Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DFUS vs IEMG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DFUS returned +13.8% to IEMG's +15.3%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about DFUS and IEMG
Net assets: $20.9bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF, and $150.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF.
Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.09% a year; their one-year returns differ by 1.5 points.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | DFUS | IEMG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.8% | +15.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 10.1%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (IMI) |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, DFUS as of Jul 31, 2026 and IEMG as of Oct 27, 2026 | $20.9bn | $150.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 34.6% | 32.7% |
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; IEMG against EEM, Nov 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026.
DFUS returned more: +87.6% to +30.1%. DFUS swung slightly less: 16.2% to 17.7%. DFUS fell less at its worst: −24.2% to −35.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DFUS | IEMG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +87.6% | +30.1% | DFUS | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +12.5% | +5.0% | DFUS | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +76.2% | +12.4% | DFUS | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.2% | 17.7% | DFUS (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.8% | 12.6% | DFUS | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −24.2% | −35.1% | DFUS | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 101.4% | 94.6% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.4% | 97.1% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.96 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.58 | 0.16 | DFUS | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.87 | 0.22 | DFUS | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.094 | 0.057 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.52 | 0.14 | DFUS | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWV | EEM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.8% a year | +0.7% a year | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. | |
| Alpha t-stat | 2.33 | 2.17 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | +0.1% to +1.5% | +0.1% to +1.4% | Not an edge | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 1.04 | 0.38 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.8% | 1.4% | 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 IEMG 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 IEMG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DFUS and IEMG do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. DFUS follows No index, actively managed and IEMG follows MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (IMI).
- 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 (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 DFUS returned +13.8% and IEMG +15.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 1.5 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.
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%.
IEMG
IEMG tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.3% with distributions reinvested, against +16.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,857 positions, with the top ten at 32.7%. It sat 10.1% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
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, DFUS against IEMG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfus-vs-iemg
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). DFUS against IEMG. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfus-vs-iemg
[DFUS against IEMG (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfus-vs-iemg)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.