CACE vs CAGE: the Canadian sleeve vs the all-in-one Avantis fund

Short answer: CACE is the Avantis CIBC Canadian Equity ETF, a single-country building block at a 0.19% management fee. CAGE is the all-in-one Avantis CIBC all-equity fund at 0.28%, globally diversified, and it already holds Canada internally. They aren’t really competitors: CAGE is a complete one-ticker portfolio, CACE is one sleeve of a portfolio you build yourself. Most people want one or the other, not both, and holding both means deliberately overweighting Canada.

Both funds come from the same Avantis CIBC lineup, use the same factor methodology, and launched in early 2026. So it’s easy to assume CACE and CAGE are alternatives to each other. They’re not, really. They do different jobs. Understanding that difference is the whole comparison.

This walks through what each one is for, why you’d pick one over the other, and what holding both actually does to your portfolio. This is not financial advice. I’m sharing what I’ve learned from my own research, and your situation might differ. Fund details change, so always check the current disclosures before deciding.

What each one is

CAGE is the Avantis CIBC all-equity fund, listed on the TSX in March 2026. It’s a complete, globally diversified, 100% equity portfolio in a single ticker. It’s structured as a fund-of-funds, holding underlying Avantis ETFs that cover U.S., international developed, emerging market, and Canadian stocks. Buy CAGE and you own the world’s stock markets, factor-tilted, in one trade. The management fee is 0.28%.

CACE is the Avantis CIBC Canadian Equity ETF, listed in February 2026. It holds only Canadian companies, factor-tilted, at a 0.19% management fee. It’s a single sleeve, a building block, not a complete portfolio. On its own, CACE leaves you with zero exposure to the U.S., international, or emerging markets.

So the headline difference: CAGE is the whole meal, CACE is one ingredient.

They do different jobs

This is the crux. CACE and CAGE answer different questions.

CAGE answers “I want one fund and no work.” It’s for the investor who wants the Avantis factor approach applied across the entire global stock market without building or rebalancing anything. One ticker, automatic contributions, done.

CACE answers “I’m building my own portfolio sleeve by sleeve, and I want the Canadian piece.” It’s for the investor who wants to control their own geographic weights, pairing CACE for Canada with CAUS for the U.S., CADE for international developed, and CAEM for emerging markets. Or for the investor who already has a global core and wants to add a deliberate Canadian-equity tilt on top.

If you just want exposure to the factor strategy and don’t want to think about country weights, CAGE handles all of it, Canada included. You don’t need CACE separately.

CACE vs CAGE side by side

The fee difference (0.19% versus 0.28%) reflects what each fund does. CACE runs a single-country mandate, which is cheaper to manage. CAGE wraps several underlying funds and handles global allocation and rebalancing for you, which is why it costs a bit more. You’re not paying 9 basis points more for nothing; you’re paying for the all-in-one convenience and global diversification.

What holding both actually does

People sometimes ask whether to hold CACE and CAGE together. It’s worth being precise about what that does.

CAGE already contains Canadian equity as one slice of its global allocation. If you add CACE on top, you’re not diversifying, you’re deliberately overweighting Canada beyond CAGE’s built-in allocation. That’s a home-bias decision, and it can be a perfectly reasonable one, since many Canadians intentionally hold more Canada than its small share of the global market would suggest, for tax efficiency on Canadian dividends and to reduce currency risk on spending they’ll do in CAD.

But it should be a decision, not an accident. Holding both because you didn’t realize CAGE already had Canada isn’t a strategy. If you want a deliberate Canadian tilt on top of a global core, CACE plus CAGE is one way to do it. If you just want the factor strategy applied globally, CAGE alone already covers Canada.

If you want to think through how much home-country weight makes sense in the first place, the home market bias guide covers the trade-offs.

What to consider

A few things worth thinking about.

1. Start from how much work you want to do. If the honest answer is “none,” CAGE is the fund. One ticker, global, done. CACE only makes sense if you’re willing to own and rebalance multiple sleeves, or you specifically want a Canadian tilt.

2. CACE alone is not a portfolio. Holding only CACE leaves you with no U.S., international, or emerging-market exposure, which is a heavily concentrated bet on one small market. CACE is meant to be paired, not held solo.

3. Both are new and both are factor-tilted. Everything in the CACE guide about tracking error, the first-year MER rule, and the long-commitment nature of factor investing applies to CAGE too. Neither is a passive index fund.

4. The full lineup. CACE and CAGE are two of eight funds in the Avantis CIBC range. How all the sleeves fit together is covered in the Avantis CIBC ETFs guide.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need CACE if I hold CAGE?

Generally no. CAGE already includes Canadian equity as part of its global all-equity allocation. CACE is for people building their own portfolio sleeve by sleeve, or deliberately overweighting Canada beyond CAGE’s built-in allocation, not for someone who already holds the all-in-one and just wants Canadian exposure.

What’s the difference between CACE and CAGE?

CACE is a single-country building block that holds only Canadian companies, at a 0.19% management fee. CAGE is a complete all-in-one fund that holds global equities (U.S., international, emerging, and Canada) in one ticker, at 0.28%. Both use the same Avantis factor methodology. CAGE is a whole portfolio; CACE is one sleeve of one.

Can I hold both CACE and CAGE?

You can, but understand what it does. CAGE already holds Canada, so adding CACE deliberately overweights Canadian equity beyond CAGE’s allocation. That’s a home-bias decision, which can be reasonable, but it’s an overweight, not added diversification. Hold both only if you specifically want more Canada than CAGE gives you.

Which is cheaper, CACE or CAGE?

CACE’s management fee is 0.19%, lower than CAGE’s 0.28%, because a single-country fund is cheaper to run than a global fund-of-funds that handles allocation and rebalancing for you. Neither full MER has been published yet, since both are in their first year of inception. The fee difference reflects the difference in what each fund does, not a difference in quality.

Can I hold CACE or CAGE in a TFSA or RRSP?

Yes. Both trade on the TSX in Canadian dollars and are eligible in any standard Canadian registered account (TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP, RDSP, RRIF, LIRA) as well as non-registered accounts.

Bottom line

CACE and CAGE aren’t really competing. CAGE is a complete global portfolio in one ticker for people who want no maintenance, and it already owns Canada. CACE is the Canadian sleeve for people who build their own portfolio or want a deliberate Canadian tilt. If you want one fund and no work, CAGE is the answer and you don’t need CACE. If you’re constructing your own Avantis portfolio or overweighting Canada on purpose, CACE is the piece that does that job.