DFAU vs KOOL

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

KOOLDNorth Shore Equity Rotation 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.

KOOL A sector-rotation fund that published its playbook: the prospectus names four business-cycle stages and the sectors KOOL tilts toward in each, from staples and utilities in a recession to tech and financials in an expansion.

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.

KOOL The Fund seeks to outperform the S&P 500 Index through investments across different equity-market sectors.

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.

• KOOL The playbook is in writing. The prospectus names four cycle stages (recession, recovery, expansion, slowdown) and the sectors the fund leans into in each.sec.gov
• Views get expressed through both single stocks and sector ETFs, so one trade can shift a whole sleeve. The book stays concentrated, at roughly 40 positions.sec.gov
• The adviser reviews GDP, employment, consumer spending and inflation at least monthly, so the stage call runs on a set cadence rather than on headlines.sec.gov
• The mandate is global, not U.S.-only, so the rotation can reach foreign equities as well as domestic ones.sec.gov

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.

• KOOL Pricier than most of the category: 0.93% net of a waiver through July 31, 2027, versus a 1.32% gross rate, while peers like DFAU at 0.12% and AVLC at 0.15% sit far below.
• Thinly traded and non-diversified, so spreads can bite on entry and exit and a handful of names can drive results.sec.gov
• Everything rides on the adviser's read of the cycle, and the prospectus notes the stages can repeat or arrive out of order.sec.gov

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full KOOL profile⁠