ALRG vs DFAC

ALRGBAllspring LT Large Core ETF

DFACADimensional US Core Equity 2 ETF

In short

ALRG Allspring's 2025 swing at active large-cap core: roughly 50 US large caps measured against the S&P 500, for 0.28% a year. Concentrated stock picking priced closer to an index fund than to the active crowd it competes with.

DFAC Dimensional's whole-market workhorse: roughly 2,600 US stocks in one ticker, run by managers who weigh federal tax consequences before they trade, at a fee closer to index funds than to active ones.

Stated mandate

ALRG The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. Under normal circumstances, it invests at least 80% of net assets in equity securities of large-capitalization U.S. companies.

DFAC The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation while considering federal income-tax implications in its investment decisions.

Why people hold it

• ALRG 0.28% a year is a fraction of what the typical active US equity ETF charges. You are paying near-passive money for a manager's actual picks.
• Roughly 50 holdings, so each name carries real weight. This is a built portfolio, not an S&P 500 clone wearing an active label.
• The mandate is refreshingly plain: at least 80% of net assets in large-cap US equities, S&P 500 as the yardstick, long-term capital appreciation as the goal. No derivatives story to decode.
• On the combination of low fee and clean, well-documented mandate, it lands in the upper half of a crowded active US equity field.

• DFAC 0.17% a year for an actively run fund, well under the median fee among active US equity ETFs.
• About 2,600 US stocks under one ticker, so it holds the market broadly rather than a narrow slice of it.
• Federal income-tax implications sit inside the stated objective, not in a footnote, so they factor into what managers buy and sell.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund with a track record running back to 2007 and one of the strongest implementations in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• ALRG Launched in 2025. There is no multi-year record yet showing how the picks behave against the index through a full market cycle.
• Small asset base and thin trading volume, which typically means wider bid-ask spreads than the household names in the category.
• Cheaper cousins measure themselves against the same S&P 500: PEPS at 0.10% and FELC at 0.18% both come in under this fee.

• DFAC Actively managed, so there's no published index to check it against. Holdings and tilts shift at the managers' discretion.
• Dimensional's own DFAU runs a US core equity mandate for 0.12%, a slightly lighter fee for a similar shelf.
• All stocks, all US: the mandate is capital appreciation from equities, so it takes the market's full swings, and cash arrives quarterly.

Full ALRG profile⁠

Full DFAC profile⁠