GOVT vs. DFAC: What’s The Difference?

The iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT) and the Dimensional U.S. Core Equity 2 ETF (DFAC) are both among the Top 100 ETFs. GOVT is a iShares Intermediate Government fund and DFAC is a Dimensional Fund Advisors Large Blend fund. So, what’s the difference between GOVT and DFAC? And which fund is better?

The expense ratio of GOVT is 0.14 percentage points lower than DFAC’s (0.05% vs. 0.19%). GOVT is mostly comprised of AAA bonds while DFAC has a high exposure to the technology sector. Overall, GOVT has provided lower returns than DFAC over the past 8 years.

In this article, we’ll compare GOVT vs. DFAC. We’ll look at performance and industry exposure, as well as at their fund composition and holdings. Moreover, I’ll also discuss GOVT’s and DFAC’s portfolio growth, risk metrics, and annual returns and examine how these affect their overall returns.

Summary

The iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT) is a Intermediate Government fund that is issued by iShares. It currently has 17.07B total assets under management and has yielded an average annual return of 2.67% over the past 10 years. The fund has a dividend yield of 1.0% with an expense ratio of 0.05%.

The Dimensional U.S. Core Equity 2 ETF (DFAC) is a Large Blend fund that is issued by Dimensional Fund Advisors. It currently has 13.53B total assets under management and has yielded an average annual return of 13.93% over the past 10 years. The fund has a dividend yield of 1.0% with an expense ratio of 0.19%.

Fund Composition

Holdings

GOVT’s Top Bond Sectors are ratings of AAA, Others, Below B, B, and BB at 100.0%, 0.0%, 0.0%, 0.0%, and 0.0%. The fund is less weighted towards BBB (0.0%), A (0.0%), and AA (0.0%) rated bonds.

DFAC’s Top Holdings are Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc, Johnson & Johnson, and Facebook Inc Class A at 4.7%, 3.81%, 2.39%, 1.05%, and 1.05%.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (1.0%), Alphabet Inc Class C (0.85%), and Alphabet Inc Class A (0.84%) have a slightly smaller but still significant weight. Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B and Visa Inc Class A are also represented in the DFAC’s holdings at 0.75% and 0.74%.

Risk Analysis

The iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT) has a Sharpe Ratio of 0 with a Beta of 0 and a Mean Return of 0. Its Standard Deviation is 0 while GOVT’s Treynor Ratio is 0. Furthermore, the fund has a Alpha of 0 and a R-squared of 0.

The Dimensional U.S. Core Equity 2 ETF (DFAC) has a R-squared of 95.1 with a Alpha of -2.75 and a Standard Deviation of 15.55. Its Beta is 1.12 while DFAC’s Sharpe Ratio is 0.88. Furthermore, the fund has a Treynor Ratio of 11.85 and a Mean Return of 1.19.

Performance

Annual Returns

GOVT had its best year in 2020 with an annual return of 7.92%. GOVT’s worst year over the past decade yielded -2.84% and occurred in 2013. In most years the iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF provided moderate returns such as in 2018, 2015, and 2016 where annual returns amounted to 0.74%, 0.76%, and 0.92% respectively.

The year 2013 was the strongest year for DFAC, returning 37.55% on an annual basis. The poorest year for DFAC in the last ten years was 2018, with a yield of -9.43%. Most years the Dimensional U.S. Core Equity 2 ETF has given investors modest returns, such as in 2020, 2016, and 2012, when gains were 15.8%, 16.31%, and 17.93% respectively.

Portfolio Growth

A $10,000 investment in GOVT would have resulted in a final balance of $12,297. This is a profit of $2,297 over 8 years and amounts to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.67%.

With a $10,000 investment in DFAC, the end total would have been $27,579. This equates to a $17,579 profit over 8 years and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.93%.

Current recommendations:

Over the past years, I have discovered several tools and products that have helped me tremendously on my path to financial freedom:

P.S.: The links below are affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you when you sign up for one of the services. Thank you for your support!

1)Personal Capital is simply the best tool out there to track your net worth and plan for financial freedom. Just their retirement planner alone has become an invaluable tool to keep myself on track financially. Try it out, it's free!

2) Take a look at M1 Finance, my favorite broker. I love how easy it is to invest and maintain my portfolio with them. I can set up automatic transfers, rebalance my portfolio with one click and even borrow up to 35% of my assets at super low interest rates!

3) Fundrise is by far the best way I've found to invest in Real Estate. You can diversify your portfolio by investing in their eREITs or even allocate capital to individual properties (without the hassle of managing tenants!).

4) Groundfloor is another great way to get exposure to the real estate sector by investing in short-term, high-yield real estate debt. Current returns are >10% and you can get started with just $10.

5) If you are interested in startup investing, check out Mainvest. I've started allocating a small amount of assets to invest in and support small businesses. Return targets are between 10-25% and you can start with just $100!

To see all of my most up-to-date recommendations, check out the Recommended Tools section.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Marvin Allen

Hi! My name is Marvin. I am on a path toward financial freedom.

I believe that money is just a means to an end: to be free to spend your time as you wish, to maximize your positive impact on the world.

Latest posts by Marvin Allen (see all)

• SPY vs. IVV – What’s The Difference?
• SPY vs. QQQ – What’s The Difference?
• Does VTI Have International Exposure?