DFLV vs VNSE

DFLVADimensional US Large Cap Value ETF

VNSEFNatixis Vaughan Nelson Select 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.

VNSE Vaughan Nelson's value pickers run a tight, high-conviction book of US stocks, measured against the S&P 500. The fee: 0.80% net of a waiver through April 30, 2029 (gross 1.87%).

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.

VNSE The fund uses a bottom-up process focused on value when constructing its portfolio.

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.

• VNSE Concentrated by design: a few dozen holdings, not hundreds, so every pick carries real weight in the result.natixis.comstockanalysis.com
• Bottom-up value work, outsourced to specialists: Natixis hands the book to Vaughan Nelson, which hunts undervalued assets, earnings growth or dividend yield.natixis.com
• The 1.87% gross fee is waived down to 0.80% under a contractual agreement running through April 30, 2029, a long runway for a small fund.
• Trading since 2020, so there is a multi-year live record in the ETF wrapper rather than a fresh launch.sec.gov

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.

• VNSE At 0.80% net it sits above the category median, and index-style value peers such as AVLV (0.15%) and WTV (0.12%) charge a fraction of that.
• Small asset base and light trading, which can mean wider spreads and more price impact on larger orders.sec.gov
• Concentration cuts both ways: with only a few dozen positions, one holding's bad stretch shows up more than it would in a broad value portfolio.stockanalysis.com

Full DFLV profile⁠

Full VNSE profile⁠