Prospectus

February 28, 2024

 

DFA INVESTMENT DIMENSIONS GROUP INC. / DIMENSIONAL INVESTMENT GROUP INC.

INTERNATIONAL

         

Large Cap International Portfolio (DFALX)

DFA International Value Portfolio (DFIVX)

International Core Equity Portfolio (DFIEX)

Global Small Company Portfolio (DGLIX)

International Small Company Portfolio (DFISX)

Japanese Small Company Portfolio (DFJSX)

Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio (DFRSX)

United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio (DFUKX)

 

Continental Small Company Portfolio (DFCSX)

DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio (DFITX)

DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio (DFGEX)

DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio (DISVX)

International Vector Equity Portfolio (DFVQX)

International High Relative Profitability Portfolio (DIHRX)

World ex U.S. Value Portfolio (DFWVX)

World ex U.S. Core Equity Portfolio (DFWIX)

 

World Core Equity Portfolio (DREIX)

Selectively Hedged Global Equity Portfolio (DSHGX)

Emerging Markets Portfolio (DFEMX)

Emerging Markets Value Portfolio (DFEVX)

Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio (DEMGX)

Emerging Markets Small Cap Portfolio (DEMSX) 

Emerging Markets Core Equity Portfolio (DFCEX)

Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity Portfolio (DAADX)

 

This Prospectus describes the Institutional Class shares of each Portfolio which:
Are for long-term investors.
Are generally only available to institutional investors and clients of registered investment advisors.
Do not charge sales commissions or loads.

 

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.


 


 

Table of Contents

   

Large Cap International Portfolio

1

Investment Objective

1

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

1

Principal Investment Strategies

1

Principal Risks

2

Performance

3

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

4

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

4

Tax Information

5

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

5

DFA International Value Portfolio

6

Investment Objective

6

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

6

Principal Investment Strategies

7

Principal Risks

7

Performance

9

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

10

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

10

Tax Information

10

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

10

International Core Equity Portfolio

11

Investment Objective

11

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

11

Principal Investment Strategies

11

Principal Risks

12

Performance

14

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

14

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

15

Tax Information

15

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

15

Global Small Company Portfolio

16

Investment Objective

16

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

16

Principal Investment Strategies

17

Principal Risks

18

Performance

20

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

21

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

21

Tax Information

21


 

   

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

22

International Small Company Portfolio

23

Investment Objective

23

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

23

Principal Investment Strategies

23

Principal Risks

25

Performance

26

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

27

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

28

Tax Information

28

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

28

Japanese Small Company Portfolio

29

Investment Objective

29

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

29

Principal Investment Strategies

30

Principal Risks

30

Performance

32

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

33

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

33

Tax Information

33

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

33

Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio

34

Investment Objective

34

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

34

Principal Investment Strategies

35

Principal Risks

36

Performance

37

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

38

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

38

Tax Information

38

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

38

United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio

39

Investment Objective

39

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

39

Principal Investment Strategies

40

Principal Risks

40

Performance

42

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

43

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

43

Tax Information

43


 

   

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

43

Continental Small Company Portfolio

44

Investment Objective

44

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

44

Principal Investment Strategies

45

Principal Risks

46

Performance

47

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

48

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

48

Tax Information

48

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

48

DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio

49

Investment Objective

49

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

49

Principal Investment Strategies

49

Principal Risks

50

Performance

52

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

53

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

53

Tax Information

53

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

54

DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio

55

Investment Objective

55

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

55

Principal Investment Strategies

56

Principal Risks

57

Performance

58

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

59

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

60

Tax Information

60

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

60

DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio

61

Investment Objective

61

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

61

Principal Investment Strategies

61

Principal Risks

62

Performance

63

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

64

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

65

Tax Information

65


 

   

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

65

International Vector Equity Portfolio

66

Investment Objective

66

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

66

Principal Investment Strategies

66

Principal Risks

67

Performance

69

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

69

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

70

Tax Information

70

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

70

International High Relative Profitability Portfolio

71

Investment Objective

71

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

71

Principal Investment Strategies

71

Principal Risks

72

Performance

73

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

74

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

75

Tax Information

75

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

75

World ex U.S. Value Portfolio

76

Investment Objective

76

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

76

Principal Investment Strategies

77

Principal Risks

78

Performance

79

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

80

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

81

Tax Information

81

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

81

World ex U.S. Core Equity Portfolio

82

Investment Objective

82

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

82

Principal Investment Strategies

82

Principal Risks

83

Performance

85

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

86

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

87

Tax Information

87


 

   

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

87

World Core Equity Portfolio

88

Investment Objective

88

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

88

Principal Investment Strategies

89

Principal Risks

90

Performance

91

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

92

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

93

Tax Information

93

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

93

Selectively Hedged Global Equity Portfolio

94

Investment Objective

94

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

94

Principal Investment Strategies

95

Principal Risks

96

Performance

97

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

98

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

99

Tax Information

99

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

99

Emerging Markets Portfolio

100

Investment Objective

100

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

100

Principal Investment Strategies

101

Principal Risks

101

Performance

103

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

104

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

104

Tax Information

105

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

105

Emerging Markets Value Portfolio

106

Investment Objective

106

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

106

Principal Investment Strategies

107

Principal Risks

107

Performance

109

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

110

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

111

Tax Information

111


 

   

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

111

Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio

112

Investment Objective

112

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

112

Principal Investment Strategies

112

Principal Risks

113

Performance

115

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

116

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

117

Tax Information

117

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

117

Emerging Markets Small Cap Portfolio

118

Investment Objective

118

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

118

Principal Investment Strategies

119

Principal Risks

120

Performance

121

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

122

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

122

Tax Information

123

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

123

Emerging Markets Core Equity Portfolio

124

Investment Objective

124

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

124

Principal Investment Strategies

124

Principal Risks

125

Performance

127

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

128

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

128

Tax Information

128

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

128

Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity Portfolio

129

Investment Objective

129

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

129

Principal Investment Strategies

129

Principal Risks

130

Performance

132

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

133

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

133

Tax Information

133


 

   

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

133

Additional Information on Investment Objectives and Policies

134

Investment Terms Used in the Prospectus

134

Investments in Underlying Funds

134

Approved Markets

134

Developed Markets

135

Emerging Markets

137

Developed and Emerging Markets

137

Large Cap International Portfolio

139

DFA International Value Portfolio

140

International Core Equity Portfolio

141

Global Small Company Portfolio

142

International Small Company Portfolios

143

International Small Company Portfolio

143

Japanese Small Company Portfolio

144

Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio

145

United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio

146

Continental Small Company Portfolio

146

DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio

147

DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio

148

DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio

149

International Vector Equity Portfolio

149

International High Relative Profitability Portfolio

150

World ex U.S. Value Portfolio

151

World ex U.S. Core Equity Portfolio

152

World Core Equity Portfolio

153

Selectively Hedged Global Equity Portfolio

154

Emerging Markets Portfolio, Emerging Markets Value Portfolio, Emerging Markets Small Cap Portfolio, Emerging Markets Core Equity Portfolio, Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity Portfolio, and Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio

155

Investments in Underlying Funds

158

Market Capitalization Weighted Approach

160

Portfolio Construction-International Small Company Funds

161

Portfolio Transactions-All Portfolios

161

Additional Information Regarding Investment Risks

162

Other Information

168

Commodity Pool Operator Exemption

168

Fund of Funds Portfolio Turnover

168


 

   

Securities Loans

169

Securities Lending Revenue

169

Management of the Portfolios

170

Management Fees

172

Shareholder Services

175

Fee Waiver and Expense Assumption Agreements

175

Dividends, Capital Gains Distributions and Taxes

180

Purchase of Shares

184

Cash Purchases

184

In-Kind Purchases

185

Policy Regarding Excessive Short-Term Trading

185

Valuation of Shares

188

Net Asset Value

188

Public Offering Price

189

Exchange of Shares

190

Redemption of Shares

190

Redemption Procedure

190

Redemption of Small Accounts

191

In-Kind Redemptions

191

The Feeder Portfolios

192

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

192

Delivery of Shareholder Documents

193

Financial Highlights

193


Large Cap International Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Large Cap International Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) is to achieve long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold or sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.

     

 

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment): None

 

 

 

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

 

 

 

 

Management Fee

0.14%

Other Expenses

0.03%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

0.17%

 

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs whether you redeem or hold your shares would be:

       

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

$17

$55

$96

$217

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A fund generally pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 8% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

To achieve the Large Cap International Portfolio’s investment objective, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the “Advisor”) implements an integrated investment approach that combines research, portfolio design, portfolio management, and trading functions. As further described below, the Portfolio’s design emphasizes long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisor’s research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies and sectors. The Advisor’s portfolio management and trading processes further balance those long-term drivers of expected returns with shorter-term drivers of expected returns and trading costs.

The Large Cap International Portfolio is designed to purchase securities of large non-U.S. companies in countries or regions designated by the Advisor as an approved market for investment. The Advisor may consider a company’s size, relative price, and/or profitability relative to other eligible companies when making investment decisions for the

1

 

Portfolio. An equity issuer is considered to have a low relative price (i.e., a value stock) primarily because it has a low price in relation to its book value. In assessing relative price, the Advisor may consider additional factors such as price to cash flow or price to earnings ratios. An equity issuer is considered to have high profitability because it has high earnings or profits from operations in relation to its book value or assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing relative price and profitability are subject to change from time to time. The Advisor will seek to set country weights based on the relative adjusted market capitalizations of eligible large companies within each eligible country.

The Large Cap International Portfolio intends to purchase securities of large non-U.S. companies associated with developed market countries that the Advisor has designated as approved markets. As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Portfolio will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities of large cap companies in the particular markets in which the Portfolio invests. The Advisor determines the minimum market capitalization of a large company with respect to each country or region in which the Portfolio invests. Based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2023, for the Portfolio, the market capitalization of a large company in any country or region in which the Portfolio invests would be $1,457 million or above. This threshold will change due to market conditions.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the Large Cap International Portfolio’s exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum and short-run reversals. In addition, the Advisor seeks to reduce trading costs using a flexible trading approach that looks for opportunities to participate in the available market liquidity, while managing turnover and explicit transaction costs.

