Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DFSD vs SPSB: Differences, Returns & Fees
DFSD's duration was 2.9 years on Jul 31, 2026 and SPSB's 1.8 on Jun 30, 2026; SPSB charges 0.04% to DFSD's 0.16%.
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Net assets: $7.1bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional Short-Duration Fixed Income ETF, and $11.3bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Corporate Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPSB costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.1 points.
| Measure | DFSD | SPSB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.1% | +2.2% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.16% | 0.04% |
| Net assets, DFSD as of Jul 31, 2026 and SPSB as of Oct 27, 2026 | $7.1bn | $11.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 7% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 26, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 · 256 weekly returns · each against AGGSPSB returned more: +15.6% to +11.9%. SPSB swung less: 1.9% to 2.5%. SPSB fell less at its worst: −5.2% to −8.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DFSD | SPSB | AGG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +11.9% | +15.6% | SPSB | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +2.3% | +3.0% | SPSB | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | −6.7% | −4.3% | SPSB | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 2.5% | 1.9% | SPSB | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 1.9% | 1.4% | SPSB | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −8.3% | −5.2% | SPSB | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 39.0% | 31.4% | 100.0% | DFSD | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 32.6% | 19.9% | 100.0% | SPSB | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.35 | 0.27 | 1.00 | SPSB lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.72 | 0.72 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | −0.69 | −0.55 | SPSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | −0.87 | −0.73 | SPSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | −0.048 | −0.038 | −0.041 | SPSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.28 | 0.57 | SPSB | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | AGG | AGG | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.2% a year | +0.1% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.40 | 0.20 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +0.9% | −0.8% to +1.0% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.60 | 0.70 | SPSB | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.0% | 4.4% | 0.0% | 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 SPSB hold 7% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.
half
7% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
DFSD and SPSB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DFSD and SPSB 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 SPSB follows Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index.
- Holdings in common. 7% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026).
- Cost. DFSD charges 0.16% of assets a year and SPSB 0.04%, a gap of 0.12 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.
SPSB
SPSB tracks an index of Short Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.2% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, DFSD or SPSB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFSD returned +1.1% and SPSB +2.2%.
- Which is cheaper, DFSD or SPSB?
- SPSB is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 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 SPSB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfsd-vs-spsb
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