Which returned more over the last year, DFAU or USMV?

In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFAU returned +17.2% and USMV +7.5%.

Which is cheaper, DFAU or USMV?

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.

How much do DFAU and USMV overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 87% of DFAU and 93% of USMV by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

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DFAU vs USMV: Differences, Returns & Fees

DFAU and USMV hold 29% of their weight in the same names, and DFAU returned +17.2% over the year. Net assets: $12.4bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional US Core Equity Market ETF, and $23.8bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF.

DFAU costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.7 points; USMV is 1.9 times larger.

DFAU vs USMV: Differences, Returns & Fees
	DFAU	USMV
Expense ratio	0.12%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Jul 31, 2026	$12.4bn	$23.6bn
Total return, 1 year	+17.2%	+7.5%
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index
Holdings in common	29%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	33.7%	15.1%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

+17.2%

DFAU total return, 1 year

+7.5%

USMV total return, 1 year

0.12%

DFAU expense ratio

0.15%

USMV expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, DFAU and USMV hold 29% 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.

50%

half

29% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding DFAU USMV

MICROSOFT CORPORATION 5.09% 1.66%

NVIDIA CORPORATION 6.74% 1.59%

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. 1.11% 1.46%

APPLE INC. 6.45% 0.96%

BROADCOM INC. 2.35% 0.93%

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORPORATION 0.88% 1.49%

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC. 0.86% 0.86%

MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC. 1.39% 0.79%

VISA INC. 0.75% 1.03%

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 0.72% 1.44%

MASTERCARD INCORPORATED 0.64% 1.27%

WALMART INC. 0.58% 0.70%

Only in DFAU

ALPHABET INC. 2.28%

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 1.27%

ELI LILLY AND COMPANY 1.24%

TESLA, INC. 1.08%

BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION 0.50%

APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. 0.47%

INTEL CORPORATION 0.46%

CATERPILLAR INC. 0.45%

Only in USMV

WELLTOWER 1.44%

WASTE CONNECTIONS 1.12%

TJX 0.96%

MCDONALDS CORP 0.94%

ACCENTURE PLC CLASS A 0.83%

MARSH 0.83%

ELI LILLY 0.79%

TEXAS INSTRUMENT INC 0.74%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

DFAU

Dimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

USMV

iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer Dimensional iShares

What it is Actively managed Tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor

Total return, 1 year +17.2% +7.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +16.7% (IWV) not published

Gap to its benchmark +0.5 pts vs IWV not available

Expense ratio 0.12% 0.15%

Already in the S&P 500 86.8% 93.0%

Holdings 2192 176

Net assets, DFAU as of Jul 31, 2026 and USMV as of Oct 9, 2026 $12.4bn $23.8bn

DFAU and USMV 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 USMV

USMV tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +7.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 176 positions, with the top ten at 15.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, DFAU or USMV?: In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFAU returned +17.2% and USMV +7.5%.
Which is cheaper, DFAU or USMV?: 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.
How much do DFAU and USMV overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 87% of DFAU and 93% of USMV by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

DFAU vs SPMO DFAU vs RDVY DFAU vs DFUS DFAU vs OEF RECS vs USMV SCHK vs USMV DSI vs USMV USMC vs USMV

DFAU on its own →USMV on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

DFAU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗DFAU prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Dimensional website ↗USMV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗USMV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗iShares page for USMV ↗

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 USMV, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfau-vs-usmv

Open data

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