Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DFSD vs SLQD: Differences, Returns & Fees
On Jul 31, 2026 DFSD's duration was 2.9 years and SLQD's 2.2; SLQD charges 0.06% to DFSD's 0.16%.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about DFSD and SLQD
Net assets: $7.1bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional Short-Duration Fixed Income ETF, and $2.4bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares 0-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
SLQD costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.8 points.
| Measure | DFSD | SLQD |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.1% | +1.9% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade 0-5 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.16% | 0.06% |
| Net assets, DFSD as of Jul 31, 2026 and SLQD as of Oct 28, 2026 | $7.1bn | $2.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 17% | |
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; SLQD against IUSB, Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026.
SLQD returned more: +14.6% to +11.9%. SLQD swung slightly less: 2.3% to 2.5%. SLQD fell less at its worst: −6.6% to −8.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DFSD | SLQD | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +11.9% | +14.6% | SLQD | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.3% | +2.8% | SLQD | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −6.7% | −2.9% | SLQD | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 2.5% | 2.3% | SLQD (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 1.9% | 1.7% | SLQD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −8.3% | −6.6% | SLQD | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 39.0% | 42.6% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 32.6% | 34.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.35 | 0.58 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.72 | 0.65 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.69 | −0.52 | SLQD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.87 | −0.70 | SLQD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.048 | 0.007 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.28 | 0.42 | SLQD | 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 | 0.63 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +0.9% | −0.8% to +1.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.60 | 0.12 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.0% | 3.0% | 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 SLQD hold 17% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026.
half
17% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
DFSD and SLQD on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DFSD and SLQD are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. DFSD follows No index, actively managed and SLQD follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade 0-5 Index.
- Holdings in common. 17% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026).
- Cost. DFSD charges 0.16% of assets a year and SLQD 0.06%, a gap of 0.10 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
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.
SLQD
SLQD tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.9% with distributions reinvested, against −1.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, DFSD or SLQD?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFSD returned +1.1% and SLQD +1.9%.
- Which is cheaper, DFSD or SLQD?
- SLQD is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, DFSD against SLQD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfsd-vs-slqd
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). DFSD against SLQD. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfsd-vs-slqd
[DFSD against SLQD (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfsd-vs-slqd)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.