Prospectus

February 28, 2023

 

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)


 

Institutional Class Shares
This Prospectus describes the Institutional Class shares of each Portfolio which:
Are for long-term investors.
Are generally available only 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

 

 

 

5

 

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

 

 

 

8

 

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

 

 

 

15

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

15

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

15

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

16

 

Global Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

17

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

17

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

17

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

18

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

19

 

Performance

 

 

 

21

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

22

 

i


 

 

 

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

23

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

23

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

23

 

International Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

24

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

24

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

24

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

25

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

26

 

Performance

 

 

 

27

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

28

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

29

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

29

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

29

 

Japanese Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

30

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

30

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

30

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

31

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

32

 

Performance

 

 

 

33

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

34

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

35

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

35

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

35

 

Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

36

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

36

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

36

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

37

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

38

 

Performance

 

 

 

39

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

40

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

41

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

41

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

41

 

United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

42

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

42

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

42

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

43

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

44

 

ii


 

 

 

 

Performance

 

 

 

45

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

46

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

47

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

47

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

47

 

Continental Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

48

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

48

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

48

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

49

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

50

 

Performance

 

 

 

51

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

52

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

53

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

53

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

53

 

DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio

 

 

 

54

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

54

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

54

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

54

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

55

 

Performance

 

 

 

57

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

58

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

58

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

58

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

59

 

DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio

 

 

 

60

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

60

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

60

 

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

 

DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio

 

 

 

66

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

66

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

66

 

iii


 

 

 

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

66

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

68

 

Performance

 

 

 

69

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

70

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

70

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

70

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

70

 

International Vector Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

71

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

71

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

71

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

71

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

73

 

Performance

 

 

 

74

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

75

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

75

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

75

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

76

 

International High Relative Profitability Portfolio

 

 

 

77

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

77

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

77

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

77

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

78

 

Performance

 

 

 

79

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

81

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

81

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

81

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

81

 

World ex U.S. Value Portfolio

 

 

 

82

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

82

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

82

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

83

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

84

 

Performance

 

 

 

86

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

87

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

87

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

87

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

88

 

iv


 

 

 

 

World ex U.S. Core Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

89

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

89

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

89

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

89

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

90

 

Performance

 

 

 

92

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

93

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

94

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

94

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

94

 

World Core Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

95

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

95

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

95

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

96

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

97

 

Performance

 

 

 

98

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

99

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

100

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

100

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

100

 

Selectively Hedged Global Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

101

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

101

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

101

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

102

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

103

 

Performance

 

 

 

105

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

106

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

106

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

106

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

107

 

Emerging Markets Portfolio

 

 

 

108

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

108

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

108

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

109

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

110

 

Performance

 

 

 

111

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

112

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

113

 

v


 

 

 

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

113

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

113

 

Emerging Markets Value Portfolio

 

 

 

114

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

114

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

114

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

115

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

116

 

Performance

 

 

 

117

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

118

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

119

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

119

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

119

 

Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio

 

 

 

120

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

120

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

120

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

120

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

121

 

Performance

 

 

 

123

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

124

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

125

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

125

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

125

 

Emerging Markets Small Cap Portfolio

 

 

 

126

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

126

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

126

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

127

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

128

 

Performance

 

 

 

130

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

131

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

131

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

131

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

131

 

Emerging Markets Core Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

132

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

132

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

132

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

132

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

133

 

Performance

 

 

 

135

 

vi


 

 

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

136

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

137

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

137

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

137

 

Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

138

 

Investment Objective

 

 

 

138

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

 

 

138

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

 

 

139

 

Principal Risks

 

 

 

139

 

Performance

 

 

 

141

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

 

 

 

142

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

 

 

143

 

Tax Information

 

 

 

143

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

 

 

 

143

 

Additional Information on Investment Objectives and Policies

 

 

 

144

 

Investment Terms Used in the Prospectus

 

 

 

144

 

Investments in Underlying Funds

 

 

 

144

 

Approved Markets

 

 

 

144

 

Developed Markets

 

 

 

145

 

Emerging Markets

 

 

 

146

 

Developed and Emerging Markets

 

 

 

147

 

Large Cap International Portfolio

 

 

 

148

 

DFA International Value Portfolio

 

 

 

149

 

International Core Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

150

 

Global Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

151

 

International Small Company Portfolios

 

 

 

152

 

International Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

152

 

Japanese Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

154

 

Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

154

 

United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

155

 

Continental Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

156

 

DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio

 

 

 

157

 

DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio

 

 

 

157

 

DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio

 

 

 

158

 

International Vector Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

159

 

International High Relative Profitability Portfolio

 

 

 

160

 

World ex U.S. Value Portfolio

 

 

 

161

 

World ex U.S. Core Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

162

 

vii


 

 

 

 

World Core Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

163

 

Selectively Hedged Global Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

164

 

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

 

 

 

165

 

Investments in Underlying Funds

 

 

 

168

 

Market Capitalization Weighted Approach

 

 

 

170

 

Portfolio Construction—International Small Company Funds

 

 

 

171

 

Portfolio Transactions—All Portfolios

 

 

 

172

 

Additional Information Regarding Investment Risks

 

 

 

172

 

Other Information

 

 

 

180

 

Commodity Pool Operator Exemption

 

 

 

180

 

Fund of Funds Portfolio Turnover

 

 

 

181

 

Securities Loans

 

 

 

181

 

Securities Lending Revenue

 

 

 

182

 

Management of the Funds

 

 

 

182

 

Management Fees

 

 

 

185

 

Shareholder Services

 

 

 

188

 

Fee Waiver and Expense Assumption Agreements

 

 

 

188

 

Dividends, Capital Gains Distributions and Taxes

 

 

 

193

 

Purchase of Shares

 

 

 

197

 

Cash Purchases

 

 

 

197

 

In-Kind Purchases

 

 

 

198

 

Policy Regarding Excessive Short-Term Trading

 

 

 

199

 

Valuation of Shares

 

 

 

201

 

Net Asset Value

 

 

 

201

 

Public Offering Price

 

 

 

203

 

Exchange of Shares

 

 

 

204

 

Redemption of Shares

 

 

 

204

 

Redemption Procedure

 

 

 

204

 

Redemption of Small Accounts

 

 

 

205

 

In-Kind Redemptions

 

 

 

205

 

The Feeder Portfolios

 

 

 

206

 

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

 

 

 

207

 

Delivery of Shareholder Documents

 

 

 

207

 

Financial Highlights

 

 

 

207

 

viii


 

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 Large Cap International 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 Large Cap International Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$17

 

$55

 

$96

 

$217

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Large Cap International Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 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.

