Which returned more over the last year, DBEF or DFAI?

In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DBEF returned +18.5% and DFAI +16.3%.

Which is cheaper, DBEF or DFAI?

DFAI is cheaper, by 0.17 percentage points a year. That is about $17 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do DBEF and DFAI overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of DBEF and 0% of DFAI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

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DBEF vs DFAI: Differences, Returns & Fees

DBEF and DFAI hold 67% of their weight in the same names, and DBEF returned +18.5% over the year. Net assets: $9.2bn on Oct 9, 2026 for Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF, and $17.5bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF.

DFAI costs 0.17 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.2 points.

	DBEF	DFAI
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.18%
Net assets, DBEF as of Oct 9, 2026 and DFAI as of Jul 31, 2026	$9.2bn	$17.5bn
Total return, 1 year	+18.5%	+16.3%
What it tracks	MSCI EAFE US Dollar Hedged Index	No index, actively managed
Holdings in common	67%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	13.3%	9.2%
Below its high	3.1%, high on Aug 13, 2026	4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026

Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 29, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.

+18.5%

DBEF total return, 1 year

+16.3%

DFAI total return, 1 year

0.35%

DBEF expense ratio

0.18%

DFAI expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, DBEF and DFAI hold 67% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated May 29, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.

50%

half

67% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding DBEF DFAI

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.45% 1.16%

ROCHE HOLDING AG 1.33% 1.05%

SHELL PLC 1.06% 1.01%

NESTLE' SA/AG 1.18% 0.84%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 1.26% 0.81%

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP INC 0.91% 0.76%

TOYOTA MOTOR CORP 0.81% 0.63%

TOTALENERGIES SE 0.78% 0.62%

BHP GROUP LTD 1.03% 0.59%

ALLIANZ SE 0.76% 0.59%

SIEMENS AG 1.05% 0.58%

TOKYO ELECTRON LTD 0.66% 0.57%

Only in DBEF

SOFTBANK GROUP CORP 0.79%

SPOTIFY TECHNOLOGY SA 0.33%

INVESTOR AB 0.32%

NEBIUS GROUP NV 0.21%

GOODMAN GROUP 0.20%

ORIX CORP 0.19%

JAPAN POST BANK CO LTD 0.15%

SEA LTD 0.15%

Only in DFAI

ASML Holding N.V. 1.63%

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 0.68%

Novartis AG 0.67%

THE TORONTO-DOMINION BANK 0.49%

CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES LIMITED 0.34%

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 0.32%

THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA 0.31%

Suncor Energy Inc. 0.31%

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On the same fields

DBEF

Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF

DFAI

Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer Xtrackers Dimensional

What it is Tracks an index Actively managed

Total return, 1 year +18.5% +16.3%

S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%

Gap to the S&P 500 +1.3 pts −1.0 pts

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.18%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 677 3769

Net assets, DBEF as of Oct 9, 2026 and DFAI as of Jul 31, 2026 $9.2bn $17.5bn

DBEF and DFAI on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

DBEF in plain words

DBEF tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +18.5% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. By its holdings filed for May 29, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 677 positions, with the top ten at 13.3%. It sat 3.1% below its high of Aug 13, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

DFAI in plain words

DFAI is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +16.3% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 3,769 positions, with the top ten at 9.2%. It sat 4.7% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, DBEF or DFAI?: In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DBEF returned +18.5% and DFAI +16.3%.
Which is cheaper, DBEF or DFAI?: DFAI is cheaper, by 0.17 percentage points a year. That is about $17 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do DBEF and DFAI overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of DBEF and 0% of DFAI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

DBEF vs VEU DBEF vs EFA DBEF vs VXUS DBEF vs IEFA DFAI vs SPDW DFAI vs IXUS DFAI vs SCHF DFAI vs VEU

DBEF on its own →DFAI on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

DBEF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗DBEF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Xtrackers website ↗DFAI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗DFAI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Dimensional website ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. 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, DBEF against DFAI, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dbef-vs-dfai

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Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.