DFSV vs SAWS

DFSVAU.S. Small Cap Value Portfolio ETF Class Shares

SAWSCAAM Sawgrass U.S. Small Cap Quality Growth ETF

In short

DFSV Small-cap value, spread wide: roughly a thousand of the market's cheaper small companies, measured against the Russell 2000 Value Index. A deeper bench than most rivals carry, at a higher price than the plain index funds beside it.

SAWS Most small-cap funds are built to chase the upside. SAWS writes the other half into its mandate: the prospectus objective names downside protection and low standard deviation alongside growth, pursued through an active, multi-screen model.

Stated mandate

DFSV The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

SAWS The Fund seeks risk-adjusted returns, upside participation, downside protection, low standard deviation, and long-term capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• DFSV Roughly 1,000 holdings spread the small-value bet across the whole opportunity set instead of a handful of names.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting a position on or off is rarely the hard part.
• Portfolio construction is the strong suit here: broad, diversified small-cap value exposure, with distributions paid quarterly.
• The mandate is plainly stated: long-term capital appreciation from US stocks, no side quests.

• SAWS The mandate is unusually specific for a small-cap fund: risk-adjusted returns, upside participation, downside protection and low standard deviation, and the portfolio has tracked that description closely.
• Five screens stacked into one small-cap sleeve: quality, profitability, value, momentum and low volatility, blended by a proprietary model rather than an off-the-shelf index.
• At 0.55% a year, active stock selection priced close to the middle of the active small-cap field rather than at a premium to it.

Worth knowing

• DFSV At 0.30% a year it costs more than the typical US value ETF (median 0.18%), and VTWV runs against the same Russell 2000 Value benchmark for 0.06%.
• Small-cap value is a bumpier corner than the large-cap value funds anchoring this group (VTV, SCHV), and the ride shows it.
• Launched in 2022, so its live record is short next to the value funds it sits beside.

• SAWS A small fund that trades lightly. Bid-ask spreads can be wide, and that cost lands in your fill price, most visibly on bigger orders.
• Launched in 2024, so the record is short and covers one market regime. No full drawdown cycle yet to test the downside-protection half of the mandate.
• Bigger systematic rivals such as AVUV, AVSC and DUHP charge 0.20% to 0.29% and stand higher in the cohort; SAWS sits in the lower half of its peer group.

Full DFSV profile⁠

Full SAWS profile⁠