Dimensional US Core Equity 2 ETF

DFAC

Market cap $47.8B

DFA Dimensional US Core Equity 2 ETF is rated Hold due to insufficient differentiation versus total-market ETFs and higher fees. DFAC's systematic active approach tilts toward smaller-cap, lower-valuation, and higher-profitability stocks but overlaps heavily with market-cap-weighted peers. Recent outperformance over DFUS is attributed to temporary market factors, not sustainable structural advantages.

A “slow-moving avalanche” was a phrase thrown around at the ETF Exchange 2026 event earlier this year to describe the prospect of ETF share classes making their way through the market.

The top ETF launches of the past decade were the focus on this week's ETF Prime. Host Nate Geraci and Cynthia Murphy, director of research at VettaFi, counted down the 10 most successful debuts by current assets.

Small-cap value has done something in 2026 that few investors positioned for: it pulled meaningfully ahead of the growth complex that defined the prior decade.

The ETF landscape is undergoing a structural shift as financial advisors increasingly pivot from pure passive indexing toward active management. While the ETF Rule of 2019 provided the regulatory spark, current market volatility and the quest for tax efficiency have accelerated active ETF adoption.

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