DFAU vs ZECP

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

ZECPBZacks Earnings Consistent Portfolio 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.

ZECP Zacks made its name on earnings estimates. Its first ETF, launched 2021, turns that lens inward: screen the largest 750 US stocks for the steadiest earnings, hold 50 to 120, charge 0.55% with no waiver.

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.

ZECP The Fund seeks long-term total returns while minimizing capital loss.

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.

• ZECP The screen is literal: 15 years of EPS variability plus two years of forecast variability. Least wobbly earnings advance, then a manager vets filings, profitability and valuation.sec.gov
• 0.55% is below the median for actively managed US equity funds, and it is the real number: gross and net match, with no waiver due to roll off.
• A compact book of roughly 60 names with a defensive, low-volatility build, drawn from a mandate that pairs the quant screen with human review.sec.gov
• On our overall review it lands in the upper quartile of a large active US equity peer group, with risk behavior that holds up well against those rivals.

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.

• ZECP Active costs more. DFAU charges 0.12% and AVLC 0.15% for broad US equity, so the earnings screen has to justify the gap.
• Steady earnings is not steady prices. The objective is long-term total return while minimizing capital loss, which sets no floor under a drawdown.
• A few hundred million in assets and light daily volume mean the spread can be a live cost, and distributions arrive only once or twice a year.

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full ZECP profile⁠