DFAU vs VPX: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Dimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

DFAUANYSE Arca

Variant Perception Cycle Aware US Equity ETF

VPXCNYSE Arca

Overlap

47.7%by weight

Expense ratio

DFAU −0.63pt a year

DFAU0.12%VPX0.75%

Avg volume · 30D

DFAU 35.8×the volume

DFAU547KVPX15.3K

DFAU vs VPX Performance

Aug 7, 2026 – Nov 9, 2026

−2.4%DFAU−5.6%VPX

Expense ratio: DFAU 0.12%, better; VPX 0.75%
Fund size: DFAU $12.6B; VPX $63M
1Y total return: DFAU +14.5%; VPX No data
Yield (12M): DFAU 0.91%; VPX No data
Holdings: DFAU 2163; VPX 130
Avg volume (30D): DFAU 547K sh, better; VPX 15.3K sh
NAV per share: DFAU $50.91; VPX $29.13
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for DFAU, VPX, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	DFAU	VPX
Cost30% weight	A97Higher	D37
Mission25% weight	A84	Not scored
Risk15% weight	B63Higher	B59
Tradability15% weight	A87Higher	C40
Holdings10% weight	A84Higher	B68
Durability5% weight	A91Higher	D35

Rank among US Active Equity funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. DFAU and VPX 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 VPX 71st 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 71CTOSTwin Oak Strategic Solutions ETFScore 45
Rank 71CVPXVariant Perception Cycle Aware US Equity ETFScore 45
Rank 76CAIEQAmplify AI Powered Equity ETFScore 44

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

VPXCVariant Perception Cycle Aware US 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.

VPX A macro research shop's take on US large caps: own quality names, then let a macro-risk model decide how much of the portfolio sits in cash instead. Most active large-cap funds stay fully invested. This one has a dial.

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.

VPX The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation with reduced downside risk through a systematic strategy investing primarily in large-capitalization U.S. equity securities, with cash and cash equivalents also permitted.

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.

VPX The dial is the point. As its macro risk reading rises, more of the fund shifts into cash and short-term government paper; as risk falls, it moves back toward stocks.etfarchitect.com
The stock side is systematic, not hunches: US large caps above $5 billion in market value, ranked on a proprietary read of quality and behavioral factors.etfarchitect.com
One flat 0.75% management fee. The fee table shows no 12b-1 charge and no separate other-expenses line stacked on top.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.

VPX 0.75% sits above the typical active US equity fund's 0.65%, and it is many times what systematic rivals like DFAU (0.12%) and AVLC (0.15%) charge.
Cash cuts both ways. The prospectus notes that holding cash, even strategically, can leave the fund behind rivals that stay fully invested.etfarchitect.com
Launched in 2026, still small and lightly traded: a short record to judge, and wider bid-ask spreads than the giants of the category.

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full VPX profile⁠

DFAU vs VPX Holdings

How DFAU and VPX differ

Overlap by weight

47.7%

Shared holdings make up 98.1% of VPX and 54.3% of DFAU.

Level by level

Holdings125 in both47.7%
Sector11 Sectors73.4%
Countryby domicile98.6%
Asset classStocks100%

Sector

Sector weights in DFAU and VPX, widest gap first
Sector	Gap	DFAU	VPX
Energy	VPX +12.7 points	4.5%	17.2%
Health Care	DFAU +10.3 points	10.3%	0.0%
Financials	VPX +9.4 points	13.6%	23.0%
Consumer Discretionary	DFAU +5.4 points	10.2%	4.8%
Consumer Staples	DFAU +5.0 points	5.0%	0.0%
Technology	VPX +4.6 points	34.7%	39.3%
Materials	DFAU +2.3 points	2.3%	0.0%
Utilities	DFAU +2.2 points	2.2%	0.0%
Industrials	DFAU +1.1 points	9.3%	8.2%
Communication	DFAU +0.2 points	7.8%	7.6%
Real Estate	DFAU +0.1 points	0.1%	0.0%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in DFAU and VPX, widest gap first
Country	Gap	DFAU	VPX
United States	DFAU +1.1 points	99.3%	98.2%
Taiwan	VPX +1.0 points	0.0%	1.0%
Other countries (10)	VPX +0.1 points	0.7%	0.8%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

