BLDG vs DFGR

BLDGDCambria Global Real Estate ETF

DFGRADimensional Global Real Estate ETF

In short

BLDG Most real estate ETFs buy the biggest landlords by market cap and stop there. Cambria goes global and active instead: US, developed and emerging-market property companies screened on value, quality and momentum, then about 80 of them held.

DFGR One ticker for the world's landlords: US, developed and emerging-market REITs in a single market-cap-weighted portfolio, traded by Dimensional's desk rather than on an index calendar. Roughly 500 names.

Stated mandate

BLDG The Fund is actively managed and invests primarily in domestic and foreign real-estate companies selected for favorable value, quality, and momentum metrics.

DFGR The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing broadly in U.S. and non-U.S. companies principally engaged in real estate, including REITs and REIT-like entities.

Why people hold it

• BLDG One ticker covers US, developed international and emerging-market real estate, not just domestic REITs.
• Actively picked on value, quality and momentum, so the largest landlord doesn't automatically become the largest position.
• 0.59% expense ratio, below the median for its actively managed US equity peer group.
• Live since 2020, pays on a quarterly schedule, and holds roughly 80 names rather than a few concentrated bets.

• DFGR Fee is 0.21% net of a waiver through February 28, 2027 (0.22% gross), below the category median, though index peers REET (0.14%) and HAUZ (0.10%) charge less.
• Holds US and non-US real estate, developed and emerging markets, in one wrapper. HAUZ and VNQI are ex-US only, so pairing them with a US REIT fund is the usual workaround.sec.gov
• No index to shadow: the prospectus lets Dimensional weight by market cap while flexing trade timing and capping country or issuer exposure.sec.gov
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, and it pays distributions quarterly.

Worth knowing

• BLDG Thinly traded. Light volume can mean wider spreads between what you pay and what the shares are worth.
• Foreign property companies add currency movement on top of real estate movement.
• One sector, run by human judgment: outcomes track the managers' screens and the property cycle, not a broad market index.

• DFGR Single-sector by design, so it moves with property markets and the rates that price them, with roughly 500 names spread across that one sector.
• Foreign REITs mean currency moves land in your return; the fund may use currency forwards for settlement, not to hedge its exposure.sec.gov
• Without a published index to track, there is no simple tracking-difference yardstick, and the waiver expires February 28, 2027, leaving the 0.22% gross fee.sec.gov

Full BLDG profile⁠

Full DFGR profile⁠