DFAU vs NELS: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Dimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

DFAUANYSE Arca

Nelson Select ETF

NELSDCboe

Overlap

51.9%by weight

Expense ratio

DFAU −1.69pt a year

DFAU0.12%NELS1.81%

Avg volume · 30D

DFAU 37.3×the volume

DFAU555KNELS14.9K

DFAU vs NELS Performance

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

+13.2%DFAU+11.2%NELS

Expense ratio: DFAU 0.12%, better; NELS 1.81%
Fund size: DFAU $12.9B; NELS $75M
1Y total return: DFAU +13.2%, better; NELS +11.2%
Yield (12M): DFAU 0.90%; NELS No data
Holdings: DFAU 2165; NELS 87
Avg volume (30D): DFAU 555K sh, better; NELS 14.9K sh
NAV per share: DFAU $52.28; NELS $29.15
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for DFAU, NELS, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	DFAU	NELS
Cost30% weight	A97Higher	F2
Mission25% weight	A83	Not scored
Risk15% weight	B65Higher	C54
Tradability15% weight	A87Higher	B67
Holdings10% weight	A84Higher	A71
Durability5% weight	A91Higher	D26

Rank among US Active Equity funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. DFAU and NELS are both graded against the same 121 US Active Equity funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

US Active Equity⁠

Category · 121 funds

See all 121 ›

DFAU ranks 2nd and NELS 88th of 121 funds in the US Active Equity Category.

Rank 1AAVLCAvantis U.S. Large Cap Equity ETFScore 87
Rank 2ADFAUDimensional US Core Equity Market ETFScore 86
Rank 3ADFACDimensional US Core Equity 2 ETFScore 85
Rank 88DLQAILG QRAFT AI-Powered U.S. Large Cap Core ETFScore 36
Rank 88DNELSNelson Select ETFScore 36
Rank 88DNEWZStockSnips AI-Powered Sentiment US All Cap ETFScore 36

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

NELSDNelson Select 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.

NELS No data

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.

NELS No data

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.

NELS No data

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.

NELS No data

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full NELS profile⁠

DFAU vs NELS Holdings

How DFAU and NELS differ

Overlap by weight

51.9%

Shared holdings make up 91.7% of NELS and 52.1% of DFAU.

Level by level

Holdings75 in both51.9%
Sector11 Sectors94.9%
Countryby domicile98.2%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

Sector weights in DFAU and NELS, widest gap first
Sector	More in DFAUMore in NELS	DFAU	NELS
Technology	NELS +2.3 points	36.6%	38.9%
Industrials	DFAU +2.0 points	8.9%	6.9%
Financials	DFAU +1.2 points	12.9%	11.7%
Health Care	NELS +0.9 points	9.7%	10.6%
Materials	DFAU +1.0 points	2.7%	1.7%
Real Estate	NELS +0.8 points	0.1%	0.9%
Communication	NELS +0.5 points	8.0%	8.5%
Energy	DFAU +0.5 points	4.9%	4.4%
Consumer Staples	NELS +0.4 points	4.7%	5.1%
Utilities	DFAU +0.1 points	2.1%	2.0%
Consumer Discretionary	DFAU +0.1 points	9.4%	9.3%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in DFAU and NELS, widest gap first
Country	More in DFAUMore in NELS	DFAU	NELS
United States	DFAU +1.3 points	99.3%	98.0%
Taiwan	NELS +1.0 points	0.0%	1.0%
Switzerland	NELS +0.7 points	0.3%	1.0%
Other countries (9)	DFAU +0.4 points	0.4%	0.0%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

