DFAU vs MSTQ

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

MSTQFLHA Market State Tactical Q 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.

MSTQ A Nasdaq-100 ride with a volatility seatbelt: MSTQ holds Nasdaq-100 exposure in calm markets, then adds long VIX positions when the VIX futures curve signals stress. Rules-based, and running live since 2022.

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.

MSTQ The Fund seeks long-term outperformance relative to the U.S. large-capitalization equity market.

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.

• MSTQ In calm markets it rides the Nasdaq-100 via an index fund or Nasdaq-100 futures, generally 80% to 120% exposure. When volatility stress signals fire, it buys long VIX exposure.lhafunds.comlittleharboradvisors.com
• The trigger is the shape of the volatility market itself: 30-day versus 90-day implied vol plus VIX futures, rather than a manager's gut call on when to duck.sec.gov
• Runs on a signal licensed exclusively from Thompson Capital, the shop that built it, and has traded in public markets since 2022. One ticker instead of a do-it-yourself options overlay.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.

• MSTQ At 1.55% with no fee waiver, it sits above the typical active US large-cap fee, and index-style peers such as DFAU (0.12%) and AVLC (0.15%) cost a sliver of that.
• Hedging is not free: when the signal turns defensive and stocks keep climbing, the long VIX leg drags while Nasdaq-100 exposure is dialed back.lhafunds.comsec.gov
• Small and thinly traded, so the spread is part of the cost of getting in and out, not just the expense ratio.

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full MSTQ profile⁠