Category Review
Municipal bond funds are down for the year after a third-quarter selloff erased the first-half gain
Dimensional - Core Fixed Income ETF
$40.35+0.05 (+0.12%)
- 0.18%
- $11.4B
- −1.9%
- 4.54%
- 1.6M sh
- $40.29
- low $39.94high $43.27
The ETF.net DFCF Grade
A
Score 74 out of 100
- 21 of 117
Score 74 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A73 out of 100Rank 32 of 117Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A100 out of 100Rank 1 of 101Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.C45 out of 100Rank 73 of 116Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A94 out of 100Rank 1 of 117Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.D27 out of 100Rank 108 of 116Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A76 out of 100Rank 20 of 117
Our read on DFCF
ADimensional's take on the boring middle of a bond sleeve: an actively run core portfolio built to maximize total return from its eligible universe rather than shadow an index, priced at half what the average aggregate bond ETF charges.
The fund seeks to maximize total returns from its universe of eligible investments.
Why people hold it
- 0.18% a year, half the typical fee in the aggregate bond category, for a manager-run portfolio instead of an index tracker.
- Roughly 1,700 bonds, a multi-billion-dollar asset base, and steady trading volume, so getting in and out rarely means fighting the spread.
- Pays monthly, and what it holds lines up closely with the mandate in its own documents. Among aggregate bond ETFs, that combination puts it in the upper tier.
Worth knowing
- Cheap for active, not cheap outright. Index-tracking rivals BND, SPAB and SCHZ charge 0.03%, so this costs meaningfully more per year.
- No declared index behind it. The mandate is to maximize total return from an eligible universe, which means manager judgment, not a published benchmark, shapes the portfolio.
- Launched in 2021, giving it a shorter history than the long-running core bond names it sits beside.
DFCF Holdings
- Bonds
- 1,873
- 37%
- Fnma 30YR Tba Nov 6%
Sectors
- Corporate40.1%
- Government39.9%
- Securitized20.0%
Geography
- United States87.08%
- Canada2.18%
- Japan2.12%
- New Zealand1.51%
- Australia1.45%
- Netherlands0.97%
- Norway0.90%
- United Kingdom0.88%
- 2.91%
DFCF Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Not enough history yet.Not enough history yet.
DFCF$9,806
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | DFCF |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −2.6% |
| 1 month | −1.1% |
| 3 months | −2.8% |
| 1 year | −1.9% |
| 3 years | +4.7% |
| 5 years | — |
| 10 years | — |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | DFCF |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −2.6% | |
| 2025 | +7.9% | |
| 2024 | +1.9% | |
| 2023 | +6.9% | |
| 2022 | −14.5% | |
| 2021 | +0.2% |
DFCF in the news
DFCF Dividends
- 4.54%
- $1.83
- $0.16 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
DFCF Risk
- 5.5%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.001
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −19.6%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.93
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
DFCF Cost
0.18%
DFCF0.18%
- The middle half of US Aggregate Bond funds
- Median 0.34%
29 of the 113 US Aggregate Bond funds charge less.
Other funds in US Aggregate Bond
- ASCCRSchwab Core Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.16%1 year return −1.9%
- ATAGGT. Rowe Price QM U.S. Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.08%1 year return −1.7%
- AEUSBiShares ESG Advanced Universal USD Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.12%1 year return −1.6%
- AVPLSVanguard Core-Plus Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.20%1 year return −1.3%
- ABLVVanguard Long-Term Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.03%1 year return −7.3%