DFAU vs LCTU

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

LCTUAiShares U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness Aware Active 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.

LCTU BlackRock's climate pick: an active Russell 1000 portfolio tilted toward companies it scores as transition-ready, at 0.15% net of a waiver through June 30, 2027. Launched in 2021 with the biggest first-day haul the ETF industry had seen.

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.

LCTU LCTU pursues long-term capital growth through U.S. large- and mid-cap equities that BlackRock judges more capable of benefiting from the shift toward a low-carbon economy.

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.

• LCTU Costs 0.15% net of a waiver through June 30, 2027, below the typical active US large-cap fund and level with Avantis' AVLC at 0.15%.
• The tilt is written down, not vibed: names come from Russell 1000 members, and the fund targets a carbon-transition-readiness score at least 10% better than that index at purchase.sec.gov
• One of the stronger builds in a crowded field of active US equity ETFs: roughly 300 large- and mid-cap names, quarterly distributions, a multi-billion-dollar asset base.

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.

• LCTU That 0.15% rides on a waiver. The gross fee is 0.30%, and the discount is committed only through June 30, 2027.
• The screen is BlackRock's own research, not a public index rulebook, and the fund can drift from its 10% uplift target as markets move or data changes.sec.gov
• Fully invested US stocks, no downside cushion, and because the names are drawn from the Russell 1000 the portfolio can look a lot like the broad market.sec.gov

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full LCTU profile⁠