DFAU vs HTUS

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

HTUSDHull Tactical 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.

HTUS Most active US equity funds argue about which stocks to own. HTUS argues about whether to own them at all: a quant strategy that shifts between long and short S&P 500 exposure, running live since 2015.

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.

HTUS The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through an actively managed strategy using long and short positions in ETFs and related instruments tied primarily to the S&P 500 Index.

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.

• HTUS Not a stock picker. It takes long and short positions in S&P 500 linked ETFs and related instruments, so market exposure moves with the model instead of sitting permanently fully invested.
• Trading real money since 2015, so the model has a live record behind it rather than a backtest.
• The tactical trading happens inside a registered 1940 Act fund, so the shorting sits under regular fund rules rather than in a private vehicle.
• Tight mandate, and it stays inside it: US equities, S&P 500 as the reference point, no drift into other markets or asset classes.

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.

• HTUS At 0.96% a year it runs above the typical active US equity fund, and several times the index-plus crowd such as DFAU (0.12%) and FELC (0.18%).
• Small asset base and thin trading, so spreads can widen and sizable orders can move the price.
• You are buying a model, not a basket. Outcomes track the manager's signals and its short side, not simply the index it references.

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full HTUS profile⁠