Which returned more over the last year, DFIS or VSS?

In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFIS returned +16.3% and VSS +12.2%.

Which is cheaper, DFIS or VSS?

VSS is cheaper, by 0.33 percentage points a year. That is about $33 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do DFIS and VSS overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of DFIS and 0% of VSS by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Share on X Download as PDF

Compare their flows Ask IQ about these two funds

DFIS vs VSS: Differences, Returns & Fees

DFIS and VSS hold 41% of their weight in the same names, and DFIS returned +16.3% over the year. Net assets: $5.7bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional International Small Cap ETF, and $11.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE All-Wld ex-US SmCp Idx ETF.

VSS costs 0.33 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.1 points; VSS is 2.4 times larger.

	DFIS	VSS
Expense ratio	0.39%	0.06%
Net assets, as of Jul 31, 2026	$5.7bn	$13.6bn
Total return, 1 year	+16.3%	+12.2%
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	FTSE Global Small Cap ex US Index
Holdings in common	41%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	3.6%	8.1%
Below its high	4.4%, high on Aug 27, 2026	4.0%, high on May 11, 2026

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

+16.3%

DFIS total return, 1 year

+12.2%

VSS total return, 1 year

0.39%

DFIS expense ratio

0.06%

VSS expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, DFIS and VSS hold 41% 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 Aug 31, 2026.

50%

half

41% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding DFIS VSS

Hudbay Minerals Inc. 0.25% 0.30%

DPM Metals Inc. 0.31% 0.24%

GAZTRANSPORT ET TECHNIGAZ SA 0.29% 0.23%

FINNING INTERNATIONAL INC. 0.31% 0.21%

Accelleron Industries AG 0.27% 0.21%

SSR MINING INC. 0.25% 0.20%

thyssenkrupp AG 0.30% 0.20%

Games Workshop Group PLC 0.28% 0.20%

Eldorado Gold Corporation 0.20% 0.27%

CAPSTONE COPPER CORP. 0.20% 0.19%

NKT A/S 0.21% 0.19%

CAPITAL POWER CORPORATION 0.26% 0.18%

Only in DFIS

TELECOM ITALIA SPA 0.52%

VAT Group AG 0.41%

BAWAG Group AG 0.38%

Mercari, Inc. 0.36%

Swiss Prime Site AG 0.33%

Orion Oyj 0.31%

REXEL SA 0.31%

CARREFOUR SA 0.30%

Only in VSS

SLBBH1142 5.90%

Taiwan Union Technology Corp 0.28%

LandMark Optoelectronics Corp 0.23%

Storebrand ASA 0.22%

Kinsus Interconnect Technology Corp 0.21%

G Mining Ventures Corp 0.21%

Subsea 7 SA 0.21%

MKTLIQ 0.20%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

DFIS

Dimensional International Small Cap ETF

VSS

Vanguard FTSE All-Wld ex-US SmCp Idx ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer Dimensional Vanguard

What it is Actively managed Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +16.3% +12.2%

S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%

Gap to the S&P 500 −1.0 pts −5.1 pts

Expense ratio 0.39% 0.06%

Already in the S&P 500 0.1% 0.0%

Holdings 3498 4888

Net assets, DFIS as of Jul 31, 2026 and VSS as of Sep 30, 2026 $5.7bn $11.6bn

DFIS and VSS 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.

VSS in plain words

VSS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Aug 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 4,888 positions, with the top ten at 8.1%. It sat 4.0% below its high of May 11, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, DFIS or VSS?: In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFIS returned +16.3% and VSS +12.2%.
Which is cheaper, DFIS or VSS?: VSS is cheaper, by 0.33 percentage points a year. That is about $33 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do DFIS and VSS overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of DFIS and 0% of VSS by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

DFIS vs SCZ DFIS vs SCHC DFIS vs FDT SCHC vs VSS SCZ vs VSS FDT vs VSS AVDV vs VSS

DFIS on its own →VSS on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

DFIS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗DFIS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Dimensional website ↗VSS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗VSS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Vanguard page for VSS ↗

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 VSS, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfis-vs-vss

Open data

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