The Large Cap International Portfolio may gain exposure to companies in an approved market by purchasing equity securities in the form of depositary receipts, which may be listed or traded outside the issuer’s domicile country. The Portfolio also may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for foreign or U.S. equity securities and indices to increase or decrease equity market exposure based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Portfolio. Because many of the Portfolio’s investments may be denominated in foreign currencies, the Portfolio may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions, including foreign currency forward contracts, in connection with the settlement of foreign securities or to transfer cash balances from one currency to another currency.

The Large Cap International Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, there is the risk that you will lose money. An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The following is a description of principal risks of investing in the Portfolio.

Equity Market Risk: Even a long-term investment approach cannot guarantee a profit. Economic, market, political, and issuer-specific conditions and events will cause the value of equity securities, and a fund that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets are volatile, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

Foreign Securities and Currencies Risk: Foreign securities prices may decline or fluctuate because of: (a) economic or political actions of foreign governments, and/or (b) less regulated or liquid securities markets. Investors holding these securities may also be exposed to foreign currency risk (the possibility that foreign currency will fluctuate in value against the U.S. dollar or that a foreign government will convert, or be forced to convert, its currency to another currency, changing its value against the U.S. dollar). The Portfolio does not hedge foreign currency risk.

Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Depositary receipts that are not sponsored by the issuer may be less liquid and there may be less readily available public information about the issuer.

2


Profitability Investment Risk: High relative profitability stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies. Value stocks can react differently to political, economic, and industry developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Value stocks also may underperform the market for long periods of time.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures contracts, and options thereon, and foreign currency forward contracts, whose value is derived from that of other assets, rates or indices. The use of derivatives for non-hedging purposes may be considered to carry more risk than other types of investments. When a fund uses derivatives, the fund will be directly exposed to the risks of those derivatives. Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks including counterparty, settlement, liquidity, interest rate, market, credit and management risks, as well as the risk of improper valuation. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index, and a fund could lose more than the principal amount invested.

Securities Lending Risk: Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, a fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. A fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences.

Operational Risk: Operational risks include human error, changes in personnel, system changes, faults in communication, and failures in systems, technology, or processes. Various operational events or circumstances are outside a fund’s or its advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. A fund and its advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, measures that seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures may not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: A fund and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the fund to potential risks linked to cyber security breaches of those technological or information systems. Cyber security breaches, amongst other things, could allow an unauthorized party to gain access to proprietary information, customer data, or fund assets, or cause the fund and/or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality.

Performance

The bar chart and table immediately following illustrate the variability of the Portfolio’s returns and are meant to provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio’s performance from year to year. The table illustrates how annualized returns for certain periods, both before and after taxes, compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Portfolio’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future results. Updated performance information for the Portfolio can be obtained by visiting https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/funds.

The after-tax returns presented in the table for the Portfolio are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold shares of the Portfolio through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

3


 

Large Cap International PortfolioInstitutional Class Shares —Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2014:-5.24,2015:-2.86,2016:3.16,2017:25.37,2018:-14.14,2019:22.04,2020:8.12,2021:12.81,2022:-13.03,2023:17.87)

   

January 2014-December 2023

Highest Quarter

Lowest Quarter

17.27% 2020, Q2

-24.43% 2020, Q1

                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ended December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

Large Cap International Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

17.87%

 

8.82%

 

4.54%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

16.92%

 

8.11%

 

3.83%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

11.17%

 

6.92%

 

3.47%

 

MSCI World ex USA Index (net dividends)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

17.94%

 

8.45%

 

4.32%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Portfolio. Dimensional Fund Advisors Ltd. and DFA Australia Limited serve as the sub-advisors for the Portfolio. The following individuals are responsible for leading the day-to-day management of the Portfolio:

 Jed S. Fogdall, Global Head of Portfolio Management, Chairman of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2010.

 Arun C. Keswani, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2020.

 Joel P. Schneider, Deputy Head of Portfolio Management, North America, member of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2020.

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Portfolio on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is scheduled to be open for business by first contacting the Portfolio’s transfer agent at (888) 576-1167. Shareholders that invest in the Portfolio through a financial intermediary should contact their financial intermediary regarding

4


purchase and redemption procedures. The Portfolio generally is available for investment only by institutional clients, clients of registered investment advisors, clients of financial institutions and a limited number of certain other investors as approved from time to time by the Advisor. All investments are subject to approval of the Advisor.

Tax Information

The dividends and distributions you receive from the Portfolio are taxable and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the plan or account.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Portfolio through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Portfolio and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of the Portfolio shares and/or related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary to recommend the Portfolio over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

5


DFA International Value Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the DFA International Value Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) is to achieve long-term capital appreciation. The DFA International Value Portfolio is a Feeder Portfolio and pursues its objective by investing substantially all of its assets in its corresponding Master Fund, The DFA International Value Series (the “DFA International Value Series” or the “Series”) of The DFA Investment Trust Company (the “Trust”), which has the same investment objective and policies as the Portfolio.

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold or sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.

     

 

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment): None

 

 

 

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1

 

 

 

 

Management Fee

0.45%

Other Expenses

0.04%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

0.49%

Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement2

0.21%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

0.28%

 

   

1

The “Management Fee” includes an investment management fee payable by the Feeder Portfolio and an investment management fee payable by the Master Fund. For any period when the Feeder Portfolio is invested in other funds managed by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the “Advisor”) (collectively, “Underlying Funds”), the Advisor has contractually agreed to permanently waive the Feeder Portfolio’s direct investment management fee to the extent necessary to offset the proportionate share of any Underlying Fund’s investment management fee paid by the Feeder Portfolio through its investment in such Underlying Fund. The amounts set forth under “Other Expenses” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” reflect the direct expenses of the Feeder Portfolio and the indirect expenses of the Feeder Portfolio’s portion of the expenses of the Master Fund.

2

The Advisor has further agreed to waive certain fees and in certain instances, assume certain expenses of the Portfolio. This portion of the Fee Waiver and Expense Assumption Agreement for the Portfolio will remain in effect through February 28, 2025, and may only be terminated by the Fund's Board of Directors prior to that date (the “Temporary Fee Waiver”). The Advisor retains the right to seek reimbursement for any fees previously waived and/or expenses previously assumed up to thirty-six months after such fee waiver and/or expense assumption.

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example reflects the aggregate annual operating expenses of the Portfolio and its portion of the expenses of the Series. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. The costs for the Portfolio reflect the net expenses of the Portfolio that result from the Temporary Fee Waiver in the first year only. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs whether you redeem or hold your shares would be:

       

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

$29

$92

$162

$367

6


PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A fund generally pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Series' portfolio turnover rate was 13% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The DFA International Value Portfolio invests substantially all of its assets in the DFA International Value Series. To achieve the Portfolio’s and Series’ investment objectives, the Advisor implements an integrated investment approach that combines research, portfolio design, portfolio management, and trading functions. As further described below, the Series’ design emphasizes long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisor’s research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies and sectors. The Advisor’s portfolio management and trading processes further balance those long-term drivers of expected returns with shorter-term drivers of expected returns and trading costs.

The DFA International Value Series is designed to purchase securities of large non-U.S. companies in countries with developed markets that the Advisor determines to be value stocks. A company’s market capitalization is the number of its shares outstanding times its price per share. Under a market capitalization weighted approach, companies with higher market capitalizations generally represent a larger proportion of the Series than companies with relatively lower market capitalizations. The Advisor may overweight certain stocks, including smaller companies, lower relative price stocks, and/or higher profitability stocks within the large-cap value segment of developed ex U.S. markets. An equity issuer is considered to have a low relative price (i.e., a value stock) primarily because it has a low price in relation to its book value. In assessing relative price, the Advisor may consider additional factors such as price to cash flow or price to earnings ratios. An equity issuer is considered to have high profitability because it has high earnings or profits from operations in relation to its book value or assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing relative price and profitability are subject to change from time to time.

The DFA International Value Series intends to purchase securities of large companies associated with developed market countries that the Advisor has designated as approved markets. The Advisor determines the minimum market capitalization of a large company with respect to each country or region in which the Series invests. Based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2023, for the Series, the market capitalization of a large company in any country or region in which the Series invests would be $1,457 million or above. This threshold will change due to market conditions.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the DFA International Value Series’ exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum and short-run reversals. In addition, the Advisor seeks to reduce trading costs using a flexible trading approach that looks for opportunities to participate in the available market liquidity, while managing turnover and explicit transaction costs.

The DFA International Value Series may gain exposure to companies associated with approved markets by purchasing equity securities in the form of depositary receipts, which may be listed or traded outside the issuer’s domicile country. The Series and the DFA International Value Portfolio each may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for foreign or U.S. equity securities and indices to increase or decrease equity market exposure based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Series or Portfolio. Because many of the Series’ and Portfolio’s investments may be denominated in foreign currencies, the Series and the Portfolio may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions, including foreign currency forward contracts, in connection with the settlement of foreign securities or to transfer cash balances from one currency to another currency.

The DFA International Value Series may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, there is the risk that you will lose money. An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit

7


Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The following is a description of principal risks of investing in the Portfolio.

Equity Market Risk: Even a long-term investment approach cannot guarantee a profit. Economic, market, political, and issuer-specific conditions and events will cause the value of equity securities, and a fund that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets are volatile, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

Foreign Securities and Currencies Risk: Foreign securities prices may decline or fluctuate because of: (a) economic or political actions of foreign governments, and/or (b) less regulated or liquid securities markets. Investors holding these securities may also be exposed to foreign currency risk (the possibility that foreign currency will fluctuate in value against the U.S. dollar or that a foreign government will convert, or be forced to convert, its currency to another currency, changing its value against the U.S. dollar). The Series does not hedge foreign currency risk.

Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Depositary receipts that are not sponsored by the issuer may be less liquid and there may be less readily available public information about the issuer.

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies. Value stocks can react differently to political, economic, and industry developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Value stocks also may underperform the market for long periods of time.

Profitability Investment Risk: High relative profitability stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures contracts, and options thereon, and foreign currency forward contracts, whose value is derived from that of other assets, rates or indices. The use of derivatives for non-hedging purposes may be considered to carry more risk than other types of investments. When a fund uses derivatives, the fund will be directly exposed to the risks of those derivatives. Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks including counterparty, settlement, liquidity, interest rate, market, credit and management risks, as well as the risk of improper valuation. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index, and a fund could lose more than the principal amount invested.

