Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DFUS vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DFUS returned +13.8% to QUAL's +13.1%; 38% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $20.9bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF, and $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
Pair scorecard
DFUS costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.7 points.
| Measure | DFUS | QUAL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.8% | +13.1% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, DFUS as of Jul 31, 2026 and QUAL as of Oct 28, 2026 | $20.9bn | $48.2bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 38% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 34.6% | 44.5% |
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; QUAL against MLRG, Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
DFUS returned slightly more: +87.6% to +79.2%. DFUS and QUAL swung about the same: 16.2% and 16.3%. DFUS fell less at its worst: −24.2% to −27.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DFUS | QUAL | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +87.6% | +79.2% | DFUS (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +12.5% | +11.5% | DFUS (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +76.2% | +68.5% | DFUS | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.2% | 16.3% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.8% | 10.9% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −24.2% | −27.9% | DFUS | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 101.4% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.4% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.97 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.58 | 0.53 | DFUS (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.87 | 0.78 | DFUS (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.094 | 0.126 | 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 | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.8% a year | +0.6% a year | QUAL not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 2.33 | 0.59 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | +0.1% to +1.5% | −1.4% to +2.6% | QUAL includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 1.04 | 0.06 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.8% | 3.7% | 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 QUAL hold 38% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
38% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
DFUS and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DFUS and QUAL are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. DFUS follows No index, actively managed and QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index.
- Holdings in common. 38% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026).
- Number of holdings. DFUS holds 2,236 positions and QUAL holds 119.
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%.
QUAL
QUAL tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 119 positions, with the top ten at 44.5%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, DFUS or QUAL?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFUS returned +13.8% and QUAL +13.1%.
- Which is cheaper, DFUS or QUAL?
- DFUS is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 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 QUAL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfus-vs-qual
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