1


 

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 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, 2022, for the Portfolio, the market capitalization of a large company in any country or region in which the Portfolio invests would be $1,325 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. 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 Large Cap International 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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, 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.

2


 

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.

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 the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, 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 the Portfolio uses derivatives, the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, the Portfolio may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Portfolio 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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 Large Cap International 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 one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 Large Cap International Portfolio are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local

3


 

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.

 

Large Cap International Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
17.27% (4/20–6/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-24.43% (1/20–3/20)

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

Large Cap International Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-13.03

%

 

 

 

2.14

%

 

 

 

4.79

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-13.53

%

 

 

 

1.51

%

 

 

 

4.08

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-7.21

%

 

 

 

1.66

%

 

 

 

3.71

%

 

 

MSCI World ex USA Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-14.29

%

 

 

 

1.79

%

 

 

 

4.59

%

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Large Cap International 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.

4


 

 

 

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 Large Cap International Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 Large Cap International 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 Large Cap International 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 DFA International Value 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

 

0.45%

 

Other Expenses

 

0.03%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

0.48%

 

Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

 

0.20%

 

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

 

0.28%

 

 

*

 

The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in the management fee payable by the Feeder Portfolio from 0.30% to 0.25% effective as of February 28, 2022.

 

**

 

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 DFA International Value Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$29

 

$90

 

$157

 

$356

 

6


 

The Example reflects the aggregate annual operating expenses of the DFA International Value Portfolio and the Portfolio’s portion of the expenses of the DFA International Value Series.

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The DFA International Value Series 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 Portfolio shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the DFA International Value Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Series’ portfolio turnover rate was 15% 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, 2022, for the Series, the market capitalization of a large company in any country or region in which the Series invests would be $1,325 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. 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

7


 

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 DFA International Value 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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, 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 the Series 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 the Series to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures, 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 the Series and the Portfolio use derivatives, the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, the Series may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Series 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.

8


 

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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 DFA International Value 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 one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 DFA International Value 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 Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
22.20% (10/20–12/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-31.98% (1/20–3/20)

 

9


 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

DFA International Value Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-3.48

%

 

 

 

1.36

%

 

 

 

4.61

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-4.27

%

 

 

 

0.38

%

 

 

 

3.65

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-1.38

%

 

 

 

0.97

%

 

 

 

3.51

%

 

 

MSCI World ex USA Value Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-5.64

%

 

 

 

0.56

%

 

 

 

3.55

%

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the DFA International Value Portfolio and the DFA International Value 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 DFA International Value Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 DFA International Value 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 DFA International Value 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 International Core Equity 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

 

0.04%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

0.24%

 

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the International Core Equity Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$25

 

$77

 

$135

 

$306

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The International Core Equity Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 11% 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.

11


 

The International Core Equity Portfolio is designed to purchase a broad and diverse group of 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 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, 2022, securities of the largest high relative price companies in the International Universe comprised approximately 16% of the International Universe and the Advisor allocated approximately 8% 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 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 International Core Equity 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.

12


 

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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, 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.

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 the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, 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 the Portfolio uses derivatives, the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, the Portfolio may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Portfolio 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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

13


 

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 International Core Equity 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 one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 International Core Equity 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 Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
18.70% (4/20–6/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-27.64% (1/20–3/20)

 

14


 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

International Core Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-13.48

%

 

 

 

1.30

%

 

 

 

5.24

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-13.99

%

 

 

 

0.70

%

 

 

 

4.55

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-7.48

%

 

 

 

1.02

%

 

 

 

4.09

%

 

 

MSCI World ex USA Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-14.29

%

 

 

 

1.79

%

 

 

 

4.59

%

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the International Core Equity 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.

 

 

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 International Core Equity Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 International Core Equity 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.

15


 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the International Core Equity 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.

16


 

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 Global Small Company 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 and Expenses**

 

0.21%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses**

 

0.63%

 

Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement***

 

0.21%

 

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

 

0.42%

 

 

*

 

The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in the management fee payable by the Portfolio from 0.40% to 0.35% effective as of February 28, 2022.

 

**

 

The “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been restated to reflect current fees.

 

***

 

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the “Advisor”) has agreed to waive certain fees and in certain instances, assume certain expenses of the Global Small Company Portfolio. The Fee Waiver and Expense Assumption Agreement for the Portfolio will remain in effect through February 28, 2024, and may only be terminated by the Fund’s Board of Directors prior to that date. 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 Global Small Company Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$43

 

$181

 

$330

 

$766

 

17


 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A mutual 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 mutual fund shares are held in a taxable account. The Global Small Company Portfolio does not pay transaction costs when buying and selling shares of other mutual funds (the “Underlying Funds”); however, the Underlying Funds pay transaction costs when buying and selling securities for their portfolio. The transaction costs incurred by the Underlying Funds, 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 13% based on the weighted average portfolio turnover ratios of each of the Portfolio’s underlying investments.

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

18


 

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 58% 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, 2022, 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 $9,484 million. This threshold will vary by country or region. For example, based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2022, the Advisor would consider a small company in Switzerland to have a market capitalization below $8,202 million, a small company in the United States to have a market capitalization below $7,650 million, a small company in Norway to have a market capitalization below $1,765 million, and a small company in Japan to have a market capitalization below $2,035 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 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”.

