DFAU vs TCAF

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

TCAFAT. Rowe Capital Appreciation Equity 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.

TCAF The all-equity expression of T. Rowe's Capital Appreciation playbook: about 100 US large caps picked bottom-up for quality and price, no bond sleeve, at a fee well under the typical active equity ETF.

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.

TCAF The fund seeks long-term capital growth through an actively managed portfolio of equity securities.

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.

• TCAF Costs 0.31% a year, under half the 0.65% median for its active US equity peer group.
• Roughly 100 US large caps, narrowed by screening out poor capital allocators, overpriced names and businesses facing secular headwinds, per T. Rowe's own process notes.troweprice.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the busier names in the active equity crowd, which typically shows up as tight spreads at the point of trade.
• Launched in 2023 under veteran manager David Giroux, and it stands among the strongest implementations in a crowded active US equity field.troweprice.com

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.

• TCAF About 100 names, with heavier weights in the highest-conviction picks. Results can wander well away from the broad US market in either direction.troweprice.com
• Equity only, no bond sleeve. It rides the full swing of a large-cap selloff.troweprice.com
• Cheap for active, not cheap outright: systematic peers like DFAU (0.12%) and AVLC (0.15%) charge less.

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full TCAF profile⁠