DIA vs ESGU: Performance, Holdings, Fees & Risk
DIA and ESGU are ETFs, but they can differ materially in exposure, yield, fees and risk. DIA is State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust, while ESGU is iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF. ESGU is broader by holdings count, with 272 positions versus 31 for DIA. DIA is more concentrated at the top, based on top-10 holdings weight. Current AlgovestIQ evidence has DIA ahead on AIQ Score, 68 versus 53.
What is the main difference between DIA and ESGU?
ESGU holds 272 positions to DIA's 31, and 27% of their weight is in the same securities.
| Metric | DIA | ESGU |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.16% | 0.15% |
| Holdings | 31 | 272 |
| Top-10 concentration | 55.1% | 36.8% |
| Distribution yieldTrailing 12 months | 1.37% | 0.92% |
| Average volume | 3,785,458 | 391,286 |
| Performance | ||
| 1Y return | +14.1% | +16.3% |
| YTD return | +9.1% | +12.8% |
| 5Y annualized returnTotal return, distributions reinvested | +9.9% | +11.5% |
| Risk | ||
| Annualized volatility | 12.7% | 13% |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -10.1% | -9.5% |
| Max drawdown (5Y)Total return, distributions reinvested | -20.8% | -26.1% |
| Beta | 0.83 | 1.02 |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.76 | 0.89 |
| Sortino ratio | 1.25 | 1.35 |
| AlgovestIQ | ||
| AIQ Score | 68/100 | 53/100 |
| AIQ Edge Score | 10/10 | 5/10 |
| Momentum | 84/100 | 52/100 |
| Risk Resilience | 82/100 | 86/100 |
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust vs iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF
DIA leads
DIA leads by 15 AIQ points, primarily on Momentum and Value, and the lead has widened from 0 points over 30 sessions.
Competitive: 2 of 4 evidence groups support DIA, its lead is widening, and its current signal state is conflicted.
State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust
iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors DIA over ESGU, 68 versus 53 as of Oct 21, 2026. DIA's advantage is driven primarily by stronger momentum and value, while ESGU holds the stronger risk resilience profile. DIA also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average. 2 of 4 covered evidence groups favor DIA today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability: only 2 of 4 covered evidence groups agree. DIA lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 0 to 15 points over 30 sessions.
Compare State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust and iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF across performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, drawdown, volatility and the Algovestiq AIQ Score.
DIA vs ESGU: which fits what
Each row is settled by a single measure. Where the gap is too small to matter it reads Similar, and no row decides the comparison as a whole.
| If you want | DIA | ESGU | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower costExpense ratio | 0.16% | 0.15% | Similar |
| Broader diversificationNumber of holdings | 31 | 272 | ESGU |
| Lower concentrationWeight of the 10 largest holdings | 55.1% | 36.8% | ESGU |
| Higher incomeTrailing 12-month distribution yield | 1.37% | 0.92% | DIA |
| Smaller drawdownsMax drawdown, 5 years | -20.8% | -26.1% | DIA |
| Lower volatilityAnnualized volatility, 1 year | 12.7% | 13% | Similar |
Similar means the gap is within 0.01 percentage points of expense ratio, 25% more holdings, 3 points of top-10 weight, 0.2 points of yield, 2 points of drawdown or 1 point of volatility. Past drawdowns and volatility describe the funds’ history, not their future.
Performance over time
Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes for both ETFs.
Total return comparison
Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested
Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.
Compare DIA and ESGU against another ticker
Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.
AIQ Factor Divergence
Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.
- Momentum84 vs 52DIA +32
- Value47 vs 33DIA +14
- Quality67 vs 56DIA +11
- Risk Resilience82 vs 86ESGU +4
2 of 4 evidence groups favor DIA. DIA’s edge is concentrated in momentum and value; ESGU keeps a meaningful risk resilience edge.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-10-20, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-19.
Largest factor move: Momentum +23
New signals
- BB Upper Band Breach — bearish, volatility, short horizon
- RSI Overbought — bearish, momentum, short horizon
- Uptrend Structure Active — bullish, trend, long horizon
Largest factor move: Momentum +3
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 6 active signals are unchanged.
DIA's lead widened by 5 AIQ points in the latest session.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — DIA and ESGU both carry a full feed there.
The central trade-off
DIA (State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust): the stronger current systematic profile, led by momentum and value.
ESGU (iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF): the counter-case, on risk resilience.
