DEEF vs GSWO

DEEFBXtrackers FTSE Developed ex US Multifactor ETF

GSWOAGoldman Sachs ActiveBeta World Equity ETF

In short

DEEF One index, four factor tilts, roughly 1,200 developed-market stocks outside the US, for 0.24% a year. Xtrackers has run this multifactor recipe since 2015, and the price tag is the loudest part of the pitch.

GSWO Four factor tilts (value, momentum, quality, low volatility) on developed markets outside the US, for 15 basis points. Goldman's ActiveBeta rules at a price closer to an index fund than an active one.

Stated mandate

DEEF The Fund passively seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the FTSE Developed ex US Comprehensive Factor Index.

GSWO The fund is an ActiveBeta World Equity ETF designed to track an ActiveBeta Index and provide exposure to value, momentum, quality, and low-volatility characteristics.

Why people hold it

• DEEF Charges 0.24% a year, undercutting well-regarded rivals in the same multifactor lane like GSIE (0.25%) and RODM (0.29%).
• Value, quality, momentum and low volatility are blended inside one FTSE index rather than bolted together as separate sleeves, so it is a single ticker instead of four.
• Roughly 1,200 holdings across developed markets outside the US, spreading the factor bets over a broad basket rather than a concentrated one.
• Live since 2015 on a passive, rules-based mandate: it follows the index, with no manager discretion in the mix.

• GSWO 0.15% a year against a 0.69% median for its global active-equity peers, and cheaper than fellow top-graded names DFAW (0.24%) and AVGE (0.25%).
• Value, momentum, quality and low volatility come from one published ActiveBeta index methodology, not a manager's discretionary call.gsam.com
• Stands among the strongest implementations in its global equity peer group: a multi-billion-dollar fund in the standard 1940 Act ETF wrapper that pays quarterly.

Worth knowing

• DEEF Thinly traded and small by category standards, so spreads can add cost the expense ratio does not show. Limit orders matter more here than in the giants.
• A four-factor blend is built to look different from a plain cap-weighted developed-markets index, which means stretches of divergence in both directions.
• Cheaper doors into the same idea exist: INTF at 0.16% and FDEV at 0.18%.

• GSWO Despite the "World" name, the reference index is MSCI World ex USA, so US stocks sit outside the mandate.
• Launched in 2022, so the live record is short, and factor blends can trail plain cap-weighted benchmarks for long stretches.
• Four factors in one basket can pull against each other; the net tilt is milder than a single-factor fund.

Full DEEF profile⁠

Full GSWO profile⁠