DFLV vs DUSA

DFLVADimensional US Large Cap Value ETF

DUSACDavis Select U.S. Equity ETF

In short

DFLV Dimensional's value playbook in an ETF wrapper: large-cap value that also screens for profitability, spread across roughly 300 names, run by research rather than an index. Active by design, index-fund cheap in practice.

DUSA A stock picker's fund in an aisle full of indexes: Davis runs a concentrated book of US large companies bought below its own estimate of what they're worth, and has done it in ETF form since 2017.

Stated mandate

DFLV The ETF seeks long-term capital appreciation. Its investment approach combines research, portfolio design, portfolio management, and trading, emphasizing long-term expected-return drivers and broad diversification.

DUSA The Fund seeks long-term capital growth and capital preservation. It is actively managed and invests principally in U.S. equity securities, generally favoring large companies while using fundamental research to identify businesses trading below estimated intrinsic value.

Why people hold it

• DFLV Costs 0.21% a year, well under half the 0.55% median for US value funds in its peer group. Active management without the active price tag.
• Cheap alone doesn't get you in. The portfolio screens on value and profitability together, a filter aimed at cut-rate stocks that actually earn money.
• No index to shadow. Dimensional can trade on its own schedule and spreads the money across about 300 large-cap names instead of a handful of bets.
• Sits in the top tier of the US value funds we grade, and it is a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.

• DUSA Genuinely active, not index-shadowing: roughly two dozen US large companies chosen by fundamental research for trading below Davis's estimate of intrinsic value.
• The mandate names capital preservation next to long-term growth, with at least 80% of net assets normally in US company securities.
• Trading since January 2017 and running a few hundred million dollars, it is a seasoned active ETF rather than a fresh launch.
• Taken as a whole, it lands in the upper half of the US value cohort we track.

Worth knowing

• DFLV Not the cheapest seat in the room: AVLV and SEIV run 0.15%, WTV 0.12%. You're paying a bit more for Dimensional's process.
• Being benchmark-free cuts both ways. With no index to measure against, there is no tracking-error scoreboard, and outcomes ride on the manager's judgment.
• Launched in December 2022, so the ETF's own record is short, and a value tilt behaves differently from the broad market. It pays quarterly.

• DUSA 0.59% a year is above the typical fund in its value cohort and several times what index-built rivals charge, such as WTV at 0.12% and AVLV at 0.15%.
• It trades thinly, so spreads can widen on larger orders or choppy days.
• With about two dozen names, single stocks move the fund, and results can part ways with broad value benchmarks for long stretches.

Full DFLV profile⁠

Full DUSA profile⁠