Which returned more over the last year, DFUS or SDY?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFUS returned +13.8% and SDY +16.5%.

Which is cheaper, DFUS or SDY?

DFUS is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do DFUS and SDY overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 89% of DFUS and 84% of SDY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

DFUS vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DFUS returned +13.8% to SDY's +16.5%; 12% 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 $21.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF.

DFUS on its own →SDY on its own →

At a glance

+13.8%

DFUS total return, 1 year

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

0.09%

DFUS expense ratio

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

DFUS costs 0.26 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.7 points.

DFUS vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	DFUS	SDY
Return
Measure	DFUS	SDY
Total return, 1 year	+13.8%	+16.5%
Benchmark
Measure	DFUS	SDY
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index
Cost and size
Measure	DFUS	SDY
Expense ratio	0.09%	0.35%
Net assets, DFUS as of Jul 31, 2026 and SDY as of Oct 27, 2026	$20.9bn	$21.9bn
Holdings
Measure	DFUS	SDY
Holdings in common	12%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	34.6%	20.4%

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 returns

DFUS SDY

Return

Total return edge DFUS +87.6% +47.5%

Annualized edge DFUS +12.5% +7.5%

Price return edge DFUS +76.2% +28.4%

Risk

Volatility edge SDY 16.2% 13.5%

Max drawdown edge SDY −24.2% −14.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge DFUS 0.58 0.33

Sortino edge DFUS 0.87 0.48

Calmar edge Tie 0.52 0.52

Reading

DFUS returned more: +87.6% to +47.5%. SDY swung less: 13.5% to 16.2%. SDY fell less at its worst: −14.4% to −24.2%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: DFUS vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	DFUS	SDY	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+87.6%	+47.5%	DFUS	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+12.5%	+7.5%	DFUS	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+76.2%	+28.4%	DFUS	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	16.2%	13.5%	SDY	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	10.8%	9.4%	SDY	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−24.2%	−14.4%	SDY	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.58	0.33	DFUS	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.87	0.48	DFUS	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.52	0.52	Tie	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

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

12%

By the books each fund has filed, DFUS and SDY hold 12% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

12% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first DFUS SDY

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORPORATION 0.94% 1.49%

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 0.90% 0.94%

ABBVIE INC. 0.64% 1.32%

MICROSOFT CORPORATION 4.99% 0.56%

CHEVRON CORPORATION 0.53% 2.15%

THE COCA-COLA COMPANY 0.50% 1.23%

THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY 0.49% 1.34%

WALMART INC. 0.71% 0.40%

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED 0.36% 0.85%

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION 0.61% 0.28%

Pepsico, Inc. 0.28% 1.82%

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. 0.28% 2.81%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in DFUS

NVIDIA CORPORATION 6.75%

APPLE INC. 6.45%

AMAZON.COM, INC. 3.83%

ALPHABET INC. 3.00%

BROADCOM INC. 2.63%

ALPHABET INC. 2.48%

META PLATFORMS, INC. 1.77%

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. 1.38%

Only in SDY

ACCENTURE PLC CL A 3.73%

REALTY INCOME CORP 1.94%

MEDTRONIC PLC 1.79%

INTL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP 1.24%

AIR PRODUCTS + CHEMICALS INC 1.08%

LOWE S COS INC 0.93%

ESSEX PROPERTY TRUST INC 0.73%

TRAVELERS COS INC 0.69%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

DFUS Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer Dimensional State Street

What it is Actively managed Tracks the S&P Dividend

Total return, 1 year +13.8% +16.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.3% (IWV) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +0.5 pts vs IWV not measured

Expense ratio 0.09% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 89.4% 84.4%

Holdings 2236 156

Net assets, DFUS as of Jul 31, 2026 and SDY as of Oct 27, 2026 $20.9bn $21.9bn

DFUS and SDY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-DABD3F5F39

DFUS and SDY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. DFUS follows No index, actively managed and SDY follows S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index.
Holdings in common. 12% 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 SDY +16.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.7 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

DFUS

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%.

SDY

SDY tracks the S&P Dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 156 positions, with the top ten at 20.4%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, DFUS or SDY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFUS returned +13.8% and SDY +16.5%.
Which is cheaper, DFUS or SDY?: DFUS is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do DFUS and SDY overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 89% of DFUS and 84% of SDY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

DFUS vs RSP DFUS vs DVY COWZ vs DFUS DFUS vs NOBL DYNF vs SDY SCHB vs SDY DIA vs SDY QUAL vs SDY

Where to next

DFUS on its own →SDY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →DFUS dividend history →DFUS holdings →SDY dividend history →SDY holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

DFUS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

DFUS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Dimensional website ↗

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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 SDY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfus-vs-sdy

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.