DGRS vs FQAL

DGRSBWisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Quality Dividend Growth Fund

FQALAFidelity Quality Factor ETF

In short

DGRS Most quality-factor ETFs go hunting among mega caps. DGRS runs WisdomTree's quality and growth screens down in U.S. small caps instead, holding roughly 220 dividend payers and distributing monthly.

FQAL Fidelity's own quality screen, boxed into an ETF: roughly 130 U.S. companies picked for profitability, steady cash flow and clean balance sheets, at 0.15% a year, well under the typical fee in the quality-factor group.

Stated mandate

DGRS The fund provides exposure to U.S. small-cap companies with dividend-growth potential through quality and growth screens.

FQAL The fund prioritizes U.S. companies exhibiting higher profitability, stable cash flows, and strong balance sheets.

Why people hold it

• DGRS A small-cap take on a large-cap idea: peers like SPHQ screen for quality inside the S&P 500, while DGRS applies its quality and growth screens to U.S. small companies.wisdomtree.com
• Pays monthly rather than quarterly, so income lands on a steadier rhythm.
• Roughly 220 names spread the bet across a corner of the market where a single blowup stings, and the portfolio is the fund's strongest scoring feature.
• Live since 2013, tracking a published WisdomTree index (WTSDG) through a full decade of small-cap cycles rather than a back-tested launch story.

• FQAL Costs 0.15% a year, roughly half the typical fee among quality-factor ETFs. That puts it in the cheapest tier of the group, alongside JQUA, VFQY and QUAL.
• The rulebook is Fidelity's own: the Fidelity U.S. Quality Factor Index, tracked tightly. One of the closer index implementations in its peer group.
• Live since 2016 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, so this is a settled product rather than a launch still finding its footing.
• The screen is explicit about what it wants: higher profitability, stable cash flows, strong balance sheets. No vague 'quality' hand-waving.

Worth knowing

• DGRS At 0.38% a year, it costs more than the typical quality-factor ETF, where several rivals sit at a fraction of that.
• Thinly traded next to the giants of the category, so bid-ask spreads carry more weight than they would in QUAL or JQUA.
• Small-cap dividend payers swing harder than blue chips, and its risk measures land in the lower half of the quality-factor group.

• FQAL Roughly 130 stocks, not the whole market. A narrower bench means individual names and sector tilts carry more weight than in a total-market fund.
• Trading volume is light next to the category's biggest quality funds, which can show up as wider bid-ask spreads.
• Distributions come quarterly, but the screen hunts profitability and balance-sheet strength, not yield.

Full DGRS profile⁠

Full FQAL profile⁠