DUSG vs SCDS

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

SCDSBJPMorgan Fundamental Data Science Small Core 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.

SCDS JPMorgan pairs human fundamental analysts with a data science engine to pick small caps, then spreads the calls across roughly 300 names. Active stock picking priced closer to a screened index fund.

Stated mandate

DUSG The Portfolio seeks long-term capital appreciation.

SCDS The fund invests primarily in equity securities of small-cap companies and uses a fundamental data science-enabled investment approach.

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

• SCDS Costs 0.40% a year, below the typical active US small-cap fund, so the stock picking starts from a lower hurdle.
• Roughly 300 holdings, so no single small-cap stumble sets the tone for the whole portfolio.
• Core mandate: the data science process hunts across the whole small-cap field instead of being boxed into value or growth.jpmorgan.com
• Lands in the upper half of the active US small-cap funds we review, with quarterly distributions.

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.

• SCDS Launched in 2024. The process hasn't been tested through a full market cycle yet.
• Small asset base and thin trading. Spreads can widen, so limit orders matter more here than with the household-name funds.
• Cheaper small-cap options sit in the same peer group, including JPMorgan's own rules-based JPSE at 0.29% and Avantis' AVSC at 0.25%.

Full DUSG profile⁠

Full SCDS profile⁠