19


 

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Global Small Company 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 the Portfolio is affected by the investment performance of the Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio invests. The ability of the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio’s assets among the Underlying Funds. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Portfolio or any Underlying Fund will be achieved. When the Portfolio invests in Underlying Funds, investors are exposed to a proportionate share of the expenses of those Underlying Funds in addition to the expenses of the Portfolio. Through its investments in the Underlying Funds, the Portfolio is subject to the risks of the Underlying Funds’ investments. The risks of the Portfolio’s and Underlying Funds’ investments 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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, 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.

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 the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

20


 

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause the Portfolio or an Underlying 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, 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 the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund uses derivatives, the Portfolio or Underlying 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 the Portfolio or Underlying 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, the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Portfolio or Underlying 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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 Global Small Company 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 one year, five year and since inception returns, 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 Global Small Company 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.

21


 

 

Global Small Company Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2018-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
24.12% (10/20–12/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-31.85% (1/20–3/20)

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

Since 01/18/17
Inception

Global Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-14.60

%

 

 

 

3.62

%

 

 

 

6.12

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-14.77

%

 

 

 

3.22

%

 

 

 

5.66

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-8.38

%

 

 

 

2.82

%

 

 

 

4.80

%

 

 

MSCI All Country World Small Cap Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

 

-18.67

%

 

 

 

3.23

%

 

 

 

6.14

%

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Global Small Company 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.

22


 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Global Small Company Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 Global Small Company 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 Global Small Company 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.

23


 

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 International Small Company 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 and Expenses

 

0.12%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

0.39%

 

 

*

 

The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in the management fee payable by the Portfolio from 0.30% to 0.25% effective as of February 28, 2022.

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the International Small Company Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$40

 

$125

 

$219

 

$493

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A mutual 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 mutual fund shares are held in a taxable account. The International Small Company Portfolio does not pay transaction costs when buying and selling shares of other mutual funds (the “Underlying Funds”); however, the Underlying Funds pay transaction costs when buying and selling securities for their portfolio. The transaction costs incurred by the Underlying Funds, 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 13% based on the weighted average portfolio turnover ratios of each of the Portfolio’s underlying investments.

24


 

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 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 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

25


 

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.

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 International Small Company 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 the Portfolio is affected by the investment performance of the Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio invests. The ability of the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio’s assets among the Underlying Funds. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Portfolio or any Underlying Fund will be achieved. When the Portfolio invests in Underlying Funds, investors are exposed to a proportionate share of the expenses of those Underlying Funds in addition to the expenses of the Portfolio. Through its investments in the Underlying Funds, the Portfolio is subject to the risks of the Underlying Funds’ investments. The risks of the Portfolio’s and Underlying Funds’ investments 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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, 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.

26


 

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 the Portfolio or an Underlying 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 the Portfolio or an Underlying 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, 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 the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund uses derivatives, the Portfolio or Underlying 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 the Portfolio or Underlying 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, the Underlying Funds may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Underlying Funds could also lose money if they do 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. To the extent that the Portfolio holds securities directly and lends those securities, it will be also subject to the foregoing risks with respect to its loaned securities.

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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 International Small Company 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 Portfolio’s performance from year to year. The table illustrates how annualized one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 International Small Company 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.

27


 

 

International Small Company Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
21.00% (4/20–6/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-30.21% (1/20–3/20)

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

International Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-17.12

%

 

 

 

0.70

%

 

 

 

6.08

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-17.67

%

 

 

 

-0.36

%

 

 

 

4.79

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-9.53

%

 

 

 

0.54

%

 

 

 

4.68

%

 

 

MSCI World ex USA Small Cap Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-20.59

%

 

 

 

0.45

%

 

 

 

5.77

%

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the International Small Company Portfolio and Underlying Funds. 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.

28


 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the International Small Company Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 International Small Company 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 International Small Company 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.

29


 

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 Japanese Small Company 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

 

0.45%

 

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%

 

 

*

 

The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in the management fee payable by the Feeder Portfolio from 0.40% to 0.35% effective as of February 28, 2022.

 

**

 

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 Japanese Small Company Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$41

 

$128

 

$224

 

$505

 

30


 

The Example reflects the aggregate annual operating expenses of the Japanese Small Company Portfolio and the Portfolio’s portion of the expenses of the Japanese Small Company Series.

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Japanese Small Company Series 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 Portfolio shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Japanese Small Company Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Series’ portfolio turnover rate was 11% 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, 2022, the Advisor would consider Japanese small companies to be those companies with a market capitalization below $2,035 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 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

31


 

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 Japanese Small Company 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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, 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: Because the Series concentrates investments in Japan, the Portfolio’s performance 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 the Series 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 the Series 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, 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

32


 

non-hedging purposes may be considered to carry more risk than other types of investments. When the Series and the Portfolio use derivatives, the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, the Series may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Series 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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 Japanese Small Company 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 one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 Japanese Small Company 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.

33


 

 

Japanese Small Company Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
13.70% (1/13–3/13)

 

Lowest Quarter
-20.45% (1/20–3/20)

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

Japanese Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-11.36

%

 

 

 

-2.72

%

 

 

 

6.07

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-12.29

%

 

 

 

-3.67

%

 

 

 

5.26

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-5.78

%

 

 

 

-1.91

%

 

 

 

4.90

%

 

 

MSCI Japan Small Cap Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-12.05

%

 

 

 

-1.71

%

 

 

 

6.51

%

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Japanese Small Company Portfolio and Japanese Small Company 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.

34


 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Japanese Small Company Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 Japanese Small Company 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 Japanese Small Company 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.

35


 

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 Asia Pacific Small Company 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

 

0.45%

 

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%

 

 

*

 

The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in the management fee payable by the Feeder Portfolio from 0.40% to 0.35% effective as of February 28, 2022.

 

**

 

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 Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$41

 

$128

 

$224

 

$505

 

36


 

The Example reflects the aggregate annual operating expenses of the Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio and the Portfolio’s portion of the expenses of the Asia Pacific Small Company Series.