Securities Lending Risk: Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, a fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. A fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences.

Operational Risk: Operational risks include human error, changes in personnel, system changes, faults in communication, and failures in systems, technology, or processes. Various operational events or circumstances are outside a fund’s or its advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. A fund and its advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, measures that seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures may not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: A fund and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the fund to potential risks linked to cyber security breaches of those technological or information systems. Cyber security breaches, amongst other things, could allow an unauthorized party to gain access to proprietary information, customer data, or fund assets, or cause the fund and/or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality.

8


Performance

The bar chart and table immediately following illustrate the variability of the Portfolio’s returns and are meant to provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio’s performance from year to year. The table illustrates how annualized returns for certain periods, both before and after taxes, compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The table also includes the performance of an additional index with a similar investment universe as the Portfolio. The Portfolio’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future results. Updated performance information for the Portfolio can be obtained by visiting https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/funds.

The after-tax returns presented in the table for the Portfolio are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold shares of the Portfolio through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

 

DFA International Value PortfolioInstitutional Class Shares —Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2014:-6.99,2015:-6.31,2016:8.41,2017:26.09,2018:-17.49,2019:15.67,2020:-2.14,2021:18.69,2022:-3.48,2023:17.79)

   

January 2014-December 2023

Highest Quarter

Lowest Quarter

22.20% 2020, Q4

-31.98% 2020, Q1

                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ended December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

DFA International Value Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

17.79%

 

8.84%

 

4.15%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

16.55%

 

7.86%

 

3.15%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

11.37%

 

6.85%

 

3.06%

 

MSCI World ex USA Value Index (net dividends)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

18.48%

 

7.48%

 

3.29%

 

MSCI World ex USA Index (net dividends)1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

17.94%

 

8.45%

 

4.32%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.

Effective February 28, 2024, the Portfolio incorporated this broad-based securities market index to reflect the overall applicable securities market of the Portfolio.

9


Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Portfolio and the Series. Dimensional Fund Advisors Ltd. and DFA Australia Limited serve as the sub-advisors for the Series. The following individuals are responsible for leading the day-to-day management of the Portfolio and the Series:

 Jed S. Fogdall, Global Head of Portfolio Management, Chairman of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2010.

 Arun C. Keswani, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2020.

 Joel P. Schneider, Deputy Head of Portfolio Management, North America, member of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2022.

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Portfolio on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is scheduled to be open for business by first contacting the Portfolio’s transfer agent at (888) 576-1167. Shareholders that invest in the Portfolio through a financial intermediary should contact their financial intermediary regarding purchase and redemption procedures. The Portfolio generally is available for investment only by institutional clients, clients of registered investment advisors, clients of financial institutions and a limited number of certain other investors as approved from time to time by the Advisor. All investments are subject to approval of the Advisor.

Tax Information

The dividends and distributions you receive from the Portfolio are taxable and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the plan or account.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Portfolio through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Portfolio and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of the Portfolio shares and/or related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary to recommend the Portfolio over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

10


International Core Equity Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the International Core Equity Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) is to achieve long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold or sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.

     

 

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment): None

 

 

 

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

 

 

 

 

Management Fee

0.20%

Other Expenses

0.03%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

0.23%

 

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs whether you redeem or hold your shares would be:

       

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

$24

$74

$130

$293

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A fund generally pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 9% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

To achieve the International Core Equity Portfolio’s investment objective, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the “Advisor”) implements an integrated investment approach that combines research, portfolio design, portfolio management, and trading functions. As further described below, the Portfolio’s design emphasizes long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisor’s research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies and sectors. The Advisor’s portfolio management and trading processes further balance those long-term drivers of expected returns with shorter-term drivers of expected returns and trading costs.

The International Core Equity Portfolio is designed to purchase a broad and diverse group of equity securities of non-U.S. companies in developed markets. The Portfolio invests in companies of all sizes, with increased exposure to smaller capitalization, lower relative price, and higher profitability companies as compared to their representation

11

 

in the International Universe. For purposes of this Portfolio, the Advisor defines the International Universe as a market capitalization weighted set (e.g., the larger the company, the greater the proportion of the International Universe it represents) of non-U.S. companies in developed markets that have been authorized as approved markets for investment by the Advisor’s Investment Committee. The Portfolio’s increased exposure to smaller capitalization, lower relative price, and higher profitability companies may be achieved by decreasing the allocation of the Portfolio’s assets to larger capitalization, higher relative price, or lower profitability companies relative to their weight in the International Universe. An equity issuer is considered to have a high relative price (i.e., a growth stock) primarily because it has a high price in relation to its book value. An equity issuer is considered to have a low relative price (i.e., a value stock) primarily because it has a low price in relation to its book value. In assessing relative price, the Advisor may consider additional factors such as price to cash flow or price to earnings ratios. An equity issuer is considered to have high profitability because it has high earnings or profits from operations in relation to its book value or assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing relative price and profitability are subject to change from time to time.

The International Core Equity Portfolio intends to purchase securities of companies associated with developed market countries that the Advisor has designated as approved markets. As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Portfolio will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities. The Advisor determines company size on a country or region specific basis and based primarily on market capitalization. The percentage allocation of the assets of the Portfolio to securities of the largest high relative price companies will generally be reduced from between 5% and 35% of their percentage weight in the International Universe. As of December 31, 2023, securities of the largest high relative price companies in the International Universe comprised approximately 16% of the International Universe and the Advisor allocated approximately 7% of the Portfolio to securities of the largest high relative price companies in the International Universe. The percentage by which the Portfolio’s allocation to securities of the largest high relative price companies is reduced will change due to market movements and other factors.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the International Core Equity Portfolio’s exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum, short-run reversals, and investment characteristics. In assessing a company’s investment characteristics, the Advisor considers ratios such as recent changes in assets divided by total assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing a company’s investment characteristics are subject to change from time to time. In addition, the Advisor seeks to reduce trading costs using a flexible trading approach that looks for opportunities to participate in the available market liquidity, while managing turnover and explicit transaction costs.

The International Core Equity Portfolio may gain exposure to companies associated with approved markets by purchasing equity securities in the form of depositary receipts, which may be listed or traded outside the issuer’s domicile country. The Portfolio also may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for foreign or U.S. equity securities and indices to increase or decrease equity market exposure based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Portfolio. Because many of the Portfolio’s investments may be denominated in foreign currencies, the Portfolio may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions, including foreign currency forward contracts, in connection with the settlement of foreign securities or to transfer cash balances from one currency to another currency.

The International Core Equity Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, there is the risk that you will lose money. An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The following is a description of principal risks of investing in the Portfolio.

Equity Market Risk: Even a long-term investment approach cannot guarantee a profit. Economic, market, political, and issuer-specific conditions and events will cause the value of equity securities, and a fund that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets are volatile, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

12


Foreign Securities and Currencies Risk: Foreign securities prices may decline or fluctuate because of: (a) economic or political actions of foreign governments, and/or (b) less regulated or liquid securities markets. Investors holding these securities may also be exposed to foreign currency risk (the possibility that foreign currency will fluctuate in value against the U.S. dollar or that a foreign government will convert, or be forced to convert, its currency to another currency, changing its value against the U.S. dollar). The Portfolio does not hedge foreign currency risk.

Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Depositary receipts that are not sponsored by the issuer may be less liquid and there may be less readily available public information about the issuer.

Small and Mid-Cap Company Risk: Securities of small and mid-cap companies are often less liquid than those of large companies and this could make it difficult to sell a small or mid-cap company security at a desired time or price. As a result, small and mid-cap company stocks may fluctuate relatively more in price. In general, small and mid-capitalization companies are also more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business or economic developments and they may have more limited resources.

Profitability Investment Risk: High relative profitability stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies. Value stocks can react differently to political, economic, and industry developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Value stocks also may underperform the market for long periods of time.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures contracts, and options thereon, and foreign currency forward contracts, whose value is derived from that of other assets, rates or indices. The use of derivatives for non-hedging purposes may be considered to carry more risk than other types of investments. When a fund uses derivatives, the fund will be directly exposed to the risks of those derivatives. Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks including counterparty, settlement, liquidity, interest rate, market, credit and management risks, as well as the risk of improper valuation. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index, and a fund could lose more than the principal amount invested.

Securities Lending Risk: Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, a fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. A fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences.

Operational Risk: Operational risks include human error, changes in personnel, system changes, faults in communication, and failures in systems, technology, or processes. Various operational events or circumstances are outside a fund’s or its advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. A fund and its advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, measures that seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures may not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: A fund and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the fund to potential risks linked to cyber security breaches of those technological or information systems. Cyber security breaches, amongst other things, could allow an unauthorized party to gain access to proprietary information, customer data, or fund assets, or cause the fund and/or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality.

13

 

Performance

The bar chart and table immediately following illustrate the variability of the Portfolio’s returns and are meant to provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio’s performance from year to year. The table illustrates how annualized returns for certain periods, both before and after taxes, compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Portfolio’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future results. Updated performance information for the Portfolio can be obtained by visiting https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/funds.

The after-tax returns presented in the table for the Portfolio are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold shares of the Portfolio through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

 

International Core Equity PortfolioInstitutional Class Shares —Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2014:-5.98,2015:-0.21,2016:5.34,2017:28.05,2018:-17.4,2019:21.68,2020:7.72,2021:13.87,2022:-13.48,2023:17.49)

   

January 2014-December 2023

Highest Quarter

Lowest Quarter

18.70% 2020, Q2

-27.64% 2020, Q1

                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ended December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

International Core Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

17.49%

 

8.69%

 

4.72%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

16.51%

 

7.99%

 

4.03%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

10.97%

 

6.82%

 

3.63%

 

MSCI World ex USA Index (net dividends)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

17.94%

 

8.45%

 

4.32%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Portfolio. Dimensional Fund Advisors Ltd. and DFA Australia Limited serve as the sub-advisors for the Portfolio. The following individuals are responsible for leading the day-to-day management of the Portfolio:

14


 Jed S. Fogdall, Global Head of Portfolio Management, Chairman of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2010.