DFAU33.3%
VPX39.3%

Securities held

DFAU2,161
VPX129

Asset class

DFAU: Stocks
VPX: Stocks

Holdings

Only in DFAU2,036
In both125
Only in VPX4

Only in DFAU

2,036 securities, 45.5% of DFAU by weight

Alphabet Inc1.85%
Eli Lilly and Company1.49%
Tesla Inc1.26%
Johnson & Johnson0.82%
Walmart Inc.0.74%
AbbVie Inc.0.63%
Procter & Gamble Co/The0.56%
Merck & Company Inc0.56%
Costco Wholesale Corp.0.53%
Coca Cola Co.0.49%
UnitedHealth Group Inc.0.40%
Amgen Inc0.37%
Philip Morris Intl0.37%
International Business Ma0.35%
New Linde PLC0.32%
Gilead Sciences Inc0.31%
Rtx Corp0.31%
Thermo Fisher Scientific.0.28%
Pepsico Inc.0.27%
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.0.22%
Nextera Energy Inc0.22%
Tjx Companies Inc.0.20%
Newmont Corp0.20%
Abbott Laboratories0.20%
Travelers Companies Inc.0.20%
Pfizer Inc.0.20%
Accenture PLC0.19%
Progressive Corp0.18%
General Motors0.17%
3M Co.0.17%
Palo Alto Networks Inc0.17%
Royal Caribbean Cruises0.17%
Danaher Corp.0.17%
Medtronic PLC0.17%
Csx Corp0.16%
Mondelez Intl0.16%
Target Corp.0.16%
Sherwin-Williams Co0.16%
Automatic Data Processing0.16%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals0.16%
Allstate Corp.0.15%
Cintas Corp.0.15%
Ecolab Inc0.15%
Cigna Group/The0.15%
Altria Group Inc.0.15%
Illinois Tool Works Inc.0.15%
Emerson Elec Co0.15%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals0.15%
Lowe's Cos Inc0.15%
Marriott Intl Class A0.15%

Only in VPX

4 securities, 1.8% of VPX by weight

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd0.98%
First American Government Obligations Fund 12/01/20310.38%
Block Inc0.28%
Fiserv Inc0.21%

Weight gaps

The 100 widest of 125 Holdings in both funds.

