Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
AVLV vs DFAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVLV returned +29.6% to DFAU's +14.3%; 2% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about AVLV and DFAU
Net assets: $22.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Avantis U.S. Large Cap Value ETF, and $12.4bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional US Core Equity Market ETF.
Pair scorecard
DFAU costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 15.3 points.
| Measure | AVLV | DFAU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +29.6% | +14.3% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.12% |
| Net assets, AVLV as of Oct 27, 2026 and DFAU as of Jul 31, 2026 | $22.4bn | $12.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 26.8% | 33.7% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 1, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 · 264 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: AVLV against IWD, Oct 1, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026; DFAU against IWV, Nov 27, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026.
AVLV returned more: +100.3% to +82.3%. AVLV and DFAU swung about the same: 16.0% and 16.2%. AVLV fell less at its worst: −18.3% to −23.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | AVLV | DFAU | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +100.3% | +82.3% | AVLV | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +14.7% | +12.6% | AVLV | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +84.5% | +71.7% | AVLV | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.0% | 16.2% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.2% | 10.9% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −18.3% | −23.1% | AVLV | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 108.3% | 98.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.6% | 98.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.06 | 0.99 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.91 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.69 | 0.57 | AVLV | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.99 | 0.85 | AVLV | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.104 | 0.115 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.80 | 0.54 | AVLV | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWD | IWV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.0% a year | +0.7% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.94 | 1.55 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.2% to +6.1% | −0.2% to +1.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.52 | 0.49 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.8% | 1.1% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 264 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, AVLV and DFAU hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
AVLV and DFAU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
AVLV and DFAU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 AVLV returned +29.6% and DFAU +14.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 15.3 points.
- Number of holdings. AVLV holds 298 positions and DFAU holds 2192.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +29.6% with distributions reinvested, against +27.5% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value.
AVLV is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 298 positions, with the top ten at 26.8%.
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.3% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.
DFAU is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.12% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 87% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,192 positions, with the top ten at 33.7%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, AVLV or DFAU?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVLV returned +29.6% and DFAU +14.3%.
- Which is cheaper, AVLV or DFAU?
- DFAU is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, AVLV against DFAU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avlv-vs-dfau
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). AVLV against DFAU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avlv-vs-dfau
[AVLV against DFAU (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avlv-vs-dfau)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.