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Asia Pacific Small Company Series 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 Portfolio shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Series’ portfolio turnover rate was 19% 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, 2022, for the Series, the market capitalization of a small company in any country in which the Series invests would be below $4,411 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 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

37


 

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.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Asia Pacific Small Company 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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, 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: Because the Series concentrates investments in Asia Pacific countries, the Portfolio’s performance 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 the Series 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 the Series 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.

38


 

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures, 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 the Series and the Portfolio use derivatives, the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, the Series may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Series 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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 Asia Pacific Small Company 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 one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 Asia Pacific Small Company 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.

39


 

 

Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
28.75% (4/20–6/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-31.85% (1/20–3/20)

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-16.95

%

 

 

 

0.44

%

 

 

 

2.39

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-18.89

%

 

 

 

-1.37

%

 

 

 

0.73

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-8.91

%

 

 

 

0.07

%

 

 

 

1.42

%

 

 

MSCI Pacific ex Japan Small Cap Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-15.65

%

 

 

 

2.07

%

 

 

 

2.39

%

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio and Asia Pacific Small Company 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.

40


 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Asia Pacific Small Company Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 Asia Pacific Small Company 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 Asia Pacific Small Company 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.

41


 

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 United Kingdom Small Company 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

 

0.45%

 

Other Expenses

 

0.19%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

0.64%

 

Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement***

 

0.12%

 

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

 

0.52%

 

 

*

 

The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in the management fee payable by the Feeder Portfolio from 0.40% to 0.35% effective as of February 28, 2022.

 

**

 

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.

 

***

 

The Advisor has further agreed to waive certain fees and in certain instances, assume certain expenses of the United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio. This portion of the Fee Waiver and Expense Assumption Agreement for the Portfolio will remain in effect through February 28, 2024, 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 United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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

42


 

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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$53

 

$171

 

$300

 

$675

 

The Example reflects the aggregate annual operating expenses of the United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio and the Portfolio’s portion of the expenses of the United Kingdom Small Company Series.

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The United Kingdom Small Company Series 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 Portfolio shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Series’ portfolio turnover rate was 14% 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, 2022, the Advisor would consider United Kingdom small companies to be those companies with a market capitalization below $3,773 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 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.

43


 

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 United Kingdom Small Company 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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, 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: Because the Series concentrates investments in the United Kingdom, the Portfolio’s performance 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 the Series to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

44


 

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause the Series 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, 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 the Series and the Portfolio use derivatives, the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, the Series may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Series 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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 United Kingdom Small Company 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 Portfolio’s performance from year to year. The table illustrates how annualized one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 United Kingdom Small Company 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.

45


 

 

United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
28.40% (10/20–12/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-39.22% (1/20–3/20)

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-24.54

%

 

 

 

-1.29

%

 

 

 

4.11

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-24.87

%

 

 

 

-2.52

%

 

 

 

2.44

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-14.31

%

 

 

 

-0.99

%

 

 

 

3.12

%

 

 

MSCI UK Small Cap Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-31.08

%

 

 

 

-3.64

%

 

 

 

3.45

%

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio and United Kingdom Small Company 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.

46


 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the United Kingdom Small Company Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 United Kingdom Small Company 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 United Kingdom Small Company 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.

47


 

Continental Small Company Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Continental Small Company Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) is to achieve long-term capital appreciation. The Continental Small Company Portfolio is a Feeder Portfolio and pursues its objective by investing substantially all of its assets in its corresponding Master Fund, The Continental Small Company Series (the “Continental 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 Continental Small Company 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

 

0.45%

 

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%

 

 

*

 

The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in the management fee payable by the Feeder Portfolio from 0.40% to 0.35% effective as of February 28, 2022.

 

**

 

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 (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 Continental Small Company Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$41

 

$128

 

$224

 

$505

 

48


 

The Example reflects the aggregate annual operating expenses of the Continental Small Company Portfolio and the Portfolio’s portion of the expenses of the Continental Small Company Series.

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Continental Small Company Series 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 Portfolio shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Continental Small Company Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Series’ portfolio turnover rate was 11% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Continental Small Company Portfolio is a feeder portfolio that invests substantially all of its assets in the Continental 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 Continental 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 European 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 Continental Small Company Series will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities of small companies located in continental Europe. The Advisor determines the maximum market capitalization of a small company with respect to each country or region in which the Series invests. Based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2022, for the Series, the market capitalization of a small company in any country or region in which the Series invests would be below $8,202 million. This threshold will change due to market conditions. The Series also may invest up to 20% of its net assets in small companies associated with non-European countries that the Advisor has identified as approved markets for investment.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the Continental Small Company Series’ exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum 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 Continental 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

49


 

domicile country. The Series and the Continental Small Company Portfolio each may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for continental European 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 Continental Small Company Series may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Continental Small Company 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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, 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.

European Market Risk: Because the Series concentrates investments in European countries, the Portfolio’s performance is expected to be closely tied to the social, political and economic conditions within such European 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 the Series 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 the Series to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies. Value stocks can react differently to political, economic, and industry developments than

50


 

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, 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 the Series and the Portfolio use derivatives, the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, the Series may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Series 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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 Continental Small Company 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 one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 Continental Small Company 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.

51


 

 

Continental Small Company Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
22.55% (4/20–6/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-29.78% (1/20–3/20)

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

Continental Small Company Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-20.10

%

 

 

 

1.85

%

 

 

 

8.43

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-20.36

%

 

 

 

1.20

%

 

 

 

7.79

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-11.37

%

 

 

 

1.51

%

 

 

 

6.85

%

 

 

MSCI Europe ex UK Small Cap Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-25.49

%

 

 

 

1.22

%

 

 

 

8.06

%

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the Continental Small Company Portfolio and Continental Small Company 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.

52


 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

Investors may purchase or redeem shares of the Continental Small Company Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 Continental Small Company 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 Continental Small Company 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.

53


 

DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the DFA International Real Estate Securities 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 DFA International Real Estate Securities 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

 

0.24%

 

Other Expenses

 

0.03%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

0.27%

 

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$28

 

$87

 

$152

 

$343

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 6% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

To achieve the DFA International Real Estate Securities 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.

