DFGR vs RITA

DFGRADimensional Global Real Estate ETF

RITACETFB Green SRI REITs 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.

RITA Most REIT funds sort by yield or size. RITA sorts by two filters at once: Shariah compliance and green building credentials, applied to developed-market REITs through an FTSE EPRA Nareit index. A narrow niche, run by published rules.

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.

RITA The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the FTSE EPRA Nareit IdealRatings Developed REITs Index.

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.

• RITA Rare double screen: its FTSE EPRA Nareit IdealRatings index filters developed-market REITs for Shariah compliance and green criteria in one ticker.lseg.com
• The rulebook is public. FTSE Russell posts the ground rules and Islamic screening guidelines, and constituents are re-screened on a set review calendar.lseg.com
• Screens usually cost extra. This one's 0.50% expense ratio sits right at the median for global and international real estate funds.
• Plain plumbing underneath: a 1940 Act index fund holding developed-market REITs, paying distributions quarterly.

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

• RITA Broad global REIT trackers cost a fraction: HAUZ at 0.10% and REET at 0.14% against RITA's 0.50%. The screens are what the extra buys.
• Small and thinly traded, so bid/ask spreads can run wide and limit orders matter more here than with the giant REIT funds.
• The screens cut the developed REIT universe down to a few dozen names, so single-name and property-type concentration runs higher than in a broad index.stockanalysis.com

Full DFGR profile⁠

Full RITA profile⁠