DFAU vs MSMR

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

MSMRDMcElhenny Sheffield Managed Risk 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.

MSMR A tactical fund that is not built to stay fully invested: two rules-based sleeves, trend following and sector momentum, split roughly 50/50 and expressed through other ETFs. The 1.06% fee sits above the category norm, with no waiver in place.

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.

MSMR The Fund seeks capital appreciation while managing downside risk.

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.

• MSMR Two rules-based sleeves run side by side at roughly 50/50: one follows U.S. equity uptrends, the other rotates toward the highest-momentum segments of the market.sec.gov
• It holds other ETFs rather than individual stocks, so the tactical calls land at the sector and market level instead of the single-name level.sec.gov
• Running since its 2021 launch on the same two-strategy blend, with a stated goal of capital appreciation while managing downside risk.prnewswire.com
• Distributions arrive on a quarterly schedule.

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.

• MSMR At 1.06%, with no fee waiver, it costs above the category median and far more than cheap core peers like DFAU (0.12%) and AVLC (0.15%).
• Trend and momentum rules react to prices, so the strategy can step away during weakness and step back after a reversal is already underway.sec.gov
• Thinly traded next to the giants of its category, which is where limit orders and a look at the spread earn their keep.

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full MSMR profile⁠