanced on a schedule, so turnover is predictable and costs stay low. Like all Avantis funds, this one prioritizes transparency: investors can see the methodology and the holdings list.

The expense ratio is modest — appropriate for a passively managed, index-tracking fund covering dozens of markets and thousands of stocks. The fund trades on the NASDAQ with generally tight bid-ask spreads, making it liquid to buy and sell.

When to consider it

AVNM is for investors who believe international markets offer opportunity or who want significant geographic diversification beyond the United States. Some investors use it as a core international holding; others layer it into a globally diversified portfolio. The value tilt is a secondary feature — it is not a core strength, but it reflects a belief that cheaper, more profitable international stocks offer better risk-adjusted returns over time.

The fund will rise and fall with international stock markets, foreign exchange rates, and global economic conditions. In years when the dollar strengthens sharply, unhedged international funds tend to lag. In years when the dollar weakens or international stocks rally, the fund can outperform U.S. equity. Over decades, geographic diversification has historically been a stabilizing feature of a stock portfolio, though past patterns do not guarantee future results.

Anyone considering AVNM should review the prospectus for the fund’s current geographic and sector composition, the expense ratio, and any currency considerations relevant to their situation. The fund’s fact sheet, available from American Century, provides current yields and top holdings.