 Allen Pu, Deputy Head of Portfolio Management, North America, member of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2015.

 Mary T. Phillips, Deputy Head of Portfolio Management, North America, member of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2017.

 William B. Collins-Dean, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2019.

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Portfolio on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is scheduled to be open for business by first contacting the Portfolio’s transfer agent at (888) 576-1167. Shareholders that invest in the Portfolio through a financial intermediary should contact their financial intermediary regarding purchase and redemption procedures. The Portfolio generally is available for investment only by institutional clients, clients of registered investment advisors, clients of financial institutions and a limited number of certain other investors as approved from time to time by the Advisor. All investments are subject to approval of the Advisor.

Tax Information

The dividends and distributions you receive from the Portfolio are taxable and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the plan or account.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Portfolio through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Portfolio and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of the Portfolio shares and/or related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary to recommend the Portfolio over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

15


Global Small Company Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Global Small Company Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) is to achieve long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold or sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.

     

 

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment): None

 

 

 

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

 

 

 

 

Management Fee

0.35%

Other Expenses

0.07%

Acquired Fund Fees & Expenses

0.22%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

0.64%

Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement1

0.22%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

0.42%

 

   

1

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the “Advisor”) has agreed to waive certain fees and in certain instances, assume certain expenses of the Portfolio. The Fee Waiver and/or Expense Assumption Agreement for the Portfolio will remain in effect through February 28, 2025, and may only be terminated by the Fund’s Board of Directors prior to that date. Under certain circumstances, the Advisor retains the right to seek reimbursement for any fees previously waived and/or expenses previously assumed up to thirty-six months after such fee waiver and/or expense assumption.

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. The costs for the Portfolio reflect the net expenses of the Portfolio that result from the contractual expense waiver in the first year only. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs whether you redeem or hold your shares would be:

       

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

$43

$183

$335

$777

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A fund generally pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. The Portfolio does not pay transaction costs when buying and selling shares of other funds managed by the Advisor (the “Underlying Funds”); however, the Underlying Funds pay transaction costs when buying and selling securities for their portfolio. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 18% based on the weighted average portfolio turnover ratios of each of the Portfolio's underlying investments.

16


Principal Investment Strategies

The Global Small Company Portfolio is a “fund of funds,” which means the Portfolio generally allocates its assets among other funds managed by the Advisor (the “Underlying Funds”), although it has the ability to invest directly in securities and derivatives. To achieve the Portfolio’s and the Underlying Funds’ investment objectives, the Advisor implements an integrated investment approach that combines research, portfolio design, portfolio management, and trading functions. As further described below, the Portfolio’s and the Underlying Funds’ designs emphasize long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisor’s research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies and sectors. The Advisor’s portfolio management and trading processes further balance those long-term drivers of expected returns with shorter-term drivers of expected returns and trading costs.

The Global Small Company Portfolio is designed to provide investors with access to securities portfolios consisting of a broad range of equity securities of primarily small companies in developed and emerging markets. The Portfolio pursues its investment objective by investing substantially all of its assets in the following Underlying Funds: The Asia Pacific Small Company Series, The Canadian Small Company Series, The Continental Small Company Series, The Emerging Markets Small Cap Series, The Japanese Small Company Series, The United Kingdom Small Company Series (each a series of The DFA Investment Trust Company), and U.S. Small Cap Portfolio (a series of DFA Investment Dimensions Group Inc.).

The Global Small Company Portfolio typically allocates its investments among the Underlying Funds in the following manner: 30% to 70% in the U.S. Small Cap Portfolio; 5% to 30% in The Continental Small Company Series; 5% to 25% in The Emerging Markets Small Cap Series; 0% to 20% in The Japanese Small Company Series; 0% to 20% in The United Kingdom Small Company Series; 0% to 15% in The Asia Pacific Company Series; and 0% to 10% in The Canadian Small Company Series. When deciding allocations to the Underlying Funds, the Portfolio takes into account, among other factors, the aggregate market capitalizations and adjustments for free float of the eligible universe of securities within each region. Periodically, the Advisor will review the allocations for the Portfolio in each Underlying Fund and may adjust allocations to the Underlying Funds or may add or remove Underlying Funds in the Portfolio without notice to shareholders. Certain Underlying Funds invest in small companies using a market capitalization weighted approach in each country or region designated by the Advisor as an approved market for investment. A company’s market capitalization is the number of its shares outstanding times its price per share. Under a market capitalization weighted approach, companies with higher market capitalizations generally represent a larger proportion of an Underlying Fund than companies with relatively lower market capitalizations. The Portfolio and Underlying Funds may emphasize certain stocks, including smaller capitalization companies, lower relative price stocks, and/or higher profitability stocks as compared to their representation in the countries and/or regions in which the Portfolio and/or Underlying Funds are authorized to invest. An equity issuer is considered to have a low relative price (i.e., a value stock) primarily because it has a low price in relation to its book value. In assessing relative price, the Advisor may consider additional factors such as price to cash flow or price to earnings ratios. An equity issuer is considered to have high profitability because it has high earnings or profits from operations in relation to its book value or assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing relative price and profitability are subject to change from time to time.

The Global Small Company Portfolio, directly or indirectly through its investment in the Underlying Funds, intends to invest its assets to gain exposure to at least three different countries, including the United States. The Advisor will generally seek to set country weights based on the relative market capitalizations of eligible companies within each approved market of the Underlying Funds. As of the date of the Prospectus, the Portfolio, directly or indirectly through its investment in the Underlying Funds, invests approximately 62% of its net assets in U.S. companies. This percentage will change due to market conditions.

As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Global Small Company Portfolio, directly or through its investments in the Underlying Funds, will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities of small companies. The Advisor determines the maximum market capitalization of a small company with respect to each country in which the Portfolio or Underlying Fund invests. In the countries or regions authorized for investment, the Advisor first ranks eligible companies listed on selected exchanges based on the companies’ market capitalizations. The Advisor then determines the universe of eligible stocks by defining the maximum market capitalization of a small company that may be purchased by the Portfolio or Underlying Fund with respect to each country or region. Based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2023, for the Portfolio, the market capitalization of a small company in any country in which the Portfolio or its Underlying Funds invests would be below $10,008 million. This threshold will vary by country or region. For example, based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2023, the Advisor

17

 

would consider a small company in Switzerland to have a market capitalization below $9,385 million, a small company in the United States to have a market capitalization below $9,960 million, a small company in Norway to have a market capitalization below $1,687 million, and a small company in Japan to have a market capitalization below $2,412 million. These thresholds will change due to market conditions.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the Global Small Company Portfolio’s and/or Underlying Funds’ exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum, short-run reversals, and investment characteristics. In assessing a company’s investment characteristics, the Advisor considers ratios such as recent changes in assets divided by total assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing a company’s investment characteristics are subject to change from time to time. In addition, the Advisor seeks to reduce trading costs using a flexible trading approach that looks for opportunities to participate in the available market liquidity, while managing turnover and explicit transaction costs.

The Global Small Company Portfolio and each Underlying Fund may invest in affiliated and unaffiliated registered and unregistered money market funds to manage its cash pending investment in other securities or to maintain liquidity for the payment of redemptions or other purposes. Investments in money market funds may involve a duplication of certain fees and expenses.

The Global Small Company Portfolio and each Underlying Fund may gain exposure to companies associated with approved markets by purchasing equity securities in the form of depositary receipts, which may be listed or traded outside the issuer’s domicile country. The Portfolio and each Underlying Fund may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for equity securities and indices of its approved markets or other equity market securities or indices, including those of the United States, to increase or decrease equity market exposure based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Portfolio or Underlying Fund. Because many of the Portfolio’s and certain Underlying Funds’ investments may be denominated in foreign currencies, the Portfolio and certain Underlying Funds may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions, including foreign currency forward contracts, in connection with the settlement of foreign securities or to transfer cash balances from one currency to another currency.

The Global Small Company Portfolio and Underlying Funds may lend their portfolio securities to generate additional income.

A summary of the investment strategies and policies of the Underlying Funds in which the Global Small Company Portfolio invests as of the date of this Prospectus is described in the Portfolio’s Prospectus in the section entitled “ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES”.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, there is the risk that you will lose money. An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The following is a description of principal risks of investing in the Portfolio.

Fund of Funds Risk: The investment performance of a fund of funds is affected by the investment performance of the underlying funds in which the fund of funds invests. The ability of a fund of funds to achieve its investment objective depends on the ability of the underlying funds to meet their investment objectives and on the Advisor’s decisions regarding the allocation of a fund of funds’ assets among the underlying funds. A fund of funds may allocate assets to an underlying fund or asset class that underperforms other funds or asset classes. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of a fund of funds or any underlying fund will be achieved. Through its investments in the underlying funds, a fund of funds is subject to the risks of the underlying funds’ investments. When a fund of funds invests in underlying funds, investors are exposed to a proportionate share of the expenses of those underlying funds in addition to the expenses of a fund of funds. Certain risks of the Underlying Funds’ investments that are principal risks of investing in the Portfolio are described below.

Equity Market Risk: Even a long-term investment approach cannot guarantee a profit. Economic, market, political, and issuer-specific conditions and events will cause the value of equity securities, and a fund that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets are volatile, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

18


Foreign Securities and Currencies Risk: Foreign securities prices may decline or fluctuate because of: (a) economic or political actions of foreign governments, and/or (b) less regulated or liquid securities markets. Investors holding these securities may also be exposed to foreign currency risk (the possibility that foreign currency will fluctuate in value against the U.S. dollar or that a foreign government will convert, or be forced to convert, its currency to another currency, changing its value against the U.S. dollar). The Underlying Funds do not hedge foreign currency risk.

Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Depositary receipts that are not sponsored by the issuer may be less liquid and there may be less readily available public information about the issuer.

Emerging Markets Risk: Numerous emerging market countries have a history of, and continue to experience serious, and potentially continuing, economic and political problems. Stock markets in many emerging market countries are relatively small, expensive to trade in and generally have higher risks than those in developed markets. Securities in emerging markets also may be less liquid than those in developed markets and foreigners are often limited in their ability to invest in, and withdraw assets from, these markets. Additional restrictions may be imposed under other conditions. Frontier market countries generally have smaller economies or less developed capital markets and, as a result, the risks of investing in emerging market countries are magnified in frontier market countries.

