Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DFUS vs GDX: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DFUS returned +13.8% to GDX's +19.0%, and DFUS charges 0.09% to GDX's 0.51%.
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Net assets: $20.9bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF, and $25.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for VanEck Gold Miners ETF.
Pair scorecard
DFUS costs 0.42 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.2 points.
| Measure | DFUS | GDX |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.8% | +19.0% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 27.5%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Gold miners |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | ahead by 5.6 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.51% |
| Net assets, DFUS as of Jul 31, 2026 and GDX as of Oct 27, 2026 | $20.9bn | $25.6bn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 100% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 34.6% | 60% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jun 25, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 · 278 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: DFUS against IWV, Jun 25, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026; GDX against ACWI, Apr 4, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026.
GDX returned more: +150.1% to +87.6%. DFUS swung less: 16.2% to 38.0%. DFUS fell less at its worst: −24.2% to −45.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DFUS | GDX | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +87.6% | +150.1% | GDX | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +12.5% | +18.7% | GDX | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +76.2% | +133.4% | GDX | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.2% | 38.0% | DFUS | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.8% | 24.2% | DFUS | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −24.2% | −45.1% | DFUS | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 101.4% | 50.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.4% | 74.9% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.76 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.13 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.58 | 0.54 | DFUS (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.87 | 0.85 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.094 | 0.127 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.52 | 0.41 | DFUS | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWV | ACWI | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.8% a year | +3.4% a year | GDX not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 2.33 | 0.41 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | +0.1% to +1.5% | −13.0% to +19.9% | GDX includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 1.04 | 0.04 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.8% | 36.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 278 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, DFUS and GDX hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
DFUS and GDX on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DFUS and GDX do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. DFUS follows No index, actively managed and GDX follows Gold miners.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 DFUS returned +13.8% and GDX +19.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.2 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.
DFUS is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 89% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,236 positions, with the top ten at 34.6%.
GDX
By weight, 12% of GDX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 60% of the fund across 59 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +19.0% with distributions reinvested against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Index, so a holder was ahead by 5.6 pts. It sits 27.5% below its all-time high of Feb 27, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are DFUS and GDX in the same category?
- DFUS is a stock ETF and GDX is a thematic ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, DFUS or GDX?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFUS returned +13.8% and GDX +19.0%.
- Which is cheaper, DFUS or GDX?
- DFUS is cheaper, by 0.42 percentage points a year. That is about $42 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, DFUS against GDX, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfus-vs-gdx
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