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DFAI vs ILOW: Differences, Returns & Fees

DFAI and ILOW hold 17% of their weight in the same names, and DFAI returned +16.3% over the year. Net assets: $17.5bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF, and $1.8bn on Oct 8, 2026 for AB International Low Volatility Equity ETF.

DFAI costs 0.32 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.3 points.

DFAIILOW
Expense ratio0.18%0.50%
Net assets, DFAI as of Jul 31, 2026 and ILOW as of Oct 8, 2026$17.5bn$1.8bn
Total return, 1 year+16.3%+9.0%
What it tracksNo index, actively managedNo index, actively managed
Holdings in common17%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund9.2%20.7%
Below its high4.7%, high on Aug 25, 20264.9%, high on Aug 25, 2026

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

+16.3%
DFAI total return, 1 year
+9.0%
ILOW total return, 1 year
0.18%
DFAI expense ratio
0.50%
ILOW expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, DFAI and ILOW hold 17% 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 31, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.

half

17% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding DFAI ILOW
Roche Holding AG 1.05% 1.78%
SHELL PLC 1.01% 1.33%
ASTRAZENECA PLC 0.81% 1.67%
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. 0.76% 1.51%
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 0.68% 0.80%
TOTALENERGIES SE 0.62% 1.08%
Sony Group Corporation 0.54% 1.33%
THE TORONTO-DOMINION BANK 0.49% 1.57%
UNICREDIT, SOCIETA PER AZIONI 0.47% 1.48%
Hitachi, Ltd. 0.46% 1.34%
SAFRAN SA 0.45% 1.44%
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC SE 0.44% 2.10%
Only in DFAI
ASML Holding N.V. 1.63%
HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.16%
Nestle S.A. 0.84%
Novartis AG 0.67%
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION 0.63%
BHP GROUP LIMITED 0.59%
Allianz SE 0.59%
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft 0.58%
Only in ILOW
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd 2.50%
BOC Aviation Ltd 1.28%
Ryanair Holdings PLC 0.92%
Philip Morris International Inc 0.59%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

DFAI
Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF
ILOW
AB International Low Volatility Equity ETF
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
Issuer Dimensional AllianceBernstein
What it is Actively managed Actively managed
Total return, 1 year +16.3% +9.0%
S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%
Gap to the S&P 500 −1.0 pts −8.2 pts
Expense ratio 0.18% 0.50%
Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.6%
Holdings 3769 84
Net assets, DFAI as of Jul 31, 2026 and ILOW as of Oct 8, 2026 $17.5bn $1.8bn

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

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.

ILOW in plain words

ILOW is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +9.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.50% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 1% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 84 positions, with the top ten at 20.7%. It sat 4.9% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, DFAI or ILOW?
In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFAI returned +16.3% and ILOW +9.0%.
Which is cheaper, DFAI or ILOW?
DFAI is cheaper, by 0.32 percentage points a year. That is about $32 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do DFAI and ILOW overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 0% of DFAI and 1% of ILOW by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
DFAI vs DMXFDFAI vs GSIDDFAI vs IEFADFAI vs TOUSILOW vs IXUSILOW vs SCHFEFA vs ILOWILOW vs VXUS
DFAI on its own →ILOW on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →
Where these figures came from
DFAI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗DFAI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Dimensional website ↗ILOW filings on SEC EDGAR ↗ILOW prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, DFAI against ILOW, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfai-vs-ilow

Open data

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