Fund facts, side by side
Two funds tracking overlapping universes are separated by cost and risk far more than by holdings. Those lead here.
| Measure | DIA | ESGU | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.16% | 0.15% | Lower is better — it compounds against you every year you hold. |
| Holdings | 31 | 272 | More holdings means broader diversification, not better returns. |
| Average volume | 3,785,458 | 391,286 | Liquidity — matters most if you trade size. |
| Annualized volatility | 12.7% | 13% | Lower is a steadier ride for the same exposure. |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -10.1% | -9.5% | The worst peak-to-trough loss over the past year. |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.76 | 0.89 | Return per unit of risk. Higher is better. |
| Beta | 0.83 | 1.02 | Sensitivity to the broad market. Neither direction is better — it depends on the role in your portfolio. |
Where the exposure actually sits
Sector exposure for each fund, ordered by the size of the difference.
How much of the same holdings they own
DIA and ESGU share 27% of their weighted exposure across 27 common holdings.
3 holdings are unique to DIA, and 242 holdings are unique to ESGU. Owning both is genuinely additive — most of the capital sits in different securities.
DIA is the more concentrated of the two: its ten largest positions are 55.07% of the fund, against 36.75% for ESGU (31 holdings vs 272). Concentration cuts both ways — it is what drives outperformance when the top names work, and what makes the drawdown deeper when they do not.
Largest shared positions
| Holding | DIA | ESGU | Shared |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSFTMICROSOFT CORP | 5.61% | 5.32% | 5.32% |
| AAPLAPPLE | 3.72% | 6.93% | 3.72% |
| AMZNAMAZON.COM INC | 2.87% | 3.62% | 2.87% |
| NVDANVIDIA | 2.49% | 7.84% | 2.49% |
| GOOGLALPHABET INC CL A | 3.79% | 1.85% | 1.85% |
| JPMJPMORGAN CHASE + CO | 4.03% | 1.4% | 1.4% |
| VVISA INC CLASS A SHARES | 4.18% | 1.17% | 1.17% |
| JNJJOHNSON + JOHNSON | 3.03% | 0.78% | 0.78% |
Shared weight is the lower of the two positions — the portion of capital both funds genuinely have in the same security.
What DIA adds that ESGU doesn’t
| Holding | DIA | ESGU |
|---|---|---|
| GSGOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 11.61% | 0.59% |
| CATCATERPILLAR INC | 9.17% | 0.62% |
| UNHUNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC | 4.42% | 0.44% |
| AMGNAMGEN INC | 4.36% | 0.3% |
| TRVTRAVELERS COS INC/THE | 4.19% | 0.16% |
| VVISA INC CLASS A SHARES | 4.18% | 1.17% |
What ESGU adds that DIA doesn’t
| Holding | ESGU | DIA |
|---|---|---|
| NVDANVIDIA | 7.84% | 2.49% |
| GOOGALPHABET CLASS C | 3.37% | Not held |
| AVGOBROADCOM INC | 2.53% | Not held |
| METAMETA PLATFORMS CLASS A | 2.01% | Not held |
| MUMICRON TECHNOLOGY | 1.72% | Not held |
| TSLATESLA INC | 1.57% | Not held |
Each list is a fund’s largest positions by weight that the other fund does not hold, or holds at less than half the weight.
DIA vs ESGU: five-year payout growth
ESGU grew its split-adjusted payout faster over 2020-2025 — 6.19% a year against DIA's 3.73%. DIA never reduced its annual distribution in the window; ESGU did in 1 year.
| Dividend metric | DIA | ESGU |
|---|---|---|
| 5Y payout CAGR | 3.73% | 6.19% |
| 2020 annual payout | $5.728 | $1.090 |
| 2025 annual payout | $6.879 | $1.472 |
| Calendar-year declines | 0 | 1 |
| Peer rank | #111 of 138 | #83 of 138 |
Split-adjusted annual distributions, 2020–2025. Research as of Sep 19, 2026. Yield and expense ratio above are current values, not part of this window.
AIQ Agreement Matrix
2 of 4 covered evidence groups favor DIA. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | DIA | 68 vs 53 |
| Fundamentals | Not covered | Not covered |
| Valuation | DIA | Value 47 vs 33 |
| Technicals | Even | Price vs 50-day 0.8% vs 0.6%; vs 200-day 3.9% vs 6.1% |
| Risk Resilience | ESGU | Risk Resilience 82 vs 86 |
| Analyst expectations | Not covered | Not covered |
✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of DIA and ESGU and are excluded from the count.
