DFIS vs FDT: Differences, Returns & Fees

DFIS and FDT hold 6% of their weight in the same names, and FDT returned +26.6% over the year. Net assets: $5.7bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional International Small Cap ETF, and $1.4bn on Oct 9, 2026 for First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund.

DFIS costs 0.41 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.3 points.

DFISFDT
Expense ratio0.39%0.80%
Net assets, DFIS as of Jul 31, 2026 and FDT as of Oct 9, 2026$5.7bn$1.4bn
Total return, 1 year+16.3%+26.6%
What it tracksNo index, actively managednot read by ETFIQ
Holdings in common6%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund3.6%9.6%
Below its high4.4%, high on Aug 27, 20267.0%, high on Jun 1, 2026

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

+16.3%
DFIS total return, 1 year
+26.6%
FDT total return, 1 year
0.39%
DFIS expense ratio
0.80%
FDT expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, DFIS and FDT hold 6% 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

6% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding DFIS FDT
FINNING INTERNATIONAL INC. 0.31% 0.25%
SSR MINING INC. 0.25% 0.37%
DPM Metals Inc. 0.31% 0.24%
Eldorado Gold Corporation 0.20% 0.22%
KINGFISHER PLC 0.20% 0.23%
Nordex SE 0.19% 0.31%
OceanaGold Corporation 0.19% 0.36%
Aurubis AG 0.18% 0.53%
thyssenkrupp AG 0.30% 0.18%
SBM Offshore N.V. 0.18% 0.51%
ELIS SA 0.17% 0.17%
Open Text Corporation 0.17% 0.44%
Only in DFIS
TELECOM ITALIA SPA 0.52%
VAT Group AG 0.41%
BAWAG Group AG 0.38%
Mercari, Inc. 0.36%
SHIBAURA MECHATRONICS CORPORATION 0.34%
Swiss Prime Site AG 0.33%
Orion Oyj 0.31%
REXEL SA 0.31%
Only in FDT
Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd. 1.67%
Kingboard Laminates Holdings Limited 1.04%
SK Square Co., Ltd. 0.99%
SK Hynix Inc. 0.92%
Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries S.A. 0.88%
Kingboard Holdings Limited 0.86%
LG Innotek Co., Ltd. 0.86%
SoftBank Group Corp. 0.83%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

DFIS
Dimensional International Small Cap ETF
FDT
First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
What it is Actively managed Tracks an index
Total return, 1 year +16.3% +26.6%
S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%
Gap to the S&P 500 −1.0 pts +9.3 pts
Expense ratio 0.39% 0.80%
Already in the S&P 500 0.1% 0.0%
Holdings 3498 298
Net assets, DFIS as of Jul 31, 2026 and FDT as of Oct 9, 2026 $5.7bn $1.4bn

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

DFIS in plain words

DFIS 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 0.39% 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 3,498 positions, with the top ten at 3.6%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Aug 27, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

FDT in plain words

FDT tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +26.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.80% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 298 positions, with the top ten at 9.6%. It sat 7.0% below its high of Jun 1, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, DFIS or FDT?
In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFIS returned +16.3% and FDT +26.6%.
Which is cheaper, DFIS or FDT?
DFIS is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do DFIS and FDT overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 0% of DFIS and 0% of FDT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
Where these figures came from

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, DFIS against FDT, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfis-vs-fdt

Open data

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