DFSV vs SMLL

DFSVAU.S. Small Cap Value Portfolio ETF Class Shares

SMLLFHarbor Active Small Cap ETF (SMLL)

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.

SMLL Harbor's 2024 entry into small caps skips the thousand-stock dragnet: roughly 50 U.S. small-cap names, actively picked, chasing long-term total return. A concentrated stock-picker's take in a corner of the market ruled by broad quant sweeps.

Stated mandate

DFSV The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

SMLL The Fund seeks long-term total return.

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.

• SMLL Roughly 50 holdings, not a thousand. This is a concentrated active portfolio, so individual stock picks actually move the needle instead of getting diluted into an index blur.
• The mandate is refreshingly plain: long-term total return from U.S. small-cap equities, mainly common and preferred stock. No sleeves, no derivatives overlay, no story to decode.
• Backed by Harbor, a manager with a long history of packaging outside stock-picking teams into funds rather than running everything in-house.

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.

• SMLL You pay 0.80% a year for the active seat. Systematic small-cap rivals like AVUV and AVSC charge 0.25%, so the stock picking has real ground to make up.
• Concentration cuts both ways. With about 50 names, a handful of picks can drive returns in either direction far more than in a broad small-cap basket.
• Launched in 2024 and thinly traded, so the track record is short and bid-ask spreads tend to be wider than on the category's household names.

Full DFSV profile⁠

Full SMLL profile⁠