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Institutional Shares | U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The investment objective of the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 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 and hold shares of the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment):
Shareholder Fees (USD $)
Institutional Shares
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares
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)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Institutional Shares
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares
Management Fee 0.29%
Other Expenses 0.06%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.35%
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement or (Recovery) [1] (0.02%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement or (Recovery) 0.37%
[1] The Advisor has agreed to waive certain fees and in certain instances, assume certain expenses of the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio. The Amended and Restated Fee Waiver and/or Expense Assumption Agreement for the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio will remain in effect through February 28, 2014, and may not be terminated by the Advisor prior to that date. Under certain circumstances, the Advisor retains the right to seek reimbursement for any fees previously waived and/or expenses previously assumed up to thirty-six months after such fee waiver and/or expense assumption.
Example
This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 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 and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. 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 (USD $)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Institutional Shares U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares
38 115 199 445
Portfolio Turnover
The U.S. Sustainability Core 1 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 U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio’s portfolio turnover rate was 9% of the average value of its investment portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the "Advisor") believes that equity investing should involve a long-term view and a systematic focus on sources of expected returns, not on stock picking or market timing. In constructing an investment portfolio, the Advisor identifies a broadly diversified universe of eligible securities with precisely-defined risk and return characteristics. It then places priority on efficiently managing portfolio turnover and keeping trading costs low. In general, the Advisor does not intend to purchase or sell securities for the investment portfolio based on prospects for the economy, the securities markets or the individual issuers whose shares are eligible for purchase.

The U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio purchases a broad and diverse group of securities of U.S. companies with a greater emphasis on small capitalization and value companies as compared to their representation in the U.S. Universe, while adjusting the composition of the Portfolio based on environmental impact considerations. The Advisor generally defines the U.S. Universe as a free float adjusted market capitalization weighted portfolio of U.S. operating companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"), NYSE Alternext US LLC or Nasdaq Global Market® or such other securities exchanges deemed appropriate by the Advisor. The Portfolio's increased exposure to small and value companies may be achieved by decreasing the allocation of the Portfolio's assets to the largest U.S. growth companies relative to their weight in the U.S. Universe. An equity issuer is considered a growth company primarily because it has a low, non-negative book value in relation to its market capitalization. An equity issuer is considered a value company primarily because it has a high book value in relation to its market capitalization.

As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of U.S. companies. The percentage allocation of the assets of the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio to securities of the largest U.S. growth companies as defined above will generally be reduced from between 2.5% and 25% of their percentage weight in the U.S. Universe. For example, as of December 31, 2012, securities of the largest U.S. growth companies comprised 32% of the U.S. Universe and the Advisor allocated approximately 21% of the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio to securities of the largest U.S. growth companies. The percentage by which the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio's allocation to securities of the largest U.S. growth companies is reduced will change due to market movements, environmental impact considerations and other factors. Additionally, the range by which the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio's percentage allocation to all securities as compared to the U.S. Universe may be impacted by the Portfolio's investment strategies with respect to environmental impact considerations and may be modified after considering other factors the Advisor determines to be appropriate, such as free float, momentum, trading strategies, liquidity management, and expected profitability. In assessing expected profitability, the Advisor may consider different ratios, such as that of earnings or profits from operations relative to book value or assets.

The U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio also may use derivatives, such as futures contracts and options on futures contracts for U.S. equity securities and indices, to gain market exposure on its uninvested cash pending investment in securities or to maintain liquidity to pay redemptions. The above-referenced investments are not subject to, although they may incorporate, the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio's environmental impact considerations.

The U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.

The Advisor intends to take into account the impact that companies have on the environment when making investment decisions for the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio by adjusting the composition of the Portfolio based on environmental impact considerations. Relative to a portfolio without environmental impact considerations, the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio will exclude or underweight securities of companies that, according to the Portfolio's environmental impact considerations, may have a relatively negative impact on the environment as compared either to other companies in the Portfolio's entire investment universe or other companies with similar business lines. Similarly, relative to a portfolio without environmental impact considerations, the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio will overweight securities of companies that, according to the Portfolio's environmental impact considerations, may have a relatively positive impact on the environment as compared either to other companies in the Portfolio's entire investment universe or other companies with similar business lines. Negative factors include issues relating to agricultural chemicals, climate change, hazardous waste, ozone depleting chemicals, regulatory problems, substantial emissions, negative economic impact, and other environmental concerns. Positive factors include issues relating to beneficial products and services, clean energy, environmental management systems, pollution prevention, recycling and other strengths. The Advisor has engaged a third party service provider to provide research and ratings information relating to the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio's environmental impact considerations with respect to securities in the portfolio, where information is available from such provider.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
Market Risk: Even a long-term investment approach cannot guarantee a profit. Economic, political, and issuer-specific events will cause the value of securities, and the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio that owns them, to rise or fall. Because the value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, there is the risk that you will lose money.

Value Investment Risk: Value stocks may perform differently from the market as a whole and following a value-oriented investment strategy may cause the Portfolio to at times underperform equity funds that use other investment strategies.

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.

Environmental Impact Consideration Investment Risk: The U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio's environmental impact considerations may limit the number of investment opportunities available to the Portfolio, and as a result, at times, the Portfolio may produce more modest gains than funds that are not subject to such special investment considerations. For example, the Portfolio may decline to purchase, or underweight its investment in, certain securities due to environmental impact considerations when other investment considerations would suggest that a more significant investment in such securities would be advantageous. In addition, the Portfolio may sell certain securities due to environmental impact considerations when it is otherwise disadvantageous to do so. The environmental impact considerations may cause the Portfolio's industry allocation to deviate from that of funds without these considerations and of conventional benchmarks.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are instruments, such as futures contracts, whose value is derived from that of other assets, rates or indices. The use of derivatives for non-hedging purposes may be considered more speculative than other types of investments. When the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio uses derivatives, the Portfolio will be directly exposed to the risks of that derivative. Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks including liquidity, interest rate, market, credit and management risks, and 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 U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The U.S. Sustainability Core 1 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.
PERFORMANCE
The bar chart and table immediately following illustrate the variability of the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 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 U.S. Sustainability Core 1 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 U.S. Sustainability Core 1 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 www.dimensional.com.

The after-tax returns presented in the table for the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 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-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. A negative pre-tax total return translates into a higher after-tax return because this calculation assumes that an investor received a tax deduction for the loss incurred on the sale.
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio
Total Returns (%)
Bar Chart
January 2009-December 2012

Highest Quarter    Lowest Quarter
18.89 (4/09-6/09)    -17.51 (7/11-9/11)
Periods ending December 31, 2012
Annualized Returns (%)
Average Annual Total Returns Institutional Shares U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio
One Year
Since Inception
Inception Date
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares
17.05% 4.94% Mar. 12, 2008
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares Return After Taxes on Distributions
16.65% 4.63% Mar. 12, 2008
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares
11.55% 4.17% Mar. 12, 2008
Russell 3000® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)
16.42% 4.55%  
The implementation and management of the Advisor’s “Sustainability” portfolios, including without limitation, the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio is protected by U.S. Patent Nos. 7,596,525 B1 and 7,599,874 B1.