DFAI vs IXUS: Differences, Returns & Fees

DFAI and IXUS hold 46% of their weight in the same names, and IXUS returned +18.0% over the year. Net assets: $17.5bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF, and $58.6bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF.

IXUS costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.7 points; IXUS is 3.3 times larger.

DFAIIXUS
Expense ratio0.18%0.07%
Net assets, as of Jul 31, 2026$17.5bn$58.4bn
Total return, 1 year+16.3%+18.0%
What it tracksNo index, actively managedMSCI ACWI ex USA IMI
Holdings in common46%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund9.2%14.3%
Below its high4.7%, high on Aug 25, 20263.8%, high on Sep 4, 2026

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

+16.3%
DFAI total return, 1 year
+18.0%
IXUS total return, 1 year
0.18%
DFAI expense ratio
0.07%
IXUS expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, DFAI and IXUS hold 46% 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 Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

half

46% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding DFAI IXUS
ASML Holding N.V. 1.63% 1.68%
HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.16% 0.75%
SHELL PLC 1.01% 0.69%
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 0.68% 0.63%
Novartis AG 0.67% 0.61%
ASTRAZENECA PLC 0.81% 0.56%
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. 0.76% 0.56%
Nestle S.A. 0.84% 0.56%
BHP GROUP LIMITED 0.59% 0.52%
ADVANTEST CORPORATION 0.54% 0.45%
Banco Santander, S.A. 0.43% 0.45%
Allianz SE 0.59% 0.42%
Only in DFAI
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft 0.58%
BP P.L.C. 0.51%
THE TORONTO-DOMINION BANK 0.49%
LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON SE 0.48%
NOVO NORDISK A/S 0.47%
UNICREDIT, SOCIETA PER AZIONI 0.47%
Deutsche Telekom AG 0.44%
ASML Holding N.V. 0.42%
Only in IXUS
TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 4.68%
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS LTD 2.18%
SK HYNIX 1.65%
TENCENT HOLDINGS 0.76%
ROCHE PS PAR AG 0.71%
ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING 0.53%
MEDIATEK 0.51%
SIEMENS N AG 0.51%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

DFAI
Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF
IXUS
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
What it is Actively managed Tracks the MSCI Total International Stock
Total return, 1 year +16.3% +18.0%
S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%
Gap to the S&P 500 −1.0 pts +0.7 pts
Expense ratio 0.18% 0.07%
Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%
Holdings 3769 4586
Net assets, DFAI as of Jul 31, 2026 and IXUS as of Oct 9, 2026 $17.5bn $58.6bn

DFAI and IXUS 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.

IXUS in plain words

IXUS tracks the MSCI Total International Stock. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +18.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 4,586 positions, with the top ten at 14.3%. It sat 3.8% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, DFAI or IXUS?
In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFAI returned +16.3% and IXUS +18.0%.
Which is cheaper, DFAI or IXUS?
IXUS is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do DFAI and IXUS overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 0% of DFAI and 0% of IXUS by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

Open data

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