DFAU vs HCMT

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

HCMTFDirexion HCM Tactical Enhanced US 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.

HCMT A market-timing model in ETF form. HCMT follows the HCM-BuyLine signal: leveraged exposure to a broad basket of US stocks when the trend is on, cash when it flips off. An all-in-or-all-out design few active US equity funds attempt.

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.

HCMT The Fund seeks capital appreciation and enhanced returns across market cycles broadly correlated with U.S. equities. Its model shifts assets between U.S. equity securities and cash, using derivatives for leveraged exposure when allocated to equities.

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.

• HCMT One ticker, one decision rule. The HCM-BuyLine momentum signal moves the fund between derivative-boosted US equity exposure and cash, instead of leaving the timing call to you.
• The equity sleeve is broad, roughly 500 US stocks, so the leverage rides the whole market rather than a handful of names.
• Conventional 1940 Act fund wrapper: a standard 1099 rather than a K-1, with distributions paid quarterly.

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.

• HCMT The 1.18% expense ratio sits well above the typical active US equity ETF, and far above broad index-style peers like DFAU and DFAC that charge a fraction of it.
• Leverage magnifies losses as well as gains, and a model that steps to cash can be late in both directions: into the decline and out of the rebound.
• Launched in 2023 and thinly traded, so the live record is short and bid-ask spreads can run wider than the category's heaviest-volume names.

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full HCMT profile⁠