DFGR vs HAUZ

DFGRADimensional Global Real Estate ETF

HAUZAXtrackers International Real Estate 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.

HAUZ The bargain passport for property: HAUZ owns real estate companies everywhere except the US, developed and emerging alike, for 0.10% a year. One of the cheapest ways to own the rest of the world's landlords.

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.

HAUZ The fund seeks investment results that generally correspond to the performance of an iSTOXX Developed and Emerging benchmark.

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.

• HAUZ Charges 0.10% a year against a 0.50% median for global real estate funds, undercutting even the low-cost giants VNQI (0.12%) and REET (0.14%).
• The US is deliberately left out. The index covers developed and emerging markets outside America, so it sits beside a domestic REIT holding instead of doubling it.dws.com
• About 400 holdings across dozens of markets, weighted by free float, so it owns the world's big listed property names rather than making country bets.dws.com
• Running since 2013 as a plain index tracker, and its portfolio lines up closely with the benchmark it promises.

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

• HAUZ One sector, one theme. Property equities move with interest rates and credit, and this fund's swings have been wider than most of what we grade.
• Distributions arrive once or twice a year, not monthly, so the income shows up lumpy.
• Moderate trading volume rather than headline volume, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the busiest global real estate funds.

Full DFGR profile⁠

Full HAUZ profile⁠