BWP,
Something strange here.
3y $10k growth (not price) for DSENX is $10k to $15,893, 4/9/16 to 4/8.
Moat reached $16,332. Same period, from $10k.
I cannot understand your graph or how you got it, but it is marvelous.
Ah, ah, okay, yours is price. Wild that there is such a price delta even so. Never do price. I want to know only growth w reinvestments.

@BenWP- Well, if you can't be as cool as Catch, you can be cool with links.

Very easy to do:
1) • type in your link title: VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF
2) • use your mouse to "select" (highlight) that title.
3) • Go up to the top of your post where it says B, I, U, S, etc. Go out to the next-to-last icon on that line- the one that looks sort of like a paramecium. Click on that gizmo.
4) • A small box will appear. Just paste that horrendously long URL directly into that box.
5) • Now your Link title is colored blue, and looks like this: VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF
See, you can be much cooler than that grumpy guy who posts all those links every day!

Here's an ungodly long link from a M* chart, showing that MOAT's cumulative performance over DSENX is about 20% for last 3 years. The 5 year period, not shown here, is similarly favorable for MOAT. I wish I could be as cool as @catch22 with my chart.
http://quotes.morningstar.com/chart/etf/chart.action?t=MOAT&region=usa&&dataParams={"zoomKey":7,"version":"US","showNav":true,"mainSettingId":"main","navSettingId":"nav","benchmarkSettingId":"benchmark","sliderBgSettingId":"sliderBg","volumeSettingId":"volume","id":"F00000O2CJ|F00000QBC0","type":"FE|FO","region":"USA","name":"ARCX:MOAT|XNAS:DSENX","qsType":"USA:MOAT|F00000QBC0","baseCurrency":"USD","defaultBenchmarks":["$FOCA$LB$$|Large Blend|CA]FE","XIUSA04G92|S&P 500 TR USD|XI"],"hideDividendMenu":false,"startDay":"04/09/2016","endDay":"04/08/2019","chartWidth":955}

I could only hope that I could get my 401k away from them....

Chuck Akre has been in my portfolio for decades. I've always searched for a backup fund due to his age, to no avail. I've watched his former analyst over at HFCSX but haven't been impressed. My original purchase in 2009 is up 300+ and I have sold portions as Akre's portfolio exceeded 15% of my total holdings. A good portion of my AKRIX is now house money. I wish I could meet the dude..... I also owned FBRVX once upon a time.

When turnover is so low, why not just mirror their book in your PA and skip the 1%+ ER...

@BenWP,
yeah, don't not post, please
... but when I graph $10k growth the last 3y for DSENX and MOAT I see only ~2.8% outperformance; how did you arrive at your ~83% figure??

@OJ, missed that, +1

If the fund has little turnover (a good thing), then what do they do that requires a 1.32% ER (not a good thing)?

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/04/09/veteran-trader-art-cashin-on-whats-dragging-down-stocks.html

wow, AKREX has 4% turnover, the other 71%, TRBCX in between
all look good

I've admired this managers skills even way back when he ran FBR Focus. When I moved my retirement money to Schwab back in 2014, I think I remember AKREX had a TF to buy, so decided not to hold it.
Long story short, I noticed no TF at schwab now so I decided to do a 1 for 1 swap. Back in Feb. I bought AKREX to take the place of GTLOX, another really good large cap growth fund. So now I hold the manager I've wanted for the last 10 years.

THEY want to focus on their core business. Well, okay; have at it, then. Better yet, just go away; as it seems lies and cheating are inside this business model. Hand slap fines don't cut it.
Oh, well. WFC won't ever have any of our money to play games with; nor anyone's, who asks my recommendation.
Article

Hi @BenWP
Being curious about these noted investments, I've placed a chart next. I also added a SP1500 reference. The time frame of the chart is limited by inception dates, I presume. Also, Stockcharts reportedly includes all distributions.
Chart, Nov. 2013 to date

@MikeM and @davidmoran: I did overstate the performance figures for MOAT vs. DSENX. I relied on the "chart" function on M* which has cumulative performance. 3 years +22.76% for DSENX and +41.98% for MOAT, but the 5-year difference is not huge. MOAT made a very wise modification to its methodology after a bad 2015 when the fund wound up with a slew of energy companies at the wrong time. They doubled the number of stocks and abandoned the quarterly rejiggering of the whole portfolio, producing fine results. All-in-all, it's an endorsement of the M*'s wide-moat strategy with which I'm happy. I have advocated previously for MOAT here, but my voice has been drowned out by waves of postings and complaints about their frequency. For a few years I owned BFOR and MOAT, but the latter has left the former in the dust. The so-called GAARP fund from Barron's has really disappointed.

