XML 259 R200.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.22.4
Total
Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio
Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio
Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) is 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 Emerging Markets Targeted 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 eachyear as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio
Institutional Class
Management Fee 0.52%
Other Expenses 0.14%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.66%
EXAMPLE

This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the Emerging Markets Targeted 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:

Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio | Institutional Class | USD ($) 67 211 368 822
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Emerging Markets Targeted 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 28% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

To achieve the Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio’s investment objective, the Advisor implements an integrated investment approach that combines research, portfolio design, portfolio management, and trading functions. As further described below, the Portfolio’s design emphasizes long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisor’s research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies and sectors. The Advisor’s portfolio management and trading processes further balance those long-term drivers of expected returns with shorter-term drivers of expected returns and trading costs.

The Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio is designed to provide exposure to a broad and diverse portfolio of securities, with a focus on small and mid-cap value companies with higher profitability associated with emerging markets, which may include frontier markets (emerging market countries in an earlier stage of development), authorized for investment by the Advisor’s Investment Committee (“Approved Markets”). The Advisor determines size based primarily on market capitalization. A company’s market capitalization is the number of its shares outstanding times its price per share. 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 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- and mid-cap value segments of the Approved Markets in which the Portfolio is 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.

As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio will invest at least 80% of its net assets in emerging markets equity investments that are defined in the Prospectus as Approved Market securities.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the Emerging Markets Targeted 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 Emerging Markets Targeted 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 may also invest in China A-shares (equity securities of companies listed in China) and variable interest entities (special structures that utilize contractual arrangements to provide exposure to certain Chinese companies). The Portfolio may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for Approved Market 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 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 Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

Principal Risks

Because the value of your investment in the Emerging Markets Targeted 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 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-cap companies are also more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business or economic developments and they may have more limited resources.

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.

China Investments Risk: There are special risks associated with investments in China and Taiwan, which are considered emerging market countries by the Portfolio. The Chinese government has implemented significant economic reforms in order to liberalize trade policy, promote foreign investment in the economy, reduce government control of the economy and develop market mechanisms. But there can be no assurance that these reforms will continue or that they will be effective. Despite reforms and privatizations of companies in certain sectors, the Chinese government still exercises substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector and may own or control many companies. The Chinese government continues to maintain a major role in economic policy making and investing in China involves risks of losses due to expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property, and the imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and on repatriation of capital invested.

A reduction in spending on Chinese products and services or the institution of additional tariffs or other trade barriers, including as a result of heightened trade tensions between China and the United States may also have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy. In addition, investments in Taiwan could be adversely affected by its political and economic relationship with China. Certain securities issued by companies located or operating in China, such as China A-shares, are also subject to trading restrictions, quota limitations and less market liquidity, which could pose risks to the Portfolio. The Portfolio may also invest in special structures that utilize contractual arrangements to provide exposure to certain Chinese companies, known as variable interest entities (“VIEs”), that operate in sectors in which China restricts and/or prohibits foreign investments. The Chinese government’s acceptance of the VIE structure is evolving. It is uncertain whether Chinese officials and regulators will withdraw their acceptance of the structure or whether Chinese courts or arbitration bodies would decline to enforce the contractual rights of foreign investors, each of which would likely have significant, detrimental, and possibly permanent losses on the value of such investments.

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.

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 Emerging Markets Targeted 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 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 Emerging Markets Targeted 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.

Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns
Bar Chart

January 2019-December 2022

 

 

 

Highest Quarter
23.88% (4/20–6/20)

 

Lowest Quarter
-33.64% (1/20–3/20)

Annualized Returns (%)Periods ending December 31, 2022
Average Annual Returns - Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio
1 Year
Since Inception
Inception Date
Institutional Class (13.00%) 4.64% Nov. 14, 2018
After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Class (13.76%) 3.27%  
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares | Institutional Class (7.00%) 3.45%  
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (net dividends) (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes on sales) (20.09%) 2.15%