DFGR vs FREI

DFGRADimensional Global Real Estate ETF

FREICFidelity Real Estate Income ETF

In short

DFGR One ticker for the world's landlords: US, developed and emerging-market REITs in a single market-cap-weighted portfolio, traded by Dimensional's desk rather than on an index calendar. Roughly 500 names.

FREI Not a REIT index fund. FREI is the ETF class of Fidelity's real estate income mutual fund: an active, income-first mix of property debt and dividend-paying real estate equity, with capital growth the secondary goal.

Stated mandate

DFGR The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing broadly in U.S. and non-U.S. companies principally engaged in real estate, including REITs and REIT-like entities.

FREI The fund seeks higher-than-average income and secondarily capital growth. It normally invests at least 80% of assets in debt and income-producing equity securities of companies principally engaged in real estate and related investments.

Why people hold it

• DFGR Fee is 0.21% net of a waiver through February 28, 2027 (0.22% gross), below the category median, though index peers REET (0.14%) and HAUZ (0.10%) charge less.
• Holds US and non-US real estate, developed and emerging markets, in one wrapper. HAUZ and VNQI are ex-US only, so pairing them with a US REIT fund is the usual workaround.sec.gov
• No index to shadow: the prospectus lets Dimensional weight by market cap while flexing trade timing and capping country or issuer exposure.sec.gov
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, and it pays distributions quarterly.

• FREI Income first, growth second, by charter: at least 80% of assets sit in real estate debt and income-producing equity, so bonds and preferreds do work pure REIT funds skip.fidelity.com
• Two doors, one portfolio. The ETF is a share class of Fidelity's existing real estate income mutual fund, not a strategy starting from an empty book.fidelity.com
• Run by people, not a rules screen, with room to move across the capital stack from mortgage debt to REIT equity. Upper half of its global real estate peer group.fidelity.com

Worth knowing

• DFGR Single-sector by design, so it moves with property markets and the rates that price them, with roughly 500 names spread across that one sector.
• Foreign REITs mean currency moves land in your return; the fund may use currency forwards for settlement, not to hedge its exposure.sec.gov
• Without a published index to track, there is no simple tracking-difference yardstick, and the waiver expires February 28, 2027, leaving the 0.22% gross fee.sec.gov

• FREI You pay for the active mix: 0.57% net of a waiver through November 30, 2027 (0.76% gross), above the category median and above index peers like HAUZ at 0.10%.
• The ETF class is young and much smaller than the mutual fund behind it, and it trades thinly. Spreads can widen, which is what limit orders are for.
• Debt and preferreds put interest-rate moves in the mix alongside property risk, so it behaves differently from a plain equity REIT fund.

Full DFGR profile⁠

Full FREI profile⁠