Small Company Risk: Securities of small companies are often less liquid than those of large companies and this could make it difficult to sell a small company security at a desired time or price. As a result, small company stocks may fluctuate relatively more in price. In general, smaller capitalization companies are also more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business or economic developments and they may have more limited resources.

Profitability Investment Risk: High relative profitability stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies. Value stocks can react differently to political, economic, and industry developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Value stocks also may underperform the market for long periods of time.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures contracts, and options thereon, and foreign currency forward contracts, whose value is derived from that of other assets, rates or indices. The use of derivatives for non-hedging purposes may be considered to carry more risk than other types of investments. When a fund uses derivatives, the fund will be directly exposed to the risks of those derivatives. Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks including counterparty, settlement, liquidity, interest rate, market, credit and management risks, as well as the risk of improper valuation. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index, and a fund could lose more than the principal amount invested.

Securities Lending Risk: Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, a fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. A fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences.

Operational Risk: Operational risks include human error, changes in personnel, system changes, faults in communication, and failures in systems, technology, or processes. Various operational events or circumstances are outside a fund’s or its advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. A fund and its advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, measures that seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures may not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

19

 

Cyber Security Risk: A fund and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the fund to potential risks linked to cyber security breaches of those technological or information systems. Cyber security breaches, amongst other things, could allow an unauthorized party to gain access to proprietary information, customer data, or fund assets, or cause the fund and/or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality.

Performance

The bar chart and table immediately following illustrate the variability of the Portfolio’s returns and are meant to provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio’s performance from year to year. The table illustrates how annualized returns for certain periods, both before and after taxes, compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The table also includes the performance of an additional index with a similar investment universe as the Portfolio. The Portfolio’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future results. Updated performance information for the Portfolio can be obtained by visiting https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/funds.

The after-tax returns presented in the table for the Portfolio are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold shares of the Portfolio through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

 

Global Small Company PortfolioInstitutional Class Shares —Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2018:-15.96,2019:21.75,2020:11.01,2021:23.16,2022:-14.6,2023:16.64)

   

January 2018-December 2023

Highest Quarter

Lowest Quarter

24.12% 2020, Q4

-31.85% 2020, Q1

20


                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ended December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since

 

 

 

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

Inception

 

Global Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

16.64%

 

10.64%

 

7.58%

1

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

15.95%

 

10.12%

 

7.09%

1

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

10.36%

 

8.44%

 

5.98%

1

MSCI All Country World Small Cap Index (net dividends)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

16.84%

 

9.85%

 

7.61%

1

MSCI All Country World IMI Index (net dividends)2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

21.58%

 

11.49%

 

9.50%

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.

Since inception January 18, 2017.

2.

Effective February 28, 2024, the Portfolio incorporated this broad-based securities market index to reflect the overall applicable securities market of the Portfolio.

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Portfolio. Dimensional Fund Advisors Ltd. and DFA Australia Limited serve as the sub-advisors for the Portfolio. The following individuals are responsible for leading the day-to-day management of the Portfolio:

 Jed S. Fogdall, Global Head of Portfolio Management, Chairman of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since inception (2017).

 Allen Pu, Deputy Head of Portfolio Management, North America, member of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since inception (2017).

 Ashish P. Bhagwanjee, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2022.

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Portfolio on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is scheduled to be open for business by first contacting the Portfolio’s transfer agent at (888) 576-1167. Shareholders that invest in the Portfolio through a financial intermediary should contact their financial intermediary regarding purchase and redemption procedures. The Portfolio generally is available for investment only by institutional clients, clients of registered investment advisors, clients of financial institutions and a limited number of certain other investors as approved from time to time by the Advisor. All investments are subject to approval of the Advisor.

Tax Information

The dividends and distributions you receive from the Portfolio are taxable and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the plan or account.

21


Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Portfolio through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Portfolio and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of the Portfolio shares and/or related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary to recommend the Portfolio over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

22


International Small Company Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the International Small Company Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) is to achieve long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold or sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.

     

 

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment): None

 

 

 

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

 

 

 

 

Management Fee

0.25%

Other Expenses

0.02%

Acquired Fund Fees & Expenses

0.12%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

0.39%

 

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs whether you redeem or hold your shares would be:

       

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

$40

$125

$219

$493

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A fund generally pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. The Portfolio does not pay transaction costs when buying and selling shares of other funds managed by the Advisor (the “Underlying Funds”); however, the Underlying Funds pay transaction costs when buying and selling securities for their portfolio. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 12% based on the weighted average portfolio turnover ratios of each of the Portfolio's underlying investments.

Principal Investment Strategies

The International Small Company Portfolio is a “fund of funds,” which means the Portfolio generally allocates its assets among other funds managed by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the “Advisor”) (the “Underlying Funds”), although it has the ability to invest directly in securities and derivatives.

To achieve the International Small Company Portfolio’s and the Underlying Funds’ investment objectives, the Advisor implements an integrated investment approach that combines research, portfolio design, portfolio

23

 

management, and trading functions. As further described below, the Portfolio’s and the Underlying Funds’ designs emphasize long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisor’s research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies and sectors. The Advisor’s portfolio management and trading processes further balance those long-term drivers of expected returns with shorter-term drivers of expected returns and trading costs.

The International Small Company Portfolio is designed to provide investors with access to securities portfolios consisting of a broad range of equity securities of primarily small Canadian, Japanese, United Kingdom, Continental European and Asia Pacific companies. The Portfolio also may have some exposure to small capitalization equity securities associated with other countries or regions. The Portfolio pursues its investment objective by investing substantially all of its assets in the following Underlying Funds: The Canadian Small Company Series, The Japanese Small Company Series, The Asia Pacific Small Company Series, The United Kingdom Small Company Series and The Continental Small Company Series of The DFA Investment Trust Company. Periodically, the Advisor will review the allocations for the Portfolio in each Underlying Fund and may adjust allocations to the Underlying Funds or may add or remove Underlying Funds in the Portfolio without notice to shareholders. Each Underlying Fund invests in small companies using a market capitalization weighted approach in each country or region designated by the Advisor as an approved market for investment. A company’s market capitalization is the number of its shares outstanding times its price per share. Under a market capitalization weighted approach, companies with higher market capitalizations generally represent a larger proportion of an Underlying Fund than companies with relatively lower market capitalizations. The Portfolio and Underlying Funds may emphasize certain stocks, including smaller capitalization companies, lower relative price stocks, and/or higher profitability stocks as compared to their representation in the countries and/or regions in which the Portfolio and/or Underlying Funds are authorized to invest. An equity issuer is considered to have a low relative price (i.e., a value stock) primarily because it has a low price in relation to its book value. In assessing relative price, the Advisor may consider additional factors such as price to cash flow or price to earnings ratios. An equity issuer is considered to have high profitability because it has high earnings or profits from operations in relation to its book value or assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing relative price and profitability are subject to change from time to time. As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the International Small Company Portfolio, through its investments in the Underlying Funds, will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities of small companies.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the International Small Company Portfolio’s and/or Underlying Funds’ exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum, short-run reversals, and investment characteristics. In assessing a company’s investment characteristics, the Advisor considers ratios such as recent changes in assets divided by total assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing a company’s investment characteristics are subject to change from time to time. In addition, the Advisor seeks to reduce trading costs using a flexible trading approach that looks for opportunities to participate in the available market liquidity, while managing turnover and explicit transaction costs.

The International Small Company Portfolio and each Underlying Fund may invest in affiliated and unaffiliated registered and unregistered money market funds to manage its cash pending investment in other securities or to maintain liquidity for the payment of redemptions or other purposes. Investments in money market funds may involve a duplication of certain fees and expenses.

Each Underlying Fund may gain exposure to companies associated with approved markets by purchasing equity securities in the form of depositary receipts, which may be listed or traded outside the issuer’s domicile country. The International Small Company Portfolio and each Underlying Fund may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for equity securities and indices of its approved markets or other equity market securities or indices, including those of the United States, to increase or decrease equity market exposure based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Portfolio or Underlying Fund. Because many of the Portfolio’s and the Underlying Funds’ investments may be denominated in foreign currencies, the Portfolio and each Underlying Fund may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions, including foreign currency forward contracts, in connection with the settlement of foreign securities or to transfer cash balances from one currency to another currency.

The International Small Company Portfolio and the Underlying Funds may lend their portfolio securities to generate additional income.

24


A summary of the investment strategies and policies of the Underlying Funds in which the International Small Company Portfolio invests as of the date of this Prospectus is described in the Portfolio’s Prospectus in the section entitled “ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES”.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, there is the risk that you will lose money. An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The following is a description of principal risks of investing in the Portfolio.

Fund of Funds Risk: The investment performance of a fund of funds is affected by the investment performance of the underlying funds in which the fund of funds invests. The ability of a fund of funds to achieve its investment objective depends on the ability of the underlying funds to meet their investment objectives and on the Advisor’s decisions regarding the allocation of a fund of funds’ assets among the underlying funds. A fund of funds may allocate assets to an underlying fund or asset class that underperforms other funds or asset classes. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of a fund of funds or any underlying fund will be achieved. Through its investments in the underlying funds, a fund of funds is subject to the risks of the underlying funds’ investments. When a fund of funds invests in underlying funds, investors are exposed to a proportionate share of the expenses of those underlying funds in addition to the expenses of a fund of funds. Certain risks of the Underlying Funds’ investments that are principal risks of investing in the Portfolio are described below.

Equity Market Risk: Even a long-term investment approach cannot guarantee a profit. Economic, market, political, and issuer-specific conditions and events will cause the value of equity securities, and a fund that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets are volatile, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

Foreign Securities and Currencies Risk: Foreign securities prices may decline or fluctuate because of: (a) economic or political actions of foreign governments, and/or (b) less regulated or liquid securities markets. Investors holding these securities may also be exposed to foreign currency risk (the possibility that foreign currency will fluctuate in value against the U.S. dollar or that a foreign government will convert, or be forced to convert, its currency to another currency, changing its value against the U.S. dollar). The Underlying Funds do not hedge foreign currency risk.

Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Depositary receipts that are not sponsored by the issuer may be less liquid and there may be less readily available public information about the issuer.