DFAU33.4%
NELS38.7%

Securities held

DFAU2,164
NELS86

Asset class

DFAU: Equity
NELS: Equity

Holdings

Only in DFAU2,089
In both75
Only in NELS11

Only in DFAU

2,089 securities, 47.9% of DFAU by weight

Alphabet Inc1.76%
Cisco Systems Inc.0.54%
Procter & Gamble Co/The0.52%
Costco Wholesale Corp.0.48%
Intel Corp0.48%
Home Depot Inc0.46%
Bank of America Corp0.39%
Oracle Corp.0.38%
General Electric Company0.38%
Philip Morris Intl0.37%
Amgen Inc0.36%
International Business Ma0.36%
Lam Research Corp0.36%
New Linde PLC0.30%
Verizon Communications0.30%
Qualcomm Inc.0.29%
Morgan Stanley0.29%
Kla Corp0.29%
Conocophillips0.28%
Thermo Fisher Scientific.0.27%
American Express Co.0.26%
Union Pac Corp.0.25%
Pepsico Inc.0.25%
Western Digital0.24%
Seagate Technology Hold0.21%
Mcdonald's Corp.0.21%
Arista Networks Inc0.21%
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.0.21%
Tjx Companies Inc.0.20%
Deere & Co.0.20%
Ge Vernova Llc0.20%
Nextera Energy Inc0.20%
Pfizer Inc.0.19%
AT&T Inc.0.19%
Travelers Companies Inc.0.19%
Eog Resources Inc.0.19%
Phillips 660.19%
Abbott Laboratories0.18%
Newmont Corp0.18%
Progressive Corp0.18%
Accenture PLC0.17%
Eaton Corp PLC0.17%
The Charles Schwab Corp.0.17%
Valero Energy Corp0.17%
Csx Corp0.17%
Johnson Controls Intl0.17%
Hewlett-Packard Enterpris0.16%
Danaher Corp.0.16%
3M Co.0.16%
Intercontinental Exchange0.16%

Only in NELS

11 securities, 8.3% of NELS by weight

Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund1.08%
Chubb Limited1.01%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Sponsored ADR0.98%
Reaves Utilities Etf0.94%
Johnson Controls0.92%
Eaton Corp PLC0.87%
Linde PLC0.71%
Accenture Plc-Cl A0.55%
Welltower Inc0.47%
Equinix Inc0.45%
Space Exploration Tech Corp A0.31%

Weight gaps

All 75 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in DFAU and NELS, widest gap first
Holding	More in DFAUMore in NELS	DFAU	NELS
Alphabet Inc - Class AGOOGL	NELS +1.83 points	2.14%	3.97%
Lockheed Martin Corp.LMT	NELS +1.32 points	0.20%	1.52%
Ulta Beauty IncULTA	NELS +1.14 points	0.05%	1.19%
Best Buy Co. Inc.BBY	NELS +1.05 points	0.05%	1.10%
Analog Devices Inc.ADI	NELS +0.93 points	0.24%	1.17%
Cardinal Health Inc.CAH	NELS +0.89 points	0.09%	0.98%
Quest Diagnostics Inc.DGX	NELS +0.89 points	0.05%	0.94%
Ross Stores Inc.ROST	NELS +0.87 points	0.14%	1.01%
Walt Disney Co/TheDIS	NELS +0.85 points	0.22%	1.07%
Targa Resources CorpTRGP	NELS +0.84 points	0.12%	0.96%
Motorola Solutions Inc.MSI	NELS +0.83 points	0.15%	0.98%
Amphenol Corp Class AAPH	NELS +0.82 points	0.25%	1.07%
AbbVie Inc.ABBV	NELS +0.82 points	0.61%	1.43%
Colgate-Palmolive CoCL	NELS +0.78 points	0.12%	0.90%
JPMorgan Chase & CoJPM	NELS +0.76 points	1.21%	1.97%
BlackRock Funding Inc/DeBLK	NELS +0.75 points	0.18%	0.93%
Coca Cola Co.KO	NELS +0.72 points	0.46%	1.18%
The J.m. Smucker Co.SJM	NELS +0.71 points	0.03%	0.74%
Rtx CorpRTX	NELS +0.70 points	0.31%	1.01%
UnitedHealth Group Inc.UNH	NELS +0.70 points	0.40%	1.10%
United Rentals Inc.URI	NELS +0.67 points	0.14%	0.81%
Kimberly-Clark Corp.KMB	NELS +0.66 points	0.07%	0.73%
Cheniere Energy IncLNG	NELS +0.65 points	0.13%	0.78%
Metlife Inc.MET	NELS +0.64 points	0.13%	0.77%
NVIDIA CorpNVDA	NELS +0.61 points	6.79%	7.40%
Delta Air Lines Inc.DAL	NELS +0.59 points	0.11%	0.70%
Vertex PharmaceuticalsVRTX	NELS +0.58 points	0.15%	0.73%
Bank of New York MellonBNY	NELS +0.58 points	0.13%	0.71%
Cadence Design SystemsCDNS	NELS +0.56 points	0.09%	0.65%
Uber Technologies IncUBER	NELS +0.55 points	0.13%	0.68%
State Street Corp.STT	NELS +0.54 points	0.08%	0.62%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.GS	NELS +0.54 points	0.35%	0.89%
Wabtec CorpWAB	NELS +0.54 points	0.07%	0.61%
Texas Instruments Inc.TXN	NELS +0.52 points	0.36%	0.88%
General MotorsGM	NELS +0.50 points	0.17%	0.67%
Ebay Inc.EBAY	NELS +0.49 points	0.10%	0.59%
Merck & Company IncMRK	NELS +0.48 points	0.53%	1.01%
Amazon.com Inc.AMZN	NELS +0.48 points	3.14%	3.62%
Citigroup Inc.C	NELS +0.47 points	0.24%	0.71%
Agilent Technologies IncA	NELS +0.45 points	0.09%	0.54%
Microsoft CorpMSFT	NELS +0.45 points	5.62%	6.07%
Nucor Corp.NUE	NELS +0.43 points	0.12%	0.55%
Visa IncV	NELS +0.42 points	0.96%	1.38%
Jabil IncJBL	NELS +0.41 points	0.06%	0.47%
Snowflake IncSNOW	NELS +0.41 points	0.10%	0.51%
Broadcom IncAVGO	NELS +0.41 points	2.04%	2.45%
Mastercard Inc - AMA	NELS +0.41 points	0.69%	1.10%
Meta Platforms IncMETA	NELS +0.40 points	1.78%	2.18%
Johnson & JohnsonJNJ	NELS +0.38 points	0.78%	1.16%
Apple Inc.AAPL	NELS +0.38 points	7.10%	7.48%
Crowdstrike Holdings IncCRWD	NELS +0.37 points	0.14%	0.51%
Palo Alto Networks IncPANW	NELS +0.36 points	0.20%	0.56%
Dell Technologies IncDELL	NELS +0.35 points	0.17%	0.52%
Advanced Micro DevicesAMD	NELS +0.35 points	1.02%	1.36%
Freeport-Mcmoran Inc.FCX	NELS +0.34 points	0.14%	0.48%
Applied Materials Inc.AMAT	NELS +0.33 points	0.39%	0.72%
Palantir Technologies IncPLTR	NELS +0.32 points	0.40%	0.72%
Eli Lilly and CompanyLLY	NELS +0.31 points	1.45%	1.76%
Gilead Sciences IncGILD	NELS +0.29 points	0.30%	0.59%
Salesforce IncCRM	NELS +0.27 points	0.24%	0.51%
West Pharmaceutical ServWST	NELS +0.26 points	0.05%	0.31%
Target Corp.TGT	NELS +0.26 points	0.15%	0.41%
Micron Technology Inc.MU	NELS +0.23 points	1.62%	1.85%
Tesla IncTSLA	NELS +0.23 points	1.35%	1.58%
Wells Fargo & Co.WFC	NELS +0.18 points	0.34%	0.52%
Chevron Corp.CVX	NELS +0.15 points	0.56%	0.71%
Netflix.com Inc.NFLX	NELS +0.15 points	0.24%	0.39%
Servicenow IncNOW	NELS +0.14 points	0.09%	0.23%
Marathon Petroleum Corp.MPC	NELS +0.12 points	0.18%	0.30%
Fortinet IncFTNT	DFAU +0.11 points	0.12%	0.01%
Walmart Inc.WMT	NELS +0.09 points	0.68%	0.77%
Caterpillar Inc.CAT	NELS +0.08 points	0.35%	0.43%
Exxonmobil Holdings CorpXOM	NELS +0.07 points	1.07%	1.14%
Berkshire Hathaway Cl-BBRK.B	DFAU +0.06 points	1.15%	1.09%
Sandisk Corp/DeSNDK	NELS +0.03 points	0.27%	0.30%