The Portfolio, using a market capitalization weighted approach, purchases a broad and diverse set of securities of non-U.S. companies principally engaged in the real estate industry, including developed and emerging markets, with a particular focus on non-U.S. real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and companies the Advisor considers to

54


 

be REIT-like entities. The Portfolio invests in companies of all sizes. 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 Portfolio than companies with relatively lower market capitalizations. The Advisor may adjust the representation in the Portfolio of an eligible company, or exclude a company, after considering such factors as free float, price momentum, trading strategies, liquidity, size, relative price, profitability, and other factors that the Advisor determines to be appropriate. 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 also may limit or fix the Portfolio’s exposure to a particular country or issuer.

The DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio considers a company to be principally engaged in the real estate industry if the company’s principal activities include ownership, management, development, construction, or sale of residential, commercial or industrial real estate. REITs and REIT-like entities are types of real estate companies that pool investors’ funds for investment primarily in income producing real estate or real estate related loans or interests.

The DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio intends to purchase securities of companies associated with developed and emerging markets countries that the Advisor has designated as approved markets for investment. As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Portfolio’s net assets will be invested in securities of companies in the real estate industry. The Portfolio concentrates (i.e., invests more than 25% of its net assets) its investments in securities of companies in the real estate industry. The Portfolio generally considers a company to be principally engaged in the real estate industry if the company (i) derives at least 50% of its revenue or profits from the ownership, management, development, construction, or sale of residential, commercial, industrial, or other real estate; (ii) has at least 50% of the value of its assets invested in residential, commercial, industrial, or other real estate; or (iii) is organized as a REIT or REIT-like entity. The Portfolio also may invest in stapled securities, where one or more of the underlying securities represents interests in a company or subsidiary in the real estate industry.

The DFA International Real Estate Securities 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 may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for 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 DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the DFA International Real Estate Securities 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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

55


 

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.

Risks of Concentrating in the Real Estate Industry: The Portfolio concentrates (i.e., invests more than 25% of its net assets) its investments in securities of companies in the real estate industry. The exclusive focus by the Portfolio on the real estate industry will cause the Portfolio to be exposed to the general risks of direct real estate ownership. The value of securities in the real estate industry can be affected by changes in real estate values and rental income, property taxes, and tax and regulatory requirements. Also, the value of securities in the real estate industry may decline with changes in interest rates. Investing in REITs and REIT-like entities involves certain unique risks in addition to those risks associated with investing in the real estate industry in general. REITs and REIT-like entities are dependent upon management skill, may not be diversified, and are subject to heavy cash flow dependency and self-liquidation. REITs and REIT-like entities also are subject to the possibility of failing to qualify for tax free pass-through of income. Also, many foreign REIT-like entities are deemed for tax purposes as passive foreign investment companies (PFICs), which could result in the receipt of taxable dividends to shareholders at an unfavorable tax rate. Also, because REITs and REIT-like entities typically are invested in a limited number of projects or in a particular market segment, these entities are more susceptible to adverse developments affecting a single project or market segment than more broadly diversified investments. The performance of the Portfolio may be materially different from the broad equity market.

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.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures, 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 the Portfolio uses derivatives, the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, the Portfolio may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Portfolio could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the

56


 

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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 DFA International Real Estate Securities 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 one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 DFA International Real Estate Securities 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 Real Estate Securities Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
15.52% (10/20–12/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-32.87% (1/20–3/20)

 

57


 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-21.73

%

 

 

 

-1.56

%

 

 

 

1.87

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-21.58

%

 

 

 

-3.26

%

 

 

 

-0.01

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-12.72

%

 

 

 

-1.57

%

 

 

 

0.83

%

 

 

S&P Global ex U.S. REIT Index(1) (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-22.56

%

 

 

 

-2.13

%

 

 

 

1.61

%

 

 

 

(1)

 

Copyrightã 2022 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global. All rights reserved.

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the DFA International Real Estate Securities 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.

 

 

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 DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 DFA International Real Estate Securities 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. See “Dividends, Capital Gains Distributions and Taxes—Tax Considerations” in the Portfolio’s Prospectus for special tax considerations with respect to the Portfolio.

58


 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the DFA International Real Estate Securities 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.

59


 

DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the DFA Global Real Estate Securities 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 DFA Global Real Estate Securities 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

 

0.19%

 

Other Expenses

 

0.03%

 

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

 

0.10%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

0.32%

 

Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement**

 

0.10%

 

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

 

0.22%

 

 

*

 

The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in the management fee payable by the Portfolio from 0.20% to 0.19% effective as of February 28, 2023.

 

**

 

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 Expense Assumption Agreement for the Portfolio will remain in effect through February 28, 2024, and may only be terminated by the Fund’s Board of Directors prior to that date. 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 DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$23

 

$93

 

$170

 

$396

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A mutual 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 mutual fund shares are held in a taxable account. The DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio

60


 

does not pay transaction costs when buying and selling shares of the Underlying Funds; however, the Underlying Funds pay transaction costs when buying and selling securities for their portfolio and the Portfolio pays transaction costs when buying and selling securities directly. 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 1% of the average value of its direct investments portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

To achieve the DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio’s investment objective, the Advisor implements an integrated investment approach that combines research, portfolio design, portfolio management, and trading functions. The Portfolio seeks to achieve exposure to a broad portfolio of securities of U.S. and non-U.S. companies in the real estate industry, with a focus on real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) or companies that the Advisor considers to be REIT-like entities. The Portfolio invests in companies of all sizes. The Portfolio may pursue its investment objective by investing its assets in the DFA Real Estate Securities Portfolio, DFA International Real Estate Securities Portfolio (the “Underlying Funds”), and/or directly in securities of companies in the real estate industry. 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. The Portfolio and Underlying Funds generally consider a company to be principally engaged in the real estate industry if the company (i) derives at least 50% of its revenue or profits from the ownership, management, development, construction, or sale of residential, commercial, industrial, or other real estate; (ii) has at least 50% of the value of its assets invested in residential, commercial, industrial, or other real estate; or (iii) is organized as a REIT or REIT-like entity. REITs and REIT-like entities are types of real estate companies that pool investors’ funds for investment primarily in income producing real estate or real estate related loans or interests. The Portfolio and each Underlying Fund invest in companies principally engaged in the real estate industry in its designated market using a market capitalization weighted approach. 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 Portfolio and each Underlying Fund than companies with relatively lower market capitalizations. The Advisor may adjust the representation in the Portfolio or the Underlying Funds of an eligible company, or exclude a company, after considering such factors as free float, price momentum, trading strategies, liquidity, size, relative price, profitability, and other factors that the Advisor determines to be appropriate. 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 also may limit or fix the Portfolio’s exposure to a particular country or issuer.