Small Company Risk: Securities of small companies are often less liquid than those of large companies and this could make it difficult to sell a small company security at a desired time or price. As a result, small company stocks may fluctuate relatively more in price. In general, smaller capitalization companies are also more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business or economic developments and they may have more limited resources.

Profitability Investment Risk: High relative profitability stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies. Value stocks can react differently to political, economic, and industry developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Value stocks also may underperform the market for long periods of time.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures contracts, and options thereon, and foreign currency forward contracts, whose value is derived from that of other assets, rates or indices. The use of derivatives for non-hedging purposes may be considered to carry more risk than other types of investments. When a fund uses

25

 

derivatives, the fund will be directly exposed to the risks of those derivatives. Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks including counterparty, settlement, liquidity, interest rate, market, credit and management risks, as well as the risk of improper valuation. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index, and a fund could lose more than the principal amount invested.

Securities Lending Risk: Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, a fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. A fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences.

Operational Risk: Operational risks include human error, changes in personnel, system changes, faults in communication, and failures in systems, technology, or processes. Various operational events or circumstances are outside a fund’s or its advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. A fund and its advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, measures that seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures may not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: A fund and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the fund to potential risks linked to cyber security breaches of those technological or information systems. Cyber security breaches, amongst other things, could allow an unauthorized party to gain access to proprietary information, customer data, or fund assets, or cause the fund and/or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality.

Performance

The bar chart and table immediately following illustrate the variability of the Portfolio’s returns and are meant to provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio’s performance from year to year. The table illustrates how annualized returns for certain periods, both before and after taxes, compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The table also includes the performance of an additional index with a similar investment universe as the Portfolio. The Portfolio’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future results. Updated performance information for the Portfolio can be obtained by visiting https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/funds.

The after-tax returns presented in the table for the Portfolio are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold shares of the Portfolio through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

26


 

International Small Company PortfolioInstitutional Class Shares —Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2014:-6.3,2015:5.91,2016:5.8,2017:30.24,2018:-19.42,2019:24.2,2020:9.26,2021:14.24,2022:-17.12,2023:14.43)

   

January 2014-December 2023

Highest Quarter

Lowest Quarter

21.00% 2020, Q2

-30.21% 2020, Q1

                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ended December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

International Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

14.43%

 

8.02%

 

4.94%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

13.63%

 

7.09%

 

3.75%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

9.14%

 

6.29%

 

3.70%

 

MSCI World ex USA Small Cap Index (net dividends)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

12.62%

 

7.05%

 

4.63%

 

MSCI World ex USA Index (net dividends)1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

17.94%

 

8.45%

 

4.32%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.

Effective February 28, 2024, the Portfolio incorporated this broad-based securities market index to reflect the overall applicable securities market of the Portfolio.

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Portfolio. The following individuals are responsible for leading the day-to-day management of the Portfolio:

 Jed S. Fogdall, Global Head of Portfolio Management, Chairman of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2010.

 Arun C. Keswani, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2015.

 Joel P. Schneider, Deputy Head of Portfolio Management, North America, member of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2020.

27


Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Portfolio on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is scheduled to be open for business by first contacting the Portfolio’s transfer agent at (888) 576-1167. Shareholders that invest in the Portfolio through a financial intermediary should contact their financial intermediary regarding purchase and redemption procedures. The Portfolio generally is available for investment only by institutional clients, clients of registered investment advisors, clients of financial institutions and a limited number of certain other investors as approved from time to time by the Advisor. All investments are subject to approval of the Advisor.

Tax Information

The dividends and distributions you receive from the Portfolio are taxable and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the plan or account.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Portfolio through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Portfolio and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of the Portfolio shares and/or related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary to recommend the Portfolio over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

28


Japanese Small Company Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Japanese Small Company Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) is to achieve long-term capital appreciation. The Japanese Small Company Portfolio is a Feeder Portfolio and pursues its objective by investing substantially all of its assets in its corresponding Master Fund, The Japanese Small Company Series (the “Japanese Small Company Series” or the “Series”) of The DFA Investment Trust Company (the “Trust”), which has the same investment objective and policies as the Portfolio.

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold or sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.

     

 

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment): None

 

 

 

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1

 

 

 

 

Management Fee

0.45%

Other Expenses

0.05%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

0.50%

Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

0.10%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

0.40%

 

   

1

The “Management Fee” includes an investment management fee payable by the Feeder Portfolio and an investment management fee payable by the Master Fund. For any period when the Feeder Portfolio is invested in other funds managed by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the “Advisor”) (collectively, “Underlying Funds”), the Advisor has contractually agreed to permanently waive the Feeder Portfolio’s direct investment management fee to the extent necessary to offset the proportionate share of any Underlying Fund’s investment management fee paid by the Feeder Portfolio through its investment in such Underlying Fund. The amounts set forth under “Other Expenses” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” reflect the direct expenses of the Feeder Portfolio and the indirect expenses of the Feeder Portfolio’s portion of the expenses of the Master Fund.

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example reflects the aggregate annual operating expenses of the Portfolio and its portion of the expenses of the Series. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs whether you redeem or hold your shares would be:

       

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

$41

$128

$224

$505

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A fund generally pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in

29

 

the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Series' portfolio turnover rate was 9% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Japanese Small Company Portfolio is a feeder portfolio that invests substantially all of its assets in the Japanese Small Company Series. To achieve the Portfolio’s and the Series’ investment objectives, the Advisor implements an integrated investment approach that combines research, portfolio design, portfolio management, and trading functions. As further described below, the Series’ design emphasizes long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisor’s research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies and sectors. The Advisor’s portfolio management and trading processes further balance those long-term drivers of expected returns with shorter-term drivers of expected returns and trading costs.

The Japanese Small Company Series, using a market capitalization weighted approach, is designed to purchase a broad and diverse group of readily marketable securities of small companies associated with Japan. A company’s market capitalization is the number of its shares outstanding times its price per share. Under a market capitalization weighted approach, companies with higher market capitalizations generally represent a larger proportion of the Series than companies with relatively lower market capitalizations. The Series may emphasize certain stocks, including smaller capitalization companies, lower relative price stocks, and/or higher profitability stocks as compared to their representation in the small company segment of the Japanese market. An equity issuer is considered to have a low relative price (i.e., a value stock) primarily because it has a low price in relation to its book value. In assessing relative price, the Advisor may consider additional factors such as price to cash flow or price to earnings ratios. An equity issuer is considered to have high profitability because it has high earnings or profits from operations in relation to its book value or assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing relative price and profitability are subject to change from time to time.

As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Japanese Small Company Series will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities of Japanese small companies. The Advisor first ranks eligible companies by market capitalization. The Advisor then determines the universe of eligible securities by defining the maximum market capitalization of a small company in Japan. Based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2023, the Advisor would consider Japanese small companies to be those companies with a market capitalization below $2,412 million. This threshold will change due to market conditions.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the Japanese Small Company Series’ exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum, short-run reversals, and investment characteristics. In assessing a company’s investment characteristics, the Advisor considers ratios such as recent changes in assets divided by total assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing a company’s investment characteristics are subject to change from time to time. In addition, the Advisor seeks to reduce trading costs using a flexible trading approach that looks for opportunities to participate in the available market liquidity, while managing turnover and explicit transaction costs.

The Japanese Small Company Series may gain exposure to companies associated with Japan by purchasing equity securities in the form of depositary receipts, which may be listed or traded outside the issuer’s domicile country. The Series and the Japanese Small Company Portfolio each may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for Japanese equity securities and indices or other equity market securities and indices, including those of the United States, to increase or decrease equity market exposure based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Series or Portfolio. Because many of the Series’ and the Portfolio’s investments may be denominated in foreign currencies, the Series and the Portfolio may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions, including foreign currency forward contracts, in connection with the settlement of foreign securities or to transfer cash balances from one currency to another currency.

The Japanese Small Company Series may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, there is the risk that you will lose money. An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit

30


Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The following is a description of principal risks of investing in the Portfolio.

Equity Market Risk: Even a long-term investment approach cannot guarantee a profit. Economic, market, political, and issuer-specific conditions and events will cause the value of equity securities, and a fund that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets are volatile, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

Foreign Securities and Currencies Risk: Foreign securities prices may decline or fluctuate because of: (a) economic or political actions of foreign governments, and/or (b) less regulated or liquid securities markets. Investors holding these securities may also be exposed to foreign currency risk (the possibility that foreign currency will fluctuate in value against the U.S. dollar or that a foreign government will convert, or be forced to convert, its currency to another currency, changing its value against the U.S. dollar). The Series does not hedge foreign currency risk.

Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Depositary receipts that are not sponsored by the issuer may be less liquid and there may be less readily available public information about the issuer.

Japan Market Risk: The performance of a fund that concentrates investments in Japan is expected to be closely tied to the social, political and economic conditions within Japan and to be more volatile than the performance of funds with more geographically diverse investments.

Small Company Risk: Securities of small companies are often less liquid than those of large companies and this could make it difficult to sell a small company security at a desired time or price. As a result, small company stocks may fluctuate relatively more in price. In general, smaller capitalization companies are also more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business or economic developments and they may have more limited resources.

Profitability Investment Risk: High relative profitability stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies. Value stocks can react differently to political, economic, and industry developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Value stocks also may underperform the market for long periods of time.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures contracts, and options thereon, and foreign currency forward contracts, whose value is derived from that of other assets, rates or indices. The use of derivatives for non-hedging purposes may be considered to carry more risk than other types of investments. When a fund uses derivatives, the fund will be directly exposed to the risks of those derivatives. Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks including counterparty, settlement, liquidity, interest rate, market, credit and management risks, as well as the risk of improper valuation. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index, and a fund could lose more than the principal amount invested.

Securities Lending Risk: Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, a fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. A fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences.

Operational Risk: Operational risks include human error, changes in personnel, system changes, faults in communication, and failures in systems, technology, or processes. Various operational events or circumstances are outside a fund’s or its advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. A fund and its advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, measures that seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures may not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

31

 

Cyber Security Risk: A fund and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the fund to potential risks linked to cyber security breaches of those technological or information systems. Cyber security breaches, amongst other things, could allow an unauthorized party to gain access to proprietary information, customer data, or fund assets, or cause the fund and/or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality.

