DFAR vs SCHH

DFARADFA Real Estate Securities Portfolio ETF Class Shares

SCHHASchwab U.S. REIT ETF

In short

DFAR Dimensional's take on US property: roughly 130 real estate names for 0.19% a year, while the typical peer in the category charges about double. A 2022 arrival that does one job and stays inside the lines.

SCHH Landlord exposure at a rounding-error price. SCHH owns the US equity REIT market, roughly 120 of them, for 0.07% a year, a fraction of what the typical real estate fund charges.

Stated mandate

DFAR The fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation.

SCHH The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, an index of U.S. equity-classified real estate investment trusts.

Why people hold it

• DFAR 0.19% a year against a real estate cohort median near 0.37%. Sector funds rarely hand back that much of the toll.
• The label and the portfolio match: broad US real estate, no drift into adjacent sectors. One of the tighter mandate implementations among its two dozen category rivals.
• Roughly 130 holdings, so no single landlord runs the show. A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, which helps keep buying and selling costs modest.
• Rent shows up on a schedule: the fund distributes quarterly, and the stated goal is long-term capital appreciation.

• SCHH 0.07% a year undercuts every major broad REIT rival: VNQ at 0.13%, USRT, FREL and XLRE at 0.08%, against a 0.37% category median.
• Straight-up landlords. The index covers US equity-classified REITs, the companies that own and rent property, not the wider real estate services trade.schwabassetmanagement.com
• It hugs its index about as closely as anything in the broad US REIT group, one of the strongest implementations among its peers.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades heavily, which keeps spreads tight for retail-size orders and has done since its 2011 launch.

Worth knowing

• DFAR Cheaper doors into the same room exist: SCHH and USRT run at 0.08%, VNQ at 0.13%.
• One country, one sector. Real estate moves with interest rates and property cycles, so the ride is bumpier than a broad market fund.
• Launched in 2022, so the record is short next to peers that have lived through more than one property cycle.

• SCHH One sector, about 120 names. It moves with property markets and interest rates, not the broad market, so the ride is bumpier than a total-market fund.
• Income arrives quarterly, not monthly, which matters if you budget off distributions.
• US only, and equity REITs only: no overseas property and no mortgage REITs in the mix.schwabassetmanagement.com

Full DFAR profile⁠

Full SCHH profile⁠