Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DFSD vs NEAR: Differences, Returns & Fees
On Jul 31, 2026 DFSD's duration was 2.9 years and NEAR's 2.1; DFSD charges 0.16% to NEAR's 0.25%.
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Net assets: $7.1bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional Short-Duration Fixed Income ETF, and $5.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Short Duration Bond Active ETF.
Pair scorecard
DFSD costs 0.09 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.7 points.
| Measure | DFSD | NEAR |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.1% | +1.8% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.16% | 0.25% |
| Net assets, DFSD as of Jul 31, 2026 and NEAR as of Oct 28, 2026 | $7.1bn | $5.2bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 26, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 · 256 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: DFSD against AGG, Nov 26, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026; NEAR against IUSB, Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026.
NEAR returned more: +21.3% to +11.9%. NEAR swung less: 1.4% to 2.5%. NEAR fell less at its worst: −1.1% to −8.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DFSD | NEAR | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +11.9% | +21.3% | NEAR | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.3% | +4.0% | NEAR | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −6.7% | 0.0% | NEAR | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 2.5% | 1.4% | NEAR | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 1.9% | 0.9% | NEAR | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −8.3% | −1.1% | NEAR | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 39.0% | 21.9% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 32.6% | 7.7% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.35 | 0.28 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.72 | 0.37 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.69 | −0.05 | NEAR | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.87 | −0.08 | NEAR | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.048 | 0.014 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.28 | 3.61 | NEAR | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | IUSB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.2% a year | +0.4% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.40 | 0.69 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +0.9% | −0.7% to +1.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.60 | 0.07 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.0% | 4.1% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 256 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, DFSD and NEAR hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
DFSD and NEAR on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DFSD and NEAR are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026).
- What each follows (similar). Both follow No index, actively managed.
- One-year total return (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 DFSD returned +1.1% and NEAR +1.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 0.7 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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DFSD
DFSD is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.1% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.16% a year.
NEAR
NEAR is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.8% with distributions reinvested, against −1.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.25% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, DFSD or NEAR?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFSD returned +1.1% and NEAR +1.8%.
- Which is cheaper, DFSD or NEAR?
- DFSD is cheaper, by 0.09 percentage points a year. That is about $9 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. 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, DFSD against NEAR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfsd-vs-near
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). DFSD against NEAR. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfsd-vs-near
[DFSD against NEAR (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfsd-vs-near)
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