Performance

The bar chart and table immediately following illustrate the variability of the Portfolio’s returns and are meant to provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio’s performance from year to year. The table illustrates how annualized returns for certain periods, both before and after taxes, compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The table also includes the performance of an additional index with a similar investment universe as the Portfolio. The Portfolio’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future results. Updated performance information for the Portfolio can be obtained by visiting https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/funds.

The after-tax returns presented in the table for the Portfolio are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold shares of the Portfolio through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

 

Japanese Small Company PortfolioInstitutional Class Shares —Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2014:-0.93,2015:13.99,2016:9.16,2017:35.68,2018:-19.51,2019:18.23,2020:3.78,2021:-0.47,2022:-11.36,2023:16.95)

   

January 2014-December 2023

Highest Quarter

Lowest Quarter

13.25% 2022, Q4

-20.45% 2020, Q1

32


                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ended December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

Japanese Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

16.95%

 

4.83%

 

5.48%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

14.99%

 

3.77%

 

4.60%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

10.98%

 

3.75%

 

4.33%

 

MSCI Japan Small Cap Index (net dividends)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

13.33%

 

4.35%

 

5.35%

 

MSCI Japan Index (net dividends)1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

20.32%

 

6.91%

 

4.97%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.

Effective February 28, 2024, the Portfolio incorporated this broad-based securities market index to reflect the overall applicable securities market of the Portfolio.

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Portfolio and the Series. DFA Australia Limited serves as the sub-advisor for the Series. The following individuals are responsible for leading the day-to-day management of the Portfolio and the Series:

 Jed S. Fogdall, Global Head of Portfolio Management, Chairman of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2010.

 Arun C. Keswani, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2015.

 Joel P. Schneider, Deputy Head of Portfolio Management, North America, member of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2020.

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Portfolio on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is scheduled to be open for business by first contacting the Portfolio’s transfer agent at (888) 576-1167. Shareholders that invest in the Portfolio through a financial intermediary should contact their financial intermediary regarding purchase and redemption procedures. The Portfolio generally is available for investment only by institutional clients, clients of registered investment advisors, clients of financial institutions and a limited number of certain other investors as approved from time to time by the Advisor. All investments are subject to approval of the Advisor.

Tax Information

The dividends and distributions you receive from the Portfolio are taxable and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the plan or account.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Portfolio through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Portfolio and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of the Portfolio shares and/or related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary to recommend the Portfolio over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

33


Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) is to achieve long-term capital appreciation. The Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio is a Feeder Portfolio and pursues its objective by investing substantially all of its assets in its corresponding Master Fund, The Asia Pacific Small Company Series (the “Asia Pacific Small Company Series” or the “Series”) of The DFA Investment Trust Company (the “Trust”), which has the same investment objective and policies as the Portfolio.

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold or sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.

     

 

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment): None

 

 

 

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1

 

 

 

 

Management Fee

0.45%

Other Expenses

0.05%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

0.50%

Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

0.10%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

0.40%

 

   

1

The “Management Fee” includes an investment management fee payable by the Feeder Portfolio and an investment management fee payable by the Master Fund. For any period when the Feeder Portfolio is invested in other funds managed by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the “Advisor”) (collectively, “Underlying Funds”), the Advisor has contractually agreed to permanently waive the Feeder Portfolio’s direct investment management fee to the extent necessary to offset the proportionate share of any Underlying Fund’s investment management fee paid by the Feeder Portfolio through its investment in such Underlying Fund. The amounts set forth under “Other Expenses” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” reflect the direct expenses of the Feeder Portfolio and the indirect expenses of the Feeder Portfolio’s portion of the expenses of the Master Fund.

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example reflects the aggregate annual operating expenses of the Portfolio and its portion of the expenses of the Series. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs whether you redeem or hold your shares would be:

       

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

$41

$128

$224

$505

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A fund generally pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in

34


the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Series' portfolio turnover rate was 17% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio is a feeder portfolio that invests substantially all of its assets in the Asia Pacific Small Company Series. To achieve the Portfolio’s and the Series’ investment objectives, the Advisor implements an integrated investment approach that combines research, portfolio design, portfolio management, and trading functions. As further described below, the Series’ design emphasizes long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisor’s research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies and sectors. The Advisor’s portfolio management and trading processes further balance those long-term drivers of expected returns with shorter-term drivers of expected returns and trading costs.

The Asia Pacific Small Company Series, using a market capitalization weighted approach, is designed to purchase a broad and diverse group of readily marketable securities of small companies associated with Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Rim Asian countries designated by the Advisor as approved markets for investment. A company’s market capitalization is the number of its shares outstanding times its price per share. Under a market capitalization weighted approach, companies with higher market capitalizations generally represent a larger proportion of the Series than companies with relatively lower market capitalizations. The Series may emphasize certain stocks, including smaller capitalization companies, lower relative price stocks, and/or higher profitability stocks as compared to their representation in the small company segment of the region in which the Series is authorized to invest. An equity issuer is considered to have a low relative price (i.e., a value stock) primarily because it has a low price in relation to its book value. In assessing relative price, the Advisor may consider additional factors such as price to cash flow or price to earnings ratios. An equity issuer is considered to have high profitability because it has high earnings or profits from operations in relation to its book value or assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing relative price and profitability are subject to change from time to time.

As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Asia Pacific Small Company Series will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities of small companies located in Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Rim Asian countries. The Advisor determines the maximum market capitalization of a small company with respect to each country in which the Series invests. Based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2023, for the Series, the market capitalization of a small company in any country in which the Series invests would be below $4,773 million. This threshold will change due to market conditions.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the Asia Pacific Small Company Series’ exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum, short-run reversals, and investment characteristics. In assessing a company’s investment characteristics, the Advisor considers ratios such as recent changes in assets divided by total assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing a company’s investment characteristics are subject to change from time to time. In addition, the Advisor seeks to reduce trading costs using a flexible trading approach that looks for opportunities to participate in the available market liquidity, while managing turnover and explicit transaction costs.

The Asia Pacific Small Company Series may gain exposure to companies associated with approved markets by purchasing equity securities in the form of depositary receipts, which may be listed or traded outside the issuer’s domicile country. The Series and the Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio each may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for Asia Pacific equity securities and indices or other equity market securities and indices, including those of the United States, to increase or decrease equity market exposure based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Series or Portfolio. Because many of the Series’ and the Portfolio’s investments may be denominated in foreign currencies, the Series and the Portfolio may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions, including foreign currency forward contracts, in connection with the settlement of foreign securities or to transfer cash balances from one currency to another currency.

The Asia Pacific Small Company Series may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

35

 

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, there is the risk that you will lose money. An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The following is a description of principal risks of investing in the Portfolio.

Equity Market Risk: Even a long-term investment approach cannot guarantee a profit. Economic, market, political, and issuer-specific conditions and events will cause the value of equity securities, and a fund that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets are volatile, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

Foreign Securities and Currencies Risk: Foreign securities prices may decline or fluctuate because of: (a) economic or political actions of foreign governments, and/or (b) less regulated or liquid securities markets. Investors holding these securities may also be exposed to foreign currency risk (the possibility that foreign currency will fluctuate in value against the U.S. dollar or that a foreign government will convert, or be forced to convert, its currency to another currency, changing its value against the U.S. dollar). The Series does not hedge foreign currency risk.

Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Depositary receipts that are not sponsored by the issuer may be less liquid and there may be less readily available public information about the issuer.

Asia Pacific Market Risk: The performance of a fund that concentrates investments in Asia Pacific countries is expected to be closely tied to the social, political and economic conditions within such Asia Pacific countries and to be more volatile than the performance of funds with more geographically diverse investments.

Small Company Risk: Securities of small companies are often less liquid than those of large companies and this could make it difficult to sell a small company security at a desired time or price. As a result, small company stocks may fluctuate relatively more in price. In general, smaller capitalization companies are also more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business or economic developments and they may have more limited resources.

Profitability Investment Risk: High relative profitability stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies. Value stocks can react differently to political, economic, and industry developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Value stocks also may underperform the market for long periods of time.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures contracts, and options thereon, and foreign currency forward contracts, whose value is derived from that of other assets, rates or indices. The use of derivatives for non-hedging purposes may be considered to carry more risk than other types of investments. When a fund uses derivatives, the fund will be directly exposed to the risks of those derivatives. Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks including counterparty, settlement, liquidity, interest rate, market, credit and management risks, as well as the risk of improper valuation. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index, and a fund could lose more than the principal amount invested.

Securities Lending Risk: Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, a fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. A fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences.

36


Operational Risk: Operational risks include human error, changes in personnel, system changes, faults in communication, and failures in systems, technology, or processes. Various operational events or circumstances are outside a fund’s or its advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. A fund and its advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, measures that seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures may not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: A fund and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the fund to potential risks linked to cyber security breaches of those technological or information systems. Cyber security breaches, amongst other things, could allow an unauthorized party to gain access to proprietary information, customer data, or fund assets, or cause the fund and/or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality.

Performance

The bar chart and table immediately following illustrate the variability of the Portfolio’s returns and are meant to provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio’s performance from year to year. The table illustrates how annualized returns for certain periods, both before and after taxes, compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The table also includes the performance of an additional index with a similar investment universe as the Portfolio. The Portfolio’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future results. Updated performance information for the Portfolio can be obtained by visiting https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/funds.

The after-tax returns presented in the table for the Portfolio are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold shares of the Portfolio through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

 

Asia Pacific Small Company PortfolioInstitutional Class Shares —Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2014:-8.2,2015:-3.56,2016:10,2017:25.16,2018:-15.47,2019:13.31,2020:14.24,2021:12.52,2022:-16.95,2023:3.88)

   

January 2014-December 2023

Highest Quarter

Lowest Quarter

28.75% 2020, Q2

-31.85% 2020, Q1

37


                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ended December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

3.88%

 

4.67%

 

2.62%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

2.34%

 

2.68%

 

0.94%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

2.69%

 

3.29%

 

1.59%

 

MSCI Pacific ex Japan Small Cap Index (net dividends)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

4.53%

 

6.67%

 

2.92%

 

MSCI Pacific ex Japan Index (net dividends)1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

6.44%

 

5.74%

 

3.90%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.

