DUSG vs SCAP

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

SCAPFInfrastructure Capital Small Cap Income 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.

SCAP Most small-cap funds ask you to wait for the payoff. SCAP goes looking for cash now: active small-cap value picks, preferreds and convertibles, covered calls and modest borrowed leverage, all funneled into a monthly payout.

Stated mandate

DUSG The Portfolio seeks long-term capital appreciation.

SCAP The Fund seeks capital appreciation and income by investing primarily in small-capitalization companies. The adviser favors companies it views as relatively undervalued and having income qualities.

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

• SCAP Unusual plumbing for a small-cap fund: dividend payers plus preferred and convertible securities, a selective option-writing overlay and modest leverage, all pointed at income. Pays monthly.infracapfund.com
• Stock-picked, not index-cloned. The manager buys small-cap names it views as undervalued with income qualities, leaning on profitability and value, measured against a small-cap value benchmark.
• The active wrapper lets it own income sources a plain small-cap index fund cannot, and to size positions by conviction rather than market cap.infracapfund.com

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.

• SCAP Cost is the headline trade-off: a 2.20% expense ratio, versus 0.25% at AVUV and 0.29% at JPSE. Active management, an options desk and borrowing are not cheap to run.
• The income engine cuts both ways: borrowed money amplifies moves in either direction, and calls written on holdings trade away upside on those names for premium.infracapfund.com
• Small and thinly traded since its late-2023 launch, so spreads are a real cost and the record covers a short stretch of market weather.

Full DUSG profile⁠

Full SCAP profile⁠