As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio’s net assets will be invested directly, or indirectly through its investment in the Underlying Funds, in securities of companies in the real estate industry. The Portfolio concentrates (i.e., invests more than 25% of its net assets) its investments in securities of companies in the real estate industry. In addition to, or in place of, investments in the Underlying Funds, the Portfolio also is permitted to invest directly in the same types of securities of companies in the real estate industry that are eligible investments for the Underlying Funds. The Portfolio and each Underlying Fund intend to purchase securities of companies associated with countries that the Advisor has identified as approved markets for investment for the Portfolio or Underlying Fund. The 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 65% of its net assets in U.S. companies. This percentage will change due to market conditions.

The DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio and each Underlying Fund may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for equity securities and indices to increase or decrease equity market exposure

61


 

based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Portfolio or Underlying Fund. Because many of the Portfolio’s and an Underlying Fund’s investments may be denominated in foreign currencies, the Portfolio and 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 DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio and the 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 DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio invests as of the date of this Prospectus (other than the Underlying Funds that are included elsewhere in the Portfolio’s 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 DFA Global Real Estate Securities 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 the Portfolio is affected by the investment performance of the Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio invests. The ability of the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio’s assets among Underlying Funds. The Portfolio may allocate assets to an Underlying Fund or asset class that under performs other funds or asset classes. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Portfolio or any Underlying Fund will be achieved. When the Portfolio invests in Underlying Funds, investors are exposed to a proportionate share of the expenses of those Underlying Funds in addition to the expenses of the Portfolio. Through its investments in the Underlying Funds, the Portfolio is subject to the risks of the Underlying Funds’ investments. The risks of the Portfolio’s and Underlying Funds’ investments 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 the Portfolio or Underlying Fund that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, 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.

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.

Risks of Concentrating in the Real Estate Industry: The Portfolio concentrates (i.e., invests more than 25% of its net assets) its investments in securities of companies in the real estate industry. The exclusive focus by the Portfolio on the real estate industry will cause the Portfolio to be exposed to the general risks of direct real estate ownership. The value of securities in the real estate industry can be affected by changes in real estate values and rental income, property taxes, and tax and regulatory requirements. Also, the value of securities in the real estate

62


 

industry may decline with changes in interest rates. Investing in REITs and REIT-like entities involves certain unique risks in addition to those risks associated with investing in the real estate industry in general. REITs and REIT-like entities are dependent upon management skill, may not be diversified, and are subject to heavy cash flow dependency and self-liquidation. REITs and REIT-like entities also are subject to the possibility of failing to qualify for tax free pass-through of income. Also, many foreign REIT-like entities are deemed for tax purposes as passive foreign investment companies (PFICs), which could result in the receipt of taxable dividends to shareholders at an unfavorable tax rate. Also, because REITs and REIT-like entities typically are invested in a limited number of projects or in a particular market segment, these entities are more susceptible to adverse developments affecting a single project or market segment than more broadly diversified investments. The performance of the Portfolio may be materially different from the broad equity market.

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.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures, 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 the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund uses derivatives, the Portfolio or Underlying 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 the Portfolio or Underlying 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, the Underlying Funds may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Underlying Funds 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. To the extent that the Portfolio holds securities directly and lends those securities, it will be also subject to the foregoing risks with respect to its loaned securities.

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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 DFA Global Real Estate Securities 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 one year, five year and ten year returns, both before and after taxes, compare with those of a broad measure of market

63


 

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 DFA Global Real Estate Securities 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 Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
15.20% (1/19–3/19)

 

Lowest Quarter
-26.63% (1/20–3/20)

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-23.83

%

 

 

 

2.42

%

 

 

 

5.13

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-24.88

%

 

 

 

0.87

%

 

 

 

3.56

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-13.50

%

 

 

 

1.49

%

 

 

 

3.49

%

 

 

S&P Global REIT Index(1) (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-24.36

%

 

 

 

0.92

%

 

 

 

3.88

%

 

 

 

(1)

 

Copyrightã 2022 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global. All rights reserved.

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

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

64


 

 

 

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.

 

 

Ashish P. Bhagwanjee, 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 DFA Global Real Estate Securities Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 DFA Global Real Estate Securities 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. See “Dividends, Capital Gains Distributions and Taxes—Tax Considerations” in the Portfolio’s Prospectus for special tax considerations with respect to the Portfolio.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the DFA Global Real Estate Securities 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.

65


 

DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the DFA International Small Cap Value 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 DFA International Small Cap Value 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

 

0.39%

 

Other Expenses

 

0.05%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

0.44%

 

 

*

 

The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in the management fee payable by the Portfolio from 0.45% to 0.39% effective as of February 28, 2022.

