DFAU vs GGM

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

GGMDGGM Macro Alignment ETF

In short

DFAU Active management priced like an index fund. Dimensional spreads across roughly 2,400 US stocks, then tilts the weights toward value, profitability and momentum instead of simply mirroring the Russell 3000.

GGM Think of the economy as having seasons. GGM is an actively managed fund-of-funds that dresses for the current one, shifting among sector and style ETFs as the macro picture changes, all inside a single ticker.

Stated mandate

DFAU Seeks long-term capital appreciation. It uses an integrated research, portfolio-design, management, and trading process to build a broadly diversified portfolio of U.S. companies while balancing long-term return drivers, risk, shorter-term considerations, and trading costs.

GGM The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• DFAU Charges 0.12% a year, well under the 0.65% median for active US equity funds and the cheapest of the top-graded names in its group (AVLC, DFAC, FELC).
• Holds roughly 2,400 US companies, so no single name steers the fund. Whole-market coverage, not a concentrated bet.
• Active without the stock-picking drama: it leans weights toward value, profitability and momentum, using the Russell 3000 as its reference point rather than a rigid rulebook.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, and one of the strongest overall implementations in its active US equity peer group.

• GGM One ticker, one decision. The manager handles the sector and style rotation, moving the mix as the economic climate shifts rather than leaving the timing calls to you.ggmetf.com
• Exposure comes from baskets, not single names: broad sector, sub-sector and style ETFs are the building blocks, so no one stock can wreck a quarter.usnews.comggmetf.com
• The tilts come from a process, not a hunch. The team maps and measures economic variables, then aligns the portfolio with what those readings say about the current climate.ggmetf.com

Worth knowing

• DFAU Those tilts cut both ways: results can drift from a plain Russell 3000 fund for long stretches, in either direction.
• No published index behind it. The trade-off for flexibility is that you're buying Dimensional's process, not a public set of rules you can check line by line.
• Distributions land quarterly, not monthly, and the mandate is long-term capital appreciation rather than income.

• GGM At 0.94%, the fee runs above the typical active US equity ETF, and core peers like DFAU and FELC charge a fraction of it. A fund-of-funds also carries its underlying ETFs' costs.usnews.com
• A small fund that trades lightly. Spreads can be wider than at big-name peers, and sizeable orders may need patience.
• Launched in 2023, so the full economic cycle this strategy is built around is still in progress.ggmetf.com

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full GGM profile⁠