Holding weights in DFAU and VPX, widest gap first
Holding	Gap	DFAU	VPX
Chevron Corp.CVX	VPX +3.18 points	0.54%	3.72%
Exxonmobil Holdings CorpXOM	VPX +2.89 points	1.01%	3.90%
Broadcom IncAVGO	VPX +2.82 points	1.81%	4.63%
Visa IncV	VPX +2.36 points	1.03%	3.39%
Microsoft CorpMSFT	DFAU +2.09 points	5.86%	3.77%
Mastercard Inc - AMA	VPX +1.90 points	0.74%	2.64%
Apple Inc.AAPL	DFAU +1.87 points	7.27%	5.40%
JPMorgan Chase & CoJPM	VPX +1.72 points	1.23%	2.95%
NVIDIA CorpNVDA	DFAU +1.45 points	6.20%	4.75%
ConocophillipsCOP	VPX +1.33 points	0.27%	1.60%
Advanced Micro DevicesAMD	VPX +1.23 points	0.84%	2.07%
Caterpillar Inc.CAT	VPX +1.07 points	0.32%	1.39%
Ge Vernova LlcGEV	VPX +1.03 points	0.18%	1.21%
Dell Technologies IncDELL	VPX +0.96 points	0.12%	1.08%
Bank of America CorpBAC	VPX +0.90 points	0.40%	1.30%
Marathon Petroleum Corp.MPC	VPX +0.87 points	0.17%	1.04%
Micron Technology Inc.MU	VPX +0.82 points	1.25%	2.07%
Phillips 66PSX	VPX +0.79 points	0.17%	0.96%
Valero Energy CorpVLO	VPX +0.77 points	0.16%	0.93%
Cisco Systems Inc.CSCO	VPX +0.73 points	0.49%	1.22%
Morgan StanleyMS	VPX +0.72 points	0.29%	1.01%
Arista Networks IncANET	VPX +0.71 points	0.20%	0.91%
The Charles Schwab Corp.SCHW	VPX +0.70 points	0.18%	0.88%
Applied Materials Inc.AMAT	VPX +0.64 points	0.32%	0.96%
Uber Technologies IncUBER	VPX +0.64 points	0.14%	0.78%
American Express Co.AXP	VPX +0.63 points	0.27%	0.90%
Lam Research CorpLRCX	VPX +0.62 points	0.29%	0.91%
BlackRock Funding Inc/DeBLK	VPX +0.61 points	0.19%	0.80%
Alphabet Inc - Class AGOOGL	VPX +0.60 points	2.24%	2.84%
Meta Platforms IncMETA	VPX +0.59 points	1.82%	2.41%
Eog Resources Inc.EOG	VPX +0.57 points	0.18%	0.75%
Berkshire Hathaway Cl-BBRK.B	DFAU +0.57 points	1.27%	0.70%
Texas Instruments Inc.TXN	VPX +0.53 points	0.33%	0.86%
Amphenol Corp Class AAPH	VPX +0.50 points	0.23%	0.73%
Amazon.com Inc.AMZN	VPX +0.49 points	3.49%	3.98%
Sandisk Corp/DeSNDK	VPX +0.46 points	0.18%	0.64%
Williams Cos. Inc.WMB	VPX +0.43 points	0.11%	0.54%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.GS	VPX +0.43 points	0.34%	0.77%
Marvell Technology IncMRVL	VPX +0.41 points	0.08%	0.49%
Analog Devices Inc.ADI	VPX +0.38 points	0.21%	0.59%
Western DigitalWDC	VPX +0.38 points	0.16%	0.54%
Kla CorpKLAC	VPX +0.37 points	0.25%	0.62%
Seagate Technology HoldSTX	VPX +0.37 points	0.14%	0.51%
Netflix.com Inc.NFLX	VPX +0.36 points	0.26%	0.62%
S&P Global IncSPGI	VPX +0.35 points	0.17%	0.52%
Eaton Corp PLCETN	VPX +0.36 points	0.15%	0.51%
Qualcomm Inc.QCOM	VPX +0.33 points	0.27%	0.60%
Blackstone IncBX	VPX +0.33 points	0.08%	0.41%
Baker Hughes CoBKR	VPX +0.32 points	0.09%	0.41%
Boeing Co/TheBA	VPX +0.32 points	0.14%	0.46%
Deere & Co.DE	VPX +0.30 points	0.22%	0.52%
Corning IncGLW	VPX +0.30 points	0.09%	0.39%
Occidental Petroleum CorpOXY	VPX +0.29 points	0.13%	0.42%
Trane Technologies PLCTT	VPX +0.28 points	0.11%	0.39%
T-Mobile Us IncTMUS	VPX +0.29 points	0.12%	0.41%
Diamondback Energy IncFANG	VPX +0.28 points	0.10%	0.38%
Vertiv Holdings CoVRT	VPX +0.28 points	0.08%	0.36%
Targa Resources CorpTRGP	VPX +0.27 points	0.10%	0.38%
Chubb LimitedCB	VPX +0.26 points	0.16%	0.42%
Quanta Services Inc.PWR	VPX +0.26 points	0.08%	0.34%
Bloom Energy CorpBE	VPX +0.24 points	0.05%	0.29%
Lockheed Martin Corp.LMT	VPX +0.24 points	0.18%	0.42%
Cummins IncCMI	VPX +0.25 points	0.11%	0.36%
Johnson Controls IntlJCI	VPX +0.23 points	0.15%	0.38%
Kkr & Co IncKKR	VPX +0.22 points	0.07%	0.29%
Applovin CorpAPP	VPX +0.23 points	0.11%	0.34%
Devon Energy Corp.DVN	VPX +0.22 points	0.09%	0.31%
Home Depot IncHD	DFAU +0.22 points	0.50%	0.28%
Delta Air Lines Inc.DAL	VPX +0.22 points	0.12%	0.34%
Citigroup Inc.C	VPX +0.22 points	0.24%	0.46%
Howmet Aerospace IncHWM	VPX +0.21 points	0.10%	0.31%
Slb LtdSLB	VPX +0.21 points	0.15%	0.36%
Capital One FinancialCOF	VPX +0.21 points	0.15%	0.36%
Bank of New York MellonBNY	VPX +0.19 points	0.14%	0.33%
Union Pac Corp.UNP	VPX +0.19 points	0.25%	0.44%
State Street Corp.STT	VPX +0.18 points	0.08%	0.26%
Halliburton CoHAL	VPX +0.18 points	0.05%	0.23%
Robinhood Markets IncHOOD	VPX +0.17 points	0.06%	0.23%
Pnc Financial Services GrPNC	VPX +0.17 points	0.11%	0.28%
Intercontinental ExchangeICE	VPX +0.16 points	0.18%	0.34%
Aon PLCAON	VPX +0.16 points	0.15%	0.31%
PayPal Holdings IncPYPL	VPX +0.16 points	0.10%	0.26%
Expand Energy CorpEXE	VPX +0.16 points	0.04%	0.20%
Oneok IncOKE	VPX +0.16 points	0.10%	0.26%
Wells Fargo & Co.WFC	VPX +0.16 points	0.35%	0.51%
Nxp Semiconductors NVNXPI	VPX +0.15 points	0.13%	0.28%
Intel CorpINTC	VPX +0.15 points	0.31%	0.46%
Moody's CorporationMCO	VPX +0.15 points	0.14%	0.29%
Hewlett-Packard EnterprisHPE	VPX +0.15 points	0.13%	0.28%
Ameriprise Financial IncAMP	VPX +0.14 points	0.10%	0.24%
Te Connectivity PLCTEL	VPX +0.14 points	0.12%	0.26%
Willis Towers Watson PLCWTW	VPX +0.14 points	0.06%	0.20%
Eqt CorpEQT	VPX +0.14 points	0.06%	0.20%
Msci IncMSCI	VPX +0.13 points	0.08%	0.21%
Kinder Morgan Inc.KMI	VPX +0.13 points	0.11%	0.24%
Ciena CorpCIEN	VPX +0.13 points	0.05%	0.18%
Comcast Corp New Class ACMCSA	VPX +0.12 points	0.06%	0.18%
Everpure IncP	VPX +0.11 points	0.04%	0.15%
Apollo Global ManagementAPO	VPX +0.11 points	0.12%	0.23%
Apa CorpAPA	VPX +0.11 points	0.04%	0.15%

