Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
AVUS vs DFUS: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVUS returned +18.0% to DFUS's +13.8%; 5% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $14.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Avantis U.S. Equity ETF, and $20.9bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF.
Pair scorecard
DFUS costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.2 points.
| Measure | AVUS | DFUS |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +18.0% | +13.8% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, AVUS as of Oct 27, 2026 and DFUS as of Jul 31, 2026 | $14.8bn | $20.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 5% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 30.0% | 34.6% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jun 25, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 · 278 weekly returns · each against IWVDFUS returned slightly more: +87.6% to +85.0%. AVUS and DFUS swung about the same: 16.0% and 16.2%. AVUS fell less at its worst: −21.4% to −24.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | AVUS | DFUS | IWV | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +85.0% | +87.6% | DFUS (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +12.2% | +12.5% | DFUS (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +72.5% | +76.2% | DFUS (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 16.0% | 16.2% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 10.9% | 10.8% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −21.4% | −24.2% | AVUS | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 94.2% | 101.4% | 100.0% | DFUS (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 95.9% | 99.4% | 100.0% | AVUS (slight) | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.97 | 1.00 | 1.00 | AVUS lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.96 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.57 | 0.58 | DFUS (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.84 | 0.87 | DFUS (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.094 | 0.094 | 0.086 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.57 | 0.52 | AVUS (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | IWV | IWV | IWV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.8% a year | +0.8% a year | 0.0% | DFUS significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.56 | 2.33 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −1.9% to +3.4% | +0.1% to +1.5% | AVUS's includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.17 | 1.04 | DFUS | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.2% | 0.8% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 278 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, AVUS and DFUS hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
5% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
AVUS and DFUS on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
AVUS and DFUS are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Holdings in common. 5% 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 AVUS returned +18.0% and DFUS +13.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.2 points.
- What each follows (similar). Both follow No index, actively managed.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000.
AVUS 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 1,943 positions, with the top ten at 30.0%.
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.
DFUS is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 89% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,236 positions, with the top ten at 34.6%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, AVUS or DFUS?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVUS returned +18.0% and DFUS +13.8%.
- Which is cheaper, AVUS or DFUS?
- DFUS is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 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.
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ETFIQ, AVUS against DFUS, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avus-vs-dfus
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[AVUS against DFUS (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avus-vs-dfus)
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