AAEQ vs TEXN

AAEQBAlpha Architect US Equity 2 ETF

TEXNDiShares Texas Equity ETF

In short

AAEQ Plain US beta with a size floor: market-cap-weighted exposure to American stocks worth at least $1 billion, for 0.09% a year. It launched in December 2025, so the strategy is old-fashioned but the fund itself is brand new.

TEXN Texas, packaged. TEXN tracks a Russell index of companies headquartered in the state (about 210 of them) for 0.20% a year. It is a geography bet from an iShares index desk, not a sector or style one.

Stated mandate

AAEQ The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through broadly diversified exposure to the U.S. stock market, using market-cap-weighted exposure to U.S. stocks with market capitalization of at least $1 billion.

TEXN The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. companies headquartered in Texas, providing a single-state equity exposure.

Why people hold it

• AAEQ 0.09% a year, under half what the typical fund in its peer group charges.
• Boring by design: market-cap weighting, no stock picking, and a $1 billion size floor that screens out the market's smallest names.alphaarchitect.com
• The stated mandate is broad diversification across the US market, not a concentrated wager on a handful of names or one sector.alphaarchitect.com

• TEXN One ticket to the Texas corporate base: roughly 210 companies headquartered in the state, picked by a rules-based Russell index rather than a manager's hunch.ishares.com
• Costs 0.20% a year, level with the median fee in its US equity cohort. Cheap-ish for a niche cut of the market.
• Plain machinery: a 1940 Act fund holding actual stocks, paying quarterly. No leverage, no derivatives overlay, no K-1 at tax time.

Worth knowing

• AAEQ Trading is thin, so spreads can run wider than at the category's household names. How you place the order matters more here.
• It opened in December 2025, so there is little live history on how closely it tracks or how it handles a real drawdown.
• Cheap, but not the cheapest shelf in the aisle: ILCB covers broad US equity at 0.03%.

• TEXN Headquarters is the entire filter, so the portfolio rides one state's corporate roster and can look nothing like the broad US market in any given stretch.
• Launched in 2025, so risk numbers rest on a short history rather than a full market cycle.
• Broad US equity peers run cheaper (ILCB at 0.03%) and trade heavier, so expect wider spreads here than on a plain index giant.

Full AAEQ profile⁠

Full TEXN profile⁠