All 2,381 DFAU holdings⁠All VPX 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 VPX Cost

Overpaying VPX vs DFAU

$11,962

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

DFAU 0.12%
$2,520
VPX 0.75%
$14,482

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

DFAU 0.12%
VPX 0.75%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	DFAU	VPX	Overpaying
10	$220	$1,336	$1,116
20	$859	$5,078	$4,219
30	$2,520	$14,482	$11,962

Expense ratio

0.12%DFAU, cheaper
0.75%VPX

DFAU0.12%VPX0.75%

0.00%2.89%

Middle half of US Active Equity funds
Median 0.68%

DFAU 4th cheapest of 121 funds

VPX 72nd cheapest of 121 funds

DFAU vs VPX Dividends

Last 12 months to Nov 9, 2026

Yield (12M): DFAU 0.91%; VPX No data
Payout (12M): DFAU $0.47; VPX None
Last payment: DFAU $0.12; VPX No data
Ex-dividend: DFAU Sep 22, 2026; VPX No data
Paid on: DFAU Sep 24, 2026; VPX No data
Frequency: DFAU Quarterly; VPX No data

Distribution history

Per share, 2020 to 2026, same scale for both

DFAUQuarterly · 24 paymentsAll DFAU payments⁠

VPXAll VPX payments⁠

No distribution history available.

DFAU vs VPX 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%VPX No data
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: DFAU 1.38VPX No data
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: DFAU −23.6%VPX No data
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: DFAU 1.01VPX 0.89; Market = 1

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