Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
CGSD vs DFSD: Differences, Returns & Fees
CGSD's duration was 2.4 years on Jun 30, 2026 and DFSD's 2.9 on Jul 31, 2026; DFSD charges 0.16% to CGSD's 0.25%.
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Net assets: $2.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Capital Group Short Duration Income ETF, and $7.1bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional Short-Duration Fixed Income ETF.
Pair scorecard
DFSD costs 0.09 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.8 points.
| Measure | CGSD | DFSD |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.9% | +1.1% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.16% |
| Net assets, CGSD as of Oct 27, 2026 and DFSD as of Jul 31, 2026 | $2.9bn | $7.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 3% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 4, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026 · 207 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: CGSD against AGGM, Nov 4, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026; DFSD against AGG, Nov 26, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026.
DFSD returned slightly more: +21.3% to +20.9%. CGSD swung slightly less: 1.9% to 2.0%. CGSD and DFSD fell about the same at their worst: −1.4% and −1.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | CGSD | DFSD | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +20.9% | +21.3% | DFSD (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.9% | +5.0% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +1.6% | +2.7% | DFSD | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.9% | 2.0% | CGSD (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 1.2% | 1.4% | CGSD (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −1.4% | −1.4% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 36.3% | 39.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 16.5% | 32.6% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.29 | 0.35 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.64 | 0.72 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.10 | 0.14 | DFSD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.15 | 0.20 | DFSD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.006 | −0.048 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 3.56 | 3.59 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGGM | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.4% a year | −0.2% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.69 | −0.40 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.7% to +1.5% | −1.4% to +0.9% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.23 | 0.60 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.0% | 4.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 207 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, CGSD and DFSD hold 3% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.
half
3% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
CGSD and DFSD on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
CGSD and DFSD are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Holdings in common. 3% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).
- What each follows (similar). Both follow No index, actively managed.
- One-year total return (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 CGSD returned +1.9% and DFSD +1.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 0.8 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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CGSD
CGSD is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.9% with distributions reinvested, against −1.8% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Government/Credit. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.25% a year.
DFSD
DFSD is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.1% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.16% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, CGSD or DFSD?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, CGSD returned +1.9% and DFSD +1.1%.
- Which is cheaper, CGSD or DFSD?
- DFSD is cheaper, by 0.09 percentage points a year. That is about $9 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, CGSD against DFSD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cgsd-vs-dfsd
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[CGSD against DFSD (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cgsd-vs-dfsd)
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