Effective February 28, 2024, the Portfolio incorporated this broad-based securities market index to reflect the overall applicable securities market of the Portfolio.

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Portfolio and the Series. DFA Australia Limited serves as the sub-advisor for the Series. The following individuals are responsible for leading the day-to-day management of the Portfolio and the Series:

 Jed S. Fogdall, Global Head of Portfolio Management, Chairman of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2010.

 Arun C. Keswani, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2015.

 Joel P. Schneider, Deputy Head of Portfolio Management, North America, member of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2022.

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Portfolio on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is scheduled to be open for business by first contacting the Portfolio’s transfer agent at (888) 576-1167. Shareholders that invest in the Portfolio through a financial intermediary should contact their financial intermediary regarding purchase and redemption procedures. The Portfolio generally is available for investment only by institutional clients, clients of registered investment advisors, clients of financial institutions and a limited number of certain other investors as approved from time to time by the Advisor. All investments are subject to approval of the Advisor.

Tax Information

The dividends and distributions you receive from the Portfolio are taxable and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the plan or account.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Portfolio through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Portfolio and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of the Portfolio shares and/or related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary to recommend the Portfolio over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

38


United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) is to achieve long-term capital appreciation. The United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio is a Feeder Portfolio and pursues its objective by investing substantially all of its assets in its corresponding Master Fund, The United Kingdom Small Company Series (the “United Kingdom Small Company Series” or the “Series”) of The DFA Investment Trust Company (the “Trust”), which has the same investment objective and policies as the Portfolio.

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold or sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.

     

 

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment): None

 

 

 

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each
year as a percentage of the value of your investment)1

 

 

 

 

Management Fee

0.45%

Other Expenses

0.16%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

0.61%

Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

0.10%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

0.51%

 

   

1

The “Management Fee” includes an investment management fee payable by the Feeder Portfolio and an investment management fee payable by the Master Fund. For any period when the Feeder Portfolio is invested in other funds managed by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the “Advisor”) (collectively, “Underlying Funds”), the Advisor has contractually agreed to permanently waive the Feeder Portfolio’s direct investment management fee to the extent necessary to offset the proportionate share of any Underlying Fund’s investment management fee paid by the Feeder Portfolio through its investment in such Underlying Fund. The amounts set forth under “Other Expenses” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” reflect the direct expenses of the Feeder Portfolio and the indirect expenses of the Feeder Portfolio’s portion of the expenses of the Master Fund.

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example reflects the aggregate annual operating expenses of the Portfolio and its portion of the expenses of the Series. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs whether you redeem or hold your shares would be:

       

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

$52

$164

$285

$640

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A fund generally pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in

39

 

the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Series' portfolio turnover rate was 9% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio is a feeder portfolio that invests substantially all of its assets in the United Kingdom Small Company Series. To achieve the Portfolio’s and the Series’ investment objectives, the Advisor implements an integrated investment approach that combines research, portfolio design, portfolio management, and trading functions. As further described below, the Series’ design emphasizes long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisor’s research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies and sectors. The Advisor’s portfolio management and trading processes further balance those long-term drivers of expected returns with shorter-term drivers of expected returns and trading costs.

The United Kingdom Small Company Series, using a market capitalization weighted approach, is designed to purchase a broad and diverse group of readily marketable securities of small companies associated with the United Kingdom. A company’s market capitalization is the number of its shares outstanding times its price per share. Under a market capitalization weighted approach, companies with higher market capitalizations generally represent a larger proportion of the Series than companies with relatively lower market capitalizations. The Series may emphasize certain stocks, including smaller capitalization companies, lower relative price stocks, and/or higher profitability stocks as compared to their representation in the small company segment of the United Kingdom market. An equity issuer is considered to have a low relative price (i.e., a value stock) primarily because it has a low price in relation to its book value. In assessing relative price, the Advisor may consider additional factors such as price to cash flow or price to earnings ratios. An equity issuer is considered to have high profitability because it has high earnings or profits from operations in relation to its book value or assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing relative price and profitability are subject to change from time to time.

As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the United Kingdom Small Company Series will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities of United Kingdom small companies. Based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2023, the Advisor would consider United Kingdom small companies to be those companies with a market capitalization below $5,690 million. This threshold will change due to market conditions.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the United Kingdom Small Company Series’ exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum, short-run reversals, and investment characteristics. In assessing a company’s investment characteristics, the Advisor considers ratios such as recent changes in assets divided by total assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing a company’s investment characteristics are subject to change from time to time. In addition, the Advisor seeks to reduce trading costs using a flexible trading approach that looks for opportunities to participate in the available market liquidity, while managing turnover and explicit transaction costs.

The United Kingdom Small Company Series may gain exposure to companies associated with the United Kingdom by purchasing equity securities in the form of depositary receipts, which may be listed or traded outside the issuer’s domicile country. The Series and the United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio each may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for United Kingdom equity securities and indices or other equity market securities and indices, including those of the United States, to increase or decrease equity market exposure based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Series or Portfolio. Because many of the Series’ and the Portfolio’s investments may be denominated in foreign currencies, the Series and the Portfolio may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions, including foreign currency forward contracts, in connection with the settlement of foreign securities or to transfer cash balances from one currency to another currency.

The United Kingdom Small Company Series may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, there is the risk that you will lose money. An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The following is a description of principal risks of investing in the Portfolio.

40


Equity Market Risk: Even a long-term investment approach cannot guarantee a profit. Economic, market, political, and issuer-specific conditions and events will cause the value of equity securities, and a fund that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets are volatile, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

Foreign Securities and Currencies Risk: Foreign securities prices may decline or fluctuate because of: (a) economic or political actions of foreign governments, and/or (b) less regulated or liquid securities markets. Investors holding these securities may also be exposed to foreign currency risk (the possibility that foreign currency will fluctuate in value against the U.S. dollar or that a foreign government will convert, or be forced to convert, its currency to another currency, changing its value against the U.S. dollar). The Series does not hedge foreign currency risk.

Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Depositary receipts that are not sponsored by the issuer may be less liquid and there may be less readily available public information about the issuer.

United Kingdom Market Risk: The performance of a fund that concentrates investments in the United Kingdom is expected to be closely tied to the social, political and economic conditions within the United Kingdom and to be more volatile than the performance of funds with more geographically diverse investments.

Small Company Risk: Securities of small companies are often less liquid than those of large companies and this could make it difficult to sell a small company security at a desired time or price. As a result, small company stocks may fluctuate relatively more in price. In general, smaller capitalization companies are also more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business or economic developments and they may have more limited resources.

Profitability Investment Risk: High relative profitability stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause a fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies. Value stocks can react differently to political, economic, and industry developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Value stocks also may underperform the market for long periods of time.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures contracts, and options thereon, and foreign currency forward contracts, whose value is derived from that of other assets, rates or indices. The use of derivatives for non-hedging purposes may be considered to carry more risk than other types of investments. When a fund uses derivatives, the fund will be directly exposed to the risks of those derivatives. Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks including counterparty, settlement, liquidity, interest rate, market, credit and management risks, as well as the risk of improper valuation. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index, and a fund could lose more than the principal amount invested.

Securities Lending Risk: Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, a fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. A fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences.

Operational Risk: Operational risks include human error, changes in personnel, system changes, faults in communication, and failures in systems, technology, or processes. Various operational events or circumstances are outside a fund’s or its advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. A fund and its advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, measures that seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures may not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: A fund and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the fund to potential risks linked to cyber security breaches of those technological or information systems.

41

 

Cyber security breaches, amongst other things, could allow an unauthorized party to gain access to proprietary information, customer data, or fund assets, or cause the fund and/or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality.

Performance

The bar chart and table immediately following illustrate the variability of the Portfolio’s returns and are meant to provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio’s performance from year to year. The table illustrates how annualized returns for certain periods, both before and after taxes, compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The table also includes the performance of an additional index with a similar investment universe as the Portfolio. The Portfolio’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future results. Updated performance information for the Portfolio can be obtained by visiting https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/funds.

The after-tax returns presented in the table for the Portfolio are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown in the table. In addition, the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold shares of the Portfolio through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

 

United Kingdom Small Company PortfolioInstitutional Class Shares —Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2014:-5.86,2015:7.18,2016:-11.46,2017:28.41,2018:-19.77,2019:35.77,2020:-2.94,2021:17.46,2022:-24.54,2023:14)

   

January 2014-December 2023

Highest Quarter

Lowest Quarter

28.40% 2020, Q4

-39.22% 2020, Q1

42


                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ended December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

14.00%

 

5.90%

 

2.06%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

12.92%

 

4.69%

 

0.44%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

8.91%

 

4.50%

 

1.36%

 

MSCI United Kingdom Small Cap Index (net dividends)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

16.32%

 

3.85%

 

1.61%

 

MSCI United Kingdom Index (net dividends)1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

14.09%

 

6.87%

 

2.49%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.

Effective February 28, 2024, the Portfolio incorporated this broad-based securities market index to reflect the overall applicable securities market of the Portfolio.

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Portfolio and the Series. Dimensional Fund Advisors Ltd. serves as the sub-advisor for the Series. The following individuals are responsible for leading the day-to-day management of the Portfolio and the Series:

 Jed S. Fogdall, Global Head of Portfolio Management, Chairman of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2010.

 Arun C. Keswani, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2015.

 Joel P. Schneider, Deputy Head of Portfolio Management, North America, member of the Investment Committee, Vice President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has been a portfolio manager of the Portfolio since 2020.

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Portfolio on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is scheduled to be open for business by first contacting the Portfolio’s transfer agent at (888) 576-1167. Shareholders that invest in the Portfolio through a financial intermediary should contact their financial intermediary regarding purchase and redemption procedures. The Portfolio generally is available for investment only by institutional clients, clients of registered investment advisors, clients of financial institutions and a limited number of certain other investors as approved from time to time by the Advisor. All investments are subject to approval of the Advisor.

Tax Information

The dividends and distributions you receive from the Portfolio are taxable and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the plan or account.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Portfolio through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Portfolio and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of the Portfolio shares and/or related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary to recommend the Portfolio over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

43