Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BALI vs DGRO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BALI returned +17.6% to DGRO's +18.8%, and DGRO charges 0.08% to BALI's 0.35%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.6bn for iShares U.S. Large Cap Premium Income Active ETF and $44.6bn for iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF.
Pair scorecard
DGRO costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.2 points; DGRO is far larger, $44.6bn against $1.6bn.
| Measure | BALI | DGRO |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +17.6% | +18.8% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 8.4% | rose 16.4% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 6.1% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 0% of the Oct 6, 2026 payment | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Benchmark: S&P 500, measured through SPY | Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index |
| Against its benchmark, same days | ahead by 4.0 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.08% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $1.6bn | $44.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 34% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 92% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 27.2% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 6, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 159 weekly returnsBALI returned slightly more: +76.2% to +73.7%. DGRO swung slightly less: 11.3% to 12.3%. DGRO fell less at its worst: −12.1% to −15.3%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BALI | DGRO | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +76.2% | +73.7% | BALI (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +20.3% | +19.8% | BALI (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +37.8% | +62.6% | DGRO | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 12.3% | 11.3% | DGRO (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 7.9% | 7.5% | DGRO (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −15.3% | −12.1% | DGRO | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 1.21 | 1.26 | DGRO (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.87 | 1.89 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 1.33 | 1.63 | DGRO | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 159 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BALI and DGRO hold 34% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
34% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
BALI and DGRO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
BALI and DGRO do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BALI is measured against S&P 500 through SPY and DGRO follows Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index.
- Holdings in common. 34% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- Cost. BALI charges 0.35% of assets a year and DGRO 0.08%, a gap of 0.27 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BALI
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BALI paid 8.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 8.4%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.6%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +13.6% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 4.0 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 6.1%, paid monthly. iShares estimates that 0% of the distribution paid Oct 6, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
DGRO
DGRO tracks an index of Dividend Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 393 positions, with the top ten at 27.2%.
Questions people ask
- Are BALI and DGRO in the same category?
- BALI is an option-income ETF and DGRO is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, BALI or DGRO?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BALI returned +17.6% and DGRO +18.8%.
- Which is cheaper, BALI or DGRO?
- DGRO is cheaper, by 0.27 percentage points a year. That is about $27 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, BALI against DGRO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bali-vs-dgro
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