Personally, I think transparency is overrated (how many people read their fund's quarterly disclosures, let alone check the holdings day by day?).
Nevertheless, I'm unclear on what your concern is. Currently, no funds, not even actively managed ETFs, disclose their holdings more than daily. Authorized participant (AP) trading is based on portfolio composition files and indicative values, not on knowing exactly what's in the fund. So even now, ISTM AP trades are based on imperfect indicative values.
As far as passively managed ETFs go, some don't even disclose their holdings except monthly (and even then, with a lag). Again, what APs are buying and selling is based on portfolio composition files (baskets) which do not match what is in the fund (especially for index funds that use sampling to track their benchmark index and may be using the baskets to tweak their holdings).
Maybe (actually I'm sure) I need to think this through some more. Still, I've always felt that transparency is not the big deal that ETF proponents make it out to be.
M*, The Most Over- and Undersold Benefits of ETFs
Related M* video: Are ETFs Overrated?

FYI: Akre Focus Fund (AKREX) takes buy-and-hold investing to heart, often holding the same small group of stocks for years at a time.
The $9.8 billion mutual fund, which was up more than 19% in the first quarter of this year, currently has 22 holdings that the fund managers believe compound shareholder capital at above-average rates of return. Investments are made based on four criteria, says John Neff, one of the fund’s portfolio managers.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-funds-long-time-frame-forever-11554688920
M* Snapshot AKREX:
https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/akrex/quote.html

FYI: In "The Active Dangers of Passive Investing," on a website serving financial advisors called Advisor Perspectives, guest columnist Vitaly Katsenelson writes:
"If you own the S&P 500 (or long-term bonds), you implicitly think one of several things is true: 1) Interest rates have a zero or insignificant probability of going up; 2) I'll be able to get out in time; or 3) I have a life-sized statue of John Bogle in my living room, and I have a very, very, very long time horizon."
Purchasing long-term investment assets requires trust. Doing so involves handing over a valuable possession--that is, money--with no guarantee that the sum will be returned in full (as expressed in real terms), except for certain inflation-protected securities. Investing is an act of faith.
However, as Katsenelson suggests, views differ. Your reason for owning long-term assets may not match mine.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.morningstar.com/articles/922789/whats-your-investment-faith.html

@BenWP, I don't follow MOAT but I've seen it mentioned (very little) here at MFO in the past. A quick glance in M* shows it to be a pretty nice fund. But, "clocked' DSENX? In 2018 maybe. But in any case, both strategies seem successful in comparison to the S&P 500 and large value or Large blend overall. What I do like about it is it is heaviest HC and Tech, both sectors I think are worth overweighting long term. Thanks for the tip.
DSENX
YTD 18.3
1Y 12.7
3Y 16.7
5Y 14.4
MOAT
YTD 15.9
1Y 16.2
3Y 17.8
5Y 11.9

FYI: An exchange-traded fund that doesn’t have to reveal its assets is poised to get the regulator’s blessing after a more than four-year wait.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to issue an order granting Precidian Funds permission for the new type of ETF, the watchdog said in a notice Monday. Market participants can still request a hearing through May 3, the regulator said; if granted, that could potentially delay or derail the final approval. The funds also need permission to start trading from another division of the SEC.
The decision is a huge win for stock pickers who have long pushed back against a requirement that funds publish their investing positions daily.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bloomberg.com//news/articles/2019-04-08/an-etf-that-hides-its-secret-sauce-is-poised-for-regulator-s-nod?srnd=markets-vp