ABCS vs DFMC

ABCSCAlpha Blue Capital US Small-Mid Cap Dynamic ETF

DFMCAU.S. Micro Cap Portfolio ETF

In short

ABCS A three-decade fundamental stock-picking process in ETF form, blended with plain small- and mid-cap index ETFs. Active where the team sees an edge, indexed where it doesn't, at 0.42% a year.

DFMC Dimensional's micro-cap workhorse: a systematic sweep of the smallest US listed companies, a strategy dating to 1981, now in an ETF wrapper. Not an index tracker, and it charges less than the typical active US equity fund.

Stated mandate

ABCS The Fund’s mandate is long-term capital appreciation.

DFMC The Portfolio seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• ABCS 0.42% a year buys an active small-mid cap manager, comfortably under the median expense ratio for active US equity ETFs in its group.
• The target is stated out loud: 1 to 3 points of annualized outperformance versus the Bloomberg US 2500 over a full market cycle. A yardstick you can check.prnewswire.com
• Hand-picked stocks ride alongside broad small- and mid-cap index ETFs, so the manager can dial conviction up or down inside a single wrapper.alphabluecapitalabcs.comprnewswire.com
• Sits in the upper half of the active US equity funds we cover, with cost doing much of the lifting.

• DFMC Charges 0.43% a year, well under the median for active US equity funds, so the fee takes a smaller bite out of a hard-to-reach corner of the market.
• The strategy dates to 1981 and now runs as a multi-billion-dollar portfolio: an unusually long run for anything pointed at micro caps.
• Systematic rather than index-bound. Dimensional sifts the small end of the US market by its own rules instead of copying a published micro-cap benchmark.dimensional.com
• One of the stronger implementations among the active US equity funds we grade, with risk control and portfolio construction the standout pieces.

Worth knowing

• ABCS A small fund that trades thinly. Spreads can widen, and limit orders are the usual tool for getting in and out.
• Cheaper broad-market rivals share the shelf (DFAC at 0.17%, AVLC at 0.15%). The fee gap here pays for stock selection, and active outcomes vary.
• Launched December 2023, so the live record is short, and the process leans on a small portfolio manager and analyst team.alphabluecapitalabcs.com

• DFMC Thinly traded next to the big index names, so the cost of getting in and out can matter as much as the expense ratio, especially for larger orders.
• It costs more than Dimensional's broad-market siblings, DFAU at 0.12% and DFAC at 0.17%, which own far bigger, more liquid companies.
• Micro caps are the choppy end of the US market, and owning them is the entire job here. The mandate is long-term capital appreciation, not income.

Full ABCS profile⁠

Full DFMC profile⁠