ETF Evaluator: Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF () Follow This ETF

Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF Overview

Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF (BAFE) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Large Blend exchange-traded fund (ETF). Brown Advisory launched the ETF in 2024.

The investment seeks to achieve long-term growth of capital. Under normal conditions, Brown Advisory LLC (the “Adviser”) seeks to achieve the fund’s investment objective by investing at least 80% of the value of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities. The fund invests primarily in a portfolio of equity securities issued by large, middle, and small capitalization companies that the Adviser believes have strong, or improving, long-term business characteristics and share prices that do not reflect certain favorable fundamental attributes.

About Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF (BAFE)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 1.41 years: Maneesh Bajaj (2024), Rafael Zayas (2024), Austin Wen (2024) and Devin Ryder (2026). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 1 primary benchmark: S&P 500 (TR) index with a weighting of 100%. Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF has 46 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 42.9% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF has 12.8% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 84.7% There is 12.8% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF has 2.5% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $1 billion in total assets, which is below the $13 billion average for the Large Blend category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

BAFE Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Large Blend category. Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF has an expense ratio of 0.54%, which is 30% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 14%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 158% for the Large Blend category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF returned 1.2%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Large Blend category had an average return of -0.8%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF has a trailing yield of 0.27%, which is below the 1.16% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 8.1%, 1.5 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 12.1% over the past year (grade of F).

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