All 2,381 DFAU holdings⁠All 87 NELS holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

DFAU vs NELS Cost

Overpaying NELS vs DFAU

$27,974

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

DFAU 0.12%
$2,520
NELS 1.81%
$30,494

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

DFAU 0.12%
NELS 1.81%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	DFAU	NELS	Overpaying
10	$220	$3,085	$2,865
20	$859	$11,187	$10,328
30	$2,520	$30,494	$27,974

Expense ratio

0.12%DFAU, cheaper
1.81%NELS

DFAU0.12%NELS1.81%

0.00%2.89%

Middle half of US Active Equity funds
Median 0.68%

DFAU 4th cheapest of 121 funds

NELS 118th cheapest of 121 funds

DFAU vs NELS Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): DFAU 0.90%; NELS No data
Payout (12M): DFAU $0.47; NELS None
Last payment: DFAU $0.12; NELS No data
Ex-dividend: DFAU Sep 22, 2026; NELS No data
Paid on: DFAU Sep 24, 2026; NELS No data
Frequency: DFAU Quarterly; NELS No data

Distribution history

Per share, 2020 to 2026, same scale for both

DFAUQuarterly · 24 paymentsAll DFAU payments⁠

NELSAll NELS payments⁠

No distribution history available.

DFAU vs NELS Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: DFAU 12.4%NELS 13.1%since Nov 2025
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: DFAU 1.38NELS 0.59since Nov 2025
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: DFAU −23.6%NELS −9.3%since Oct 2025
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: DFAU 1.01NELS 0.97; Market = 1

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