ACSG vs DFSV

ACSGCAmerican Century Small Cap Growth Insights ETF

DFSVAU.S. Small Cap Value Portfolio ETF Class Shares

In short

ACSG American Century's 2025 entry in active small-cap growth: it hunts U.S. small companies whose businesses are visibly improving, then spreads the bet across roughly 300 names instead of a concentrated few.

DFSV Small-cap value, spread wide: roughly a thousand of the market's cheaper small companies, measured against the Russell 2000 Value Index. A deeper bench than most rivals carry, at a higher price than the plain index funds beside it.

Stated mandate

ACSG The fund is an actively managed ETF seeking to outperform its benchmark over full market cycles by investing primarily in U.S. small-cap companies showing accelerating and sustainable business improvement.

DFSV The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• ACSG A clear thesis, actively run: U.S. small caps showing accelerating, sustainable business improvement, judged against the benchmark over full market cycles rather than quarter to quarter.americancentury.com
• 0.49% a year, a shade under the median active U.S. small-cap fund in its peer group. Active stock selection without the classic active price tag.
• Roughly 300 holdings, so no single small-cap blowup runs the show. Breadth closer to an index fund than to a concentrated stock picker.
• Sits in the upper half of its active U.S. small-cap peer group, with how the portfolio is built among its stronger points.

• DFSV Roughly 1,000 holdings spread the small-value bet across the whole opportunity set instead of a handful of names.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting a position on or off is rarely the hard part.
• Portfolio construction is the strong suit here: broad, diversified small-cap value exposure, with distributions paid quarterly.
• The mandate is plainly stated: long-term capital appreciation from US stocks, no side quests.

Worth knowing

• ACSG Launched in October 2025, so the track record is short and any risk read rests on a thin slice of history.
• Small asset base and light trading mean wider bid-ask spreads than the giant small-cap index funds. Limit orders matter more here.
• Systematic peers cost less: AVSC at 0.25%, DUHP at 0.20%. The fee gap is what active selection costs versus a rules-based portfolio.

• DFSV At 0.30% a year it costs more than the typical US value ETF (median 0.18%), and VTWV runs against the same Russell 2000 Value benchmark for 0.06%.
• Small-cap value is a bumpier corner than the large-cap value funds anchoring this group (VTV, SCHV), and the ride shows it.
• Launched in 2022, so its live record is short next to the value funds it sits beside.

Full ACSG profile⁠

Full DFSV profile⁠