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$45

 

$141

 

$246

 

$555

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 24% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

To achieve the DFA International Small Cap Value 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

66


 

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 Small Cap Value Portfolio, using a market capitalization weighted approach, is designed to purchase securities of small, non-U.S. companies in countries with developed markets that the Advisor determines to be value stocks at the time of purchase. 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 Portfolio than companies with relatively lower market capitalizations. The Portfolio 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-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 Small Cap Value Portfolio intends to purchase securities of small value 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 small companies in the particular markets in which it invests. The Advisor determines the maximum market capitalization of a small company with respect to each country in which the Portfolio 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 securities by defining the maximum market capitalization of a small company that may be purchased by the Portfolio with respect to each country or region. Based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2022, for the Portfolio, the market capitalization of a small company in any country in which the Portfolio invests would be below $8,202 million. This threshold will vary by country or region. For example, based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2022, the Advisor would consider a small company in Switzerland to have a market capitalization below $8,202 million, a small company in Norway to have a market capitalization below $1,765 million, and a small company in Japan to have a market capitalization below $2,035 million. These thresholds will change due to market conditions.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio’s exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum 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 DFA International Small Cap Value 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 and 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 DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

67


 

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the DFA International Small Cap Value 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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

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.

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.

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

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures, 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 the Portfolio uses derivatives, the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, the Portfolio may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Portfolio 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.

68


 

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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 DFA International Small Cap Value 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 one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 DFA International Small Cap Value 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 Small Cap Value Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
19.81% (10/20–12/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-33.70% (1/20–3/20)

 

69


 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-9.78

%

 

 

 

-0.44

%

 

 

 

5.87

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-10.12

%

 

 

 

-1.17

%

 

 

 

4.88

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-5.25

%

 

 

 

-0.30

%

 

 

 

4.60

%

 

 

MSCI World ex USA Small Value Index (net dividend)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-14.00

%

 

 

 

0.04

%

 

 

 

5.32

%

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the DFA International Small Cap Value 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 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 DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 DFA International Small Cap Value 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 DFA International Small Cap Value 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.

70


 

International Vector Equity Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the International Vector 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 International Vector Equity 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

 

0.30%

 

Other Expenses

 

0.04%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

0.34%

 

 

*

 

The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in the management fee payable by the Portfolio from 0.35% to 0.30% effective as of February 28, 2022.

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the International Vector Equity Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$35

 

$109

 

$191

 

$431

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The International Vector Equity Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 17% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

To achieve the International Vector 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

71


 

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 Vector Equity Portfolio is designed to purchase a broad and diverse group of 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 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 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 or by avoiding purchases in that segment of the market. 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 Advisor determines company size on a country or region specific basis and based primarily on market capitalization. The Advisor will also establish a minimum market capitalization that a company must meet in order to be considered for purchase, which minimum will change due to market conditions.

The International Vector Equity Portfolio intends to purchase securities of companies associated with developed market countries that the Advisor has designated as approved markets for investment. As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Portfolio will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities. The percentage allocation of the assets of the Portfolio to securities of the largest high relative price companies will generally be reduced by between 5% and 50% of their percentage weight in the International Universe. For example, as of December 31, 2022, securities of the largest high relative price companies in the International Universe comprised approximately 16% of the International Universe and the Advisor allocated approximately less than 1% 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, as compared to their representation in the International Universe, will change due to market movements and other factors.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the International Vector Equity Portfolio’s exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum 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 Vector 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 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 Vector Equity Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

72


 

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the International Vector Equity 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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

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.

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.

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 the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, 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 the Portfolio uses derivatives, the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, the Portfolio may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Portfolio 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.

73


 

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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 International Vector Equity 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 one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 International Vector Equity 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 Vector Equity Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
19.65% (4/20–6/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-30.27% (1/20–3/20)

 

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Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

International Vector Equity Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-12.51

%

 

 

 

0.90

%

 

 

 

5.32

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-12.97

%

 

 

 

0.11

%

 

 

 

4.49

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-6.90

%

 

 

 

0.71

%

 

 

 

4.15

%

 

 

MSCI World ex USA Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-14.29

%

 

 

 

1.79

%

 

 

 

4.59

%

 

 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the International Vector Equity 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.

 

 

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 International Vector Equity Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 International Vector Equity 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.

75


 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the International Vector Equity 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.

76


 

International High Relative Profitability Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the International High Relative Profitability 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 International High Relative Profitability 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

 

0.05%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

0.30%

 

EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the International High Relative Profitability Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$31

 

$97

 

$169

 

$381

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The International High Relative Profitability Portfolio 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 mutual 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 22% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

To achieve the International High Relative Profitability 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.

77


 

The International High Relative Profitability Portfolio is designed to purchase securities of large non-U.S. companies that the Advisor determines to have high profitability relative to other large capitalization companies in the same country or region, at the time of purchase. 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 Portfolio may emphasize certain stocks, including smaller capitalization companies, lower relative price stocks, and/or higher profitability stocks as compared to their representation in the large-cap high profitability segments of developed non-U.S. markets. The Portfolio’s increased exposure to such stocks may be achieved by overweighting and/or underweighting eligible stocks based on their market capitalization, relative price, and/or profitability characteristics. 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. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing relative price and profitability are subject to change from time to time.

The International High Relative Profitability 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 companies in the particular non-U.S. 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, 2022, the market capitalization of a large company in any country or region in which the Portfolio invests would be $1,325 million or above. This threshold will change due to market conditions.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the International High Relative Profitability Portfolio’s exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum. 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 High Relative Profitability 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 Portfolio may invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the purpose of gaining exposure to the equity markets while maintaining liquidity.

The International High Relative Profitability Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the International High Relative Profitability 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.

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.

78


 

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.

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 the Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

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 the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio uses derivatives, the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio 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, the Portfolio may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Portfolio 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 the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 International High Relative Profitability 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 one year, five year and since inception returns, both before and after taxes, compare with those of a broad measure of market

79


 

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 International High Relative Profitability 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 High Relative Profitability Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2018-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
18.60% (4/20–6/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-21.51% (1/20–3/20)

 

Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

Since 5/16/17
Inception

International High Relative Profitability Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-16.59

%

 

 

 

2.92

%

 

 

 

4.29

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-17.10

%

 

 

 

2.41

%

 

 

 

3.80

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-9.31

%

 

 

 

2.32

%

 

 

 

3.41

%

 

 

MSCI World ex USA Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales)

 

 

-14.29

%

 

 

 

1.79

%

 

 

 

3.39

%

 

 

80


 

Investment Advisor/Portfolio Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP serves as the investment advisor for the International High Relative Profitability 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).