AIQ Decision Stability
The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.
- The AIQ gap is wide at 15 points. (supports the conclusion holding)
- Only 2 of 4 covered evidence groups agree. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
- The leader's advantage has been widening. (supports the conclusion holding)
- The leader is throwing conflicting signals. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on DIA.
How the comparison changed
120 daily snapshots · Jun 21 – Oct 20DIA lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 0 to 15 points over 30 sessions.
- Today
- DIA +15
- 68 vs 53
- 7 sessions ago
- DIA +6
- 61 vs 55
- 30 sessions ago
- Level
- 55 vs 55
- 90 sessions ago
- DIA +1
- 61 vs 60
The lead changed hands 5 times in this window, most recently on Oct 1 when ESGU moved ahead of DIA.
AIQ Signal Divergence
Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.
3 bullish / 2 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted
Only DIA
- BB Upper Band Breach — bearish, volatility, short horizon
- RSI Overbought — bearish, momentum, short horizon
- Uptrend Structure Active — bullish, trend, long horizon
- MACD Bullish Crossover — bullish, momentum, short horizon
3 bullish / 1 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted
Only ESGU
- Bollinger Band Squeeze — neutral, volatility, short horizon
- EMA Ribbon Expansion Bullish — bullish, trend, medium horizon
- 52-Week High Proximity — bullish, risk, long horizon (1.3%)
- MACD Bearish Crossover — bearish, momentum, short horizon
Both carry 2 more signals that do not separate them: Golden Cross Active, ATR Contraction - Coiling.
DIA leads the comparison while carrying a conflicted signal state, which is one reason the stability rating is not higher.
Price vs model alignment
Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.
Price and the AIQ Score both moved up over the latest session (price +0.64%, AIQ +6 points).
Price and the AIQ Score both moved up over the latest session (price +0.63%, AIQ +1 points).
What would flip this result
A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.
- 1ESGU closes the Momentum gap — currently 32 points behind, the largest single contributor to DIA's edge.
- 2ESGU's Bollinger Band Squeeze turns directional — it is neutral today and would confirm a change in trend.
- 3DIA's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 3 bullish and 2 bearish rules at once.
- 4A regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.
The full evidence
Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.
Performance
ESGU leads 4 of 6 windows| Metric | DIA | ESGU |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | 1.6% | -1.3% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | 1.2% | -0.7% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | 0.6% | 2.6% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | 6.7% | 9.6% |
| Year to date | 9.1% | 12.8% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | 14.1% | 16.3% |
Technicals
Split| Metric | DIA | ESGU |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | 74.7 | 55.1 |
| ADX (14) | 19.1 | 12.7 |
| Price vs 50-day | 0.8% | 0.6% |
| Price vs 200-day | 3.9% | 6.1% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | 9.7% | 9.6% |
Risk
ESGU is the more resilient| Metric | DIA | ESGU |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | 0.83 | 1.02 |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.76 | 0.89 |
| Sortino ratio | 1.25 | 1.35 |
| Max drawdown | -10.1% | -9.5% |
| Current drawdown | -3.4% | -1.5% |
| Annualized volatility | 12.7% | 13% |
| Value at risk (95%) | -1.2% | -1.3% |
Straight answers
Short answers to the questions fund investors ask about this pair, from the figures above.
What is the difference between DIA and ESGU?
ESGU holds 272 positions to DIA's 31, and 27% of their weight is in the same securities.
How much do DIA and ESGU overlap?
DIA and ESGU share 27% of their weighted exposure across 27 common holdings. 3 holdings are unique to DIA, and 242 holdings are unique to ESGU. Owning both is genuinely additive — most of the capital sits in different securities.
Which ETF is more diversified, DIA or ESGU?
ESGU holds more positions: 272 versus 31 for DIA.
Which has the lower expense ratio?
The two are within a basis point: 0.16% for DIA and 0.15% for ESGU.
Which ETF has the higher distribution yield?
DIA, with a trailing 12-month distribution yield of 1.37% against 0.92% for ESGU.
Which ETF has been more volatile?
Their volatility over the past year is similar: 12.7% annualized for DIA and 13% for ESGU.
Which ETF has had the smaller drawdown?
DIA fell less from peak to trough over the past five years: -20.8% against -26.1% for ESGU.
Compare DIA and ESGU with others
Continue your research
This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.
How this comparison is scored
The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.
The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.
How to use side-by-side comparison →This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.