Eduardo Repetto & Caitlin Ebanks: Opening the Avantis CAGE | Rational Reminder 401

Why It Matters

By providing domestically listed, low‑fee factor ETFs, Avantis and CIBC give Canadian investors a turnkey way to capture premium‑seeking tilts, reshaping the retail ETF landscape and pressuring incumbents to lower costs.

Key Takeaways

• Avantis launches Canadian-listed ETFs in partnership with CIBC
• New products offer low-fee, factor‑tilted exposure without currency conversion
• Collaboration resolved expense‑ratio negotiations to keep costs investor‑friendly
• Avantis’ rapid growth reaches $125 bn AUM in under seven years
• Canadian investors gain accessible, direct‑holdings asset‑allocation ETFs for portfolios

Summary

The Rational Reminder episode spotlights Avantis’ debut of Canadian‑listed exchange‑traded funds, launched in partnership with CIBC’s ETF platform. After rolling out U.S. and European products, the firm finally offers domestic ETFs that hold securities directly in Canadian dollars.

The new lineup includes low‑cost, factor‑tilted equity and asset‑allocation ETFs that eliminate the need for U.S. listings, currency conversion, and complex DIY modeling. Hosts note that the products mirror the same research‑driven strategies used in the U.S., delivering expected small‑cap value and multi‑factor premiums while keeping expense ratios competitive.

Eduardo Repetto explained that both firms agreed on a fair expense‑ratio split to avoid “three‑and‑a‑half percent” fees, emphasizing client focus over internal finance demands. CIBC’s Caitlin Ebanks highlighted the firm’s late‑but‑strategic entry into ETFs, leveraging Avantis’ transparent, proven factor expertise to fill gaps in its portfolio construction shelf.

For Canadian investors, the launch removes a major implementation barrier, making sophisticated factor investing as simple as buying a core equity ETF. The move also intensifies competition in Canada’s ETF market, potentially accelerating fee compression and expanding access to evidence‑based investment strategies.

Original Description

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What if factor investing in Canada became as simple—and affordable—as buying a single ETF?

In this episode, we are joined by Eduardo Repetto, CIO of Avantis Investors, and Caitlin Ebanks, Director of ETF Strategy at CIBC, to unpack the long-awaited launch of Avantis ETFs in Canada. This conversation explores how a partnership built on client-first principles and fee discipline is bringing sophisticated, evidence-based investing strategies to Canadian investors in a dramatically more accessible way.

We dive into the structure and philosophy behind the new ETF lineup, including how Avantis applies factor tilts, why implementation details like direct security ownership and low turnover matter, and how the new asset allocation ETF (CAGE) could simplify portfolio construction for DIY investors. Eduardo also shares insights into Avantis’ research process, expected premiums, and the realities of tracking error, while Caitlin explains how CIBC is positioning these products within the Canadian ETF landscape.

This episode is a deep dive into the evolution of factor investing—covering product design, pricing, portfolio construction, and the broader shift toward low-cost, transparent investment solutions.

Timestamps:

0:00:00 Intro

0:05:57 Disclaimers

0:09:39 Why Eduardo thinks Avantis products are getting so much traction

0:11:54 What led Eduardo to partner with CIBC to launch Avantis products in Canada

0:17:15 The strategies they are launching in Canada

0:22:55 How competitive the fees will be with comparable products in the Canadian market

0:24:27 Whether they have an estimate for what the management expense ratios will be

0:27:47 Whether these ETFs will be "Gas Station Sushi"

0:29:50 How Eduardo decided to launch ETFs as opposed to mutual funds in Canada

0:33:50 Who is managing the day-to-day implementation of the Canadian listed products

0:35:11 Whether the Canadian listed funds hold securities directly, or hold U.S. listed ETFs

0:37:20 How aggressive the factor tilts in the All Equity Asset Allocation ETF are

0:40:14 How much outperformance and tracking error would reasonable to expect from CAGE relative to a market cap weighted but geographically matched ETF

0:41:42 Whether Avantis or CIBC will be publishing these for the Canadian listed ETFs

0:44:45 CACE is really unique in the Canadian ETF market. Eduardo shares how its average characteristics compare to the TSX index

0:48:03 How turnover in the funds will be managed to minimize capital gains distributions

0:50:17 How much AUM one of these Canadian listed ETFs will need to have to remain open in the long run

0:52:13 Whether there been enhancements to the Avantis approach to portfolio implementation since the last time Eduardo was last on RR

0:55:04 The most exciting research they are looking at implementing now

0:56:04 For a fund of funds like CAGE, how the underlying fund holdings and asset allocation are selected

0:58:02 What Caitlin and Eduardo are most excited about with respect to the Canadian launch

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