DUSG vs FSML

DUSGAU.S. Small Cap Growth Portfolio: ETF Class Shares

FSMLBFranklin Small Cap Enhanced ETF

In short

DUSG A Dimensional small-cap growth strategy that finally got a ticker. DUSG is an exchange-traded share class of a portfolio running since 2012, screening small US companies for high profitability and cheaper relative price.

FSML Franklin's quant take on small caps: a proprietary model scores Russell 2000 companies on value, quality and momentum, and the portfolio tilts toward the top scorers. Active decisions in an index-shaped frame, for 0.45% a year.

Stated mandate

DUSG The Portfolio seeks long-term capital appreciation.

FSML The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing at least 80% of net assets in small-capitalization equity securities and economically similar derivatives or instruments.

Why people hold it

• DUSG Not a startup fund with a launch-day portfolio. The underlying strategy has run since 2012, and the ETF class is a new door into the same book of stocks.businesswire.com
• The screen does two jobs at once: small-cap growth companies, filtered for high profitability and lower relative price, instead of whatever the index says is popular.dimensional.com
• 0.33% a year for a systematically managed factor strategy, sitting right around the middle of the multifactor pack rather than at the premium end.
• Broad and diversified by design, holding a wide sweep of US small caps in a billion-dollar-plus portfolio, not a handful of high-conviction names.dimensional.com

• FSML The 0.45% fee lands below the median for active small-cap ETFs, a corner of the market where paying up for a stock picker is the norm.
• The recipe is written down: at least 80% of net assets in small-cap equities, ranked by a value, quality and momentum model with the Russell 2000 as the reference.
• Already sits in the upper half of its active small-cap peer group while being one of the newest names in it.
• Plain-vanilla plumbing: a standard 1940 Act fund that pays quarterly and sends a 1099, not a K-1.

Worth knowing

• DUSG It trades thinly. Light volume can mean wider gaps between the bid and the ask than you get with the household-name index ETFs.
• Distributions land once or twice a year, not monthly. The stated job here is long-term capital appreciation, not a paycheck.
• Fair pricing, not bargain pricing: broad US growth exposure in the same peer group costs far less (IUSG, 0.04%), minus the small-cap and profitability screens.

• FSML It launched in December 2025, so there is very little live history behind the model and risk readings rest on a short window.
• Cheaper systematic small-cap options exist (AVUV, AVSC, DUHP). The extra fee here buys Franklin's scoring model, not broader exposure.
• The Russell 2000 is a yardstick, not a leash: the fund is actively run, so holdings and results can diverge from that index in either direction.

Full DUSG profile⁠

Full FSML profile⁠