DFAC vs FFF

DFACADimensional US Core Equity 2 ETF

FFFDFounders 100 ETF

In short

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.

FFF FFF buys one idea: companies still run by the people who built them. It fishes in a pool of the 200 largest US founder-led firms, holds 100 of them, and keeps room to add founder-led IPOs between rebalances.

Stated mandate

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

FFF The Fund is intended for investors with a generally five-year-or-longer horizon seeking capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• FFF A single-idea portfolio with no drift: at least 90% of assets sit in founder-led US common stocks and REITs, and at least 80% in the 100 biggest names from the founder-led 200.sec.gov
• Up to 20% of assets can go to founder-led IPOs and founder-run companies outside the top 100, so a newly public founder story can be added without waiting on an index reshuffle.sec.gov
• The prospectus is upfront about the shape of the bet: a growth style, capital appreciation as the goal, and a stated five-year-or-longer horizon. Mandate and pitch line up.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• FFF 0.75% a year is toward the pricey end for US equity. The broad core funds sitting at the top of this category (DFAU at 0.12%, AVLC at 0.15%) charge a fraction of it.
• Non-diversified by design, and the premise leans on specific people staying in the chair. Founder exits and single-company news land harder here than in a broad index fund.sec.gov
• It launched in December 2025, so the track record is thin, and the fund is small and lightly traded. Spreads at the point of trade can be wider than with category heavyweights.

Full DFAC profile⁠

Full FFF profile⁠