DFAC vs KEAT

DFACADimensional US Core Equity 2 ETF

KEATDKeating Active 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.

KEAT A boutique stock picker in a corner of the market dominated by giant quant shops. Keating runs a hand-built equity portfolio chasing both income and growth, and charges active-management prices to do it.

Stated mandate

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

KEAT The Fund seeks total return through income and 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.

• KEAT Genuinely active, not an index in disguise: holdings come from fundamental research, one company at a time, rather than a rules-based screen.
• A two-sided mandate. It targets total return from income and capital appreciation, and distributions are paid on a quarterly schedule.
• Wide toolkit for an equity fund: common stock, preferred shares, REITs and depositary receipts all sit inside the mandate, so the income can come from more than one place.

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.

• KEAT The 0.85% fee sits above the typical active US equity fund at 0.65%, and well above the cohort's highest-rated names: DFAU at 0.12%, AVLC at 0.15%, DFAC at 0.17%.
• Thinly traded and small. Bid-ask spreads tend to be wider on funds like this, which adds a cost that never shows up in the expense ratio.
• Launched in 2024, so the record is short. There is not yet enough history to see how the manager's picks behave across a full market cycle.

Full DFAC profile⁠

Full KEAT profile⁠