DFAU vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
DFAU and QUAL hold 38% of their weight in the same names. Net assets: $12.4bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional US Core Equity Market ETF, and $49.0bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
DFAU costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.1 points; QUAL is 3.7 times larger.
| DFAU | QUAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.12% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Jul 31, 2026 | $12.4bn | $46.5bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +17.2% | +17.1% |
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index ? |
| Holdings in common | 38% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 33.7% | 45.7% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, DFAU and QUAL hold 38% 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 9, 2026.
half
38% in common
On the same fields
DFAU and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About DFAU
DFAU is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.12% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 87% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,192 positions, with the top ten at 33.7%.
Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.2% with distributions reinvested, against +16.7% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.
About QUAL
QUAL tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.1% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 119 positions, with the top ten at 45.7%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, DFAU or QUAL?
- In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFAU returned +17.2% and QUAL +17.1%.
- Which is cheaper, DFAU or QUAL?
- DFAU is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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, DFAU against QUAL, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfau-vs-qual
ETFIQ. (Oct 9, 2026). DFAU against QUAL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfau-vs-qual
[DFAU against QUAL (ETFIQ, Oct 9, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfau-vs-qual)
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