Dimensional US Core Equity 2 ETF

DFAC

Market cap $43.6B

About a quarter of the way into 2026, Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) is already having a monumental year. The global investment firm just made history launching the first actively managed ETF share class last week.

Most actively managed emerging markets funds charge 0.75% or more in annual fees, and the majority still fail to beat their benchmarks over a full market cycle.

2025 will go down as another year of record-breaking achievements for exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Among the past year's highlights was a record number of mutual funds converting to ETFs, as noted by Ben Johnson, Morningstar Head of Client Solutions, via a LinkedIn post.

The Dimensional U.S. Core Equity 2 ETF (NYSEARCA:DFAC) has delivered a 15% gain over the past year, essentially matching the S&P 500's return.

BlackRock's Jay Jacobs predicts active ETF management will provide significant value in 2026 amid a stock market

Dimensional US Core Equity 2 ETF offers broad, diversified US equity exposure with disciplined valuation screens and a tilt toward smaller companies. DFAC trades at a 15.6% P/E discount to the Russell 3000, but lags on growth and profitability, reflecting its conservative sector allocations. Performance is mid-range: DFAC underperforms the Russell 3000 and several peers, with higher volatility and steeper drawdowns in downturns.

On this week's episode of ETF Prime, VettaFi's Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth discusses the rise of active ETFs and anticipated ETF share class structure. Later, Fidelity's Eric Granat and Christine Thorpe spotlight the Fidelity Hedged Equity ETF (FHEQ) and the Fidelity Total Bond ETF (FBND).

The actively managed ETF industry is now roughly the market cap of Berkshire Hathaway — and one expert thinks trade risks could boost interest even higher.

Markets are coming off back-to-back gains of more than 20% each on an annual basis. That's historically rare, and the chances of a hat trick in 2025 are slim to none.

The growth of active ETFs has propelled a wave of mutual fund-to-ETF conversions. Nearly 80% of all new product launches in both the third quarter and for the full year have been actively managed.