 

 

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 International High Relative Profitability Portfolio on each day that the NYSE 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 International High Relative Profitability 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 International High Relative Profitability 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.

81


 

World ex U.S. Value Portfolio

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the World ex U.S. Value 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 World ex U.S. Value 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

 

0.32%

 

Other Expenses

 

0.06%

 

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

 

0.19%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

0.57%

 

Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement**

 

0.19%

 

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

 

0.38%

 

 

*

 

The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in the management fee payable by the Portfolio from 0.37% to 0.32% effective as of February 28, 2022.

 

**

 

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the “Advisor”) has agreed to waive certain fees and in certain instances, assume certain expenses of the World ex U.S. Value Portfolio. The Fee Waiver and/or Expense Assumption Agreement for the Portfolio will remain in effect through February 28, 2024, and may only be terminated by the Fund’s Board of Directors prior to that date. 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 World ex U.S. Value Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual 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 would be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

$39

 

$163

 

$299

 

$695

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

A mutual 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 mutual fund shares are held in a taxable account. The World ex U.S. Value Portfolio does not pay

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transaction costs when buying and selling shares of other mutual funds (the “Underlying Funds”); however, the Underlying Funds pay transaction costs when buying and selling securities for their portfolios. The transaction costs incurred by the Underlying Funds, 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 15% based on the weighted average portfolio turnover ratios of each of the Portfolio’s underlying investments.

Principal Investment Strategies

To achieve the World ex U.S. Value Portfolio’s and the Underlying Funds’ investment objectives, 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 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 World ex U.S. Value Portfolio seeks to achieve its investment objective through exposure to a broad portfolio of securities of non-U.S. companies associated with countries with developed and emerging markets, which may include frontier markets (emerging market countries in an earlier stage of development), that the Advisor believes to be value stocks at the time of purchase. To achieve this exposure, the Advisor will generally purchase shares of The DFA International Value Series (the “DFA International Value Series”), DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio, and Dimensional Emerging Markets Value Fund (the “Underlying Funds”), which are other funds managed by the Advisor. The Portfolio currently intends to allocate its investments among the Underlying Funds in the following manner: 50% to 80% in the DFA International Value Series; 5% to 20% in the DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio; and 15% to 45% in the Dimensional Emerging Markets Value Fund. 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. In addition to, or in place of, investments in the Underlying Funds, the Portfolio also is permitted to invest directly in the same types of securities of companies that are described in this Prospectus as eligible investments for the Underlying Funds. 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. The Advisor may consider the relative market capitalization weighting of developed and emerging markets within the universe of eligible securities when allocating Portfolio investments among the Underlying Funds or securities.

The DFA International Value Series invests in large value companies associated with developed market countries and the DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio invests in small value companies associated with developed market countries. Generally, the Advisor determines if a company is large or small based on its market capitalization. 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 Dimensional Emerging Markets Value Fund may purchase securities of value companies associated with emerging markets, including frontier markets, across all market capitalizations. With respect to each Underlying Fund, the Advisor may limit or fix the Underlying Fund’s exposure to a particular country, region or issuer. 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 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 World ex U.S. Value Portfolio and each Underlying Fund intend to purchase securities of companies associated with countries that the Advisor has identified as approved markets for investment for such Portfolio or Underlying Fund. As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Portfolio’s net

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assets will be invested directly, or indirectly through its investment in the Underlying Funds, in securities of non-U.S. companies.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the World ex U.S. Value 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 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 World ex U.S. Value Portfolio and Underlying Funds may gain exposure to companies associated with approved markets by purchasing equity securities in the form of depositary receipts which may be domiciled or traded outside the issuer’s domicile country.

The World ex U.S. Value Portfolio and each Underlying Fund may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for equity securities and indices 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 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 World ex U.S. Value 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 World ex U.S. Value Portfolio invests as of the date of this Prospectus (other than the Underlying Funds that are included elsewhere in the Portfolio’s 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 World ex U.S. Value 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 the Portfolio is affected by the investment performance of the Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio invests. The ability of the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio’s assets among Underlying Funds. The Portfolio 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 the Portfolio or any Underlying Fund will be achieved. When the Portfolio invests in Underlying Funds, investors are exposed to a proportionate share of the expenses of those Underlying Funds in addition to the expenses of the Portfolio. Through its investments in the Underlying Funds, the Portfolio is subject to the risks of the Underlying Funds’ investments. The risks of the Portfolio’s and Underlying Funds’ investments 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 the Portfolio or Underlying Fund that owns them, to rise or fall. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

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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 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.

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and an investment strategy purchasing these securities may cause the Portfolio or an Underlying 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 the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

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.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures, 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 the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund uses derivatives, the Portfolio or Underlying Fund will be 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 the Portfolio or Underlying 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, an Underlying Fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. An Underlying 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. To the extent that the Portfolio holds securities directly and lends those securities, it will be also subject to the foregoing risks with respect to its loaned securities.

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

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are outside the Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Portfolio and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

Cyber Security Risk: The Portfolio’s and its service providers’ use of internet, technology and information systems may expose the Portfolio 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 Portfolio 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 World ex U.S. Value 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 one year, five year and ten year returns, 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 World ex U.S. Value 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.

 

World ex U.S. Value Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

January 2013-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
21.68% (10/20–12/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-32.09% (1/20–3/20)

 

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Annualized Returns (%)
Periods ending December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

World ex U.S. Value Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

 

 

-6.38

%

 

 

 

0.67

%

 

 

 

3.98

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

-7.04

%

 

 

 

-0.20

%

 

 

 

3.15

%

 

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

 

-3.03

%

 

 

 

0.47

%

 

 

 

3.04

%

 

 

MSCI All Country World ex USA Value Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)

 

 

-8.59

%

 

 

 

-0.05

%

 

 

 

2.72

%