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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 (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 and hold shares of the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment):
Shareholder Fees
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares
USD ($)
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
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares
[1]
Management Fee 0.16%
Other Expenses 0.03%
Recovery of Previously Waived Fees 0.01% [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.20%
[1] The “Management Fee” and “Total Annual Operating Expenses” have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in management fee payable by the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio from 0.20% to 0.16% effective as of February 28, 2021.
[2] Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (the “Advisor”) has agreed to waive certain fees and in certain instances, assume certain expenses of the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio. The Fee Waiver and Expense Assumption Agreement for the Portfolio will remain in effect through February 28, 2022, and may only be terminated by the Fund’s Board of Directors prior to that date. Under certain circumstances, the Advisor retains the right to seek reimbursement for any fees previously waived and/or expenses previously assumed up to thirty-six months after such fee waiver and/or expense assumption.
EXAMPLE
This Example is meant to help you compare the cost of investing in the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio | U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares | USD ($) 20 64 113 255
Expense Example, No Redemption
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio | U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares | USD ($) 20 64 113 255
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 Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio’s portfolio turnover rate was 5% of the average value of its investment portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio purchases a broad and diverse group of securities of U.S. companies. 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 U.S. Universe, while adjusting the composition of the Portfolio based on sustainability impact considerations. The Advisor generally defines the U.S. Universe as a market capitalization weighted set (e.g., the larger the company, the greater the proportion of the U.S. Universe it represents) of U.S. operating companies listed on a securities exchange in the United States that is deemed appropriate by the Advisor. 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 U.S. 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. In assessing profitability, the Advisor considers different ratios, such as that of earnings or profits from operations relative to 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 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 Portfolio to securities of the largest U.S. high relative price 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, 2020, securities of the largest U.S. high relative price companies comprised 34% of the U.S. Universe and the Advisor allocated approximately 27% of the Portfolio to securities of the largest U.S. high relative price companies. The percentage by which the Portfolio’s allocation to securities of the largest U.S. high relative price companies is reduced will change due to market movements, sustainability impact considerations and other factors. Additionally, the range by which the 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 sustainability impact considerations and the Advisor may also adjust the representation in the Portfolio of an eligible company, or exclude a company, after considering such factors as free float, momentum, trading strategies, liquidity, size, relative price, profitability, investment characteristics, and other factors that the Advisor determines to be appropriate. 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.
The U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio also may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for 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. The above-referenced investments are not subject to, although they may incorporate, the Portfolio’s sustainability 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 may have on the environment and other sustainability considerations when making investment decisions for the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio. Relative to a portfolio without these considerations, the Portfolio will exclude or underweight securities of companies that, according to the Portfolio’s sustainability impact considerations, may be less sustainable as compared either to other companies in the Portfolio’s investment universe or other companies with similar business lines. Similarly, relative to a portfolio without sustainability impact considerations, the Portfolio will overweight securities of companies that, according to the Portfolio’s sustainability impact considerations, may be more sustainable as compared either to other companies in the Portfolio’s investment universe or other companies with similar business lines. In considering sustainability impact and other factors that the Advisor believes may be important to investors, the Advisor may consider carbon and other greenhouse emissions, or potential emissions, land use, cluster munitions manufacturing, landmine manufacturing, civilian firearms manufacturing, biodiversity, involvement in toxic spills or releases, operational waste, water use, tobacco, palm oil, coal, child labor and factory farming activities, among other factors. In particular, the Portfolio may exclude companies the Advisor considers to have high carbon or greenhouse gas emissions or reserves that may produce those emissions. The Advisor may engage third party service providers to provide research and/or ratings information relating to the Portfolio’s sustainability impact considerations with respect to securities in the portfolio, where information is available from such providers.
The Portfolio may periodically modify, add, or remove certain sustainability impact considerations. (See
“Additional Information on Investment Objectives and Policies—Applying the Sustainability Portfolios’ Sustainability Impact Considerations”
in this Prospectus.)
Principal Risks
Because the value of your investment in the U.S. Sustainability Core 1 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.
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.
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.
Sustainability Impact Consideration Investment Risk:
The Portfolio’s sustainability impact considerations may limit the number of investment opportunities available to the Portfolio, and as a result, at times, the Portfolio may underperform funds that are not subject to such sustainability impact considerations. For example, the Portfolio may decline to purchase, or underweight its investment in, certain securities due to sustainability impact considerations when other investment considerations would suggest that a more significant investment in such securities would be advantageous. The Portfolio may also overweight its investment in certain securities due to sustainability impact considerations when other investment considerations would suggest that a lesser investment in such securities would be advantageous. In addition, the Portfolio may sell or retain certain securities due to sustainability impact considerations when it is otherwise disadvantageous to do so. The sustainability impact considerations may also cause the Portfolio’s industry allocation to deviate from that of funds without these considerations and of conventional benchmarks. The Advisor may also not be able to assess the sustainability impact of each company eligible for purchase by the Portfolio. For example, the Advisor may not be able to determine an overall sustainability impact score for each company based on the sustainability considerations because the third party service providers may not have data on the entire universe of companies considered by the Advisor for the Portfolio, or may not have information with respect to each factor considered as a sustainability impact consideration.
Derivatives Risk:
Derivatives are instruments, such as futures contracts, and options thereon, 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, 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 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 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
http://us.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-advantaged
arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio—Total Returns
Bar Chart
 
January 2011-December 2020
Highest Quarter
  
Lowest Quarter
23.09% (4/20–6/20)
  
-22.44% (1/20–3/20)
Annualized Returns (%) Periods ending December 31, 2020
Average Annual Total Returns - U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares 21.22% 15.68% 13.63%
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares | Return After Taxes on Distributions 20.81% 15.09% 13.07%
U.S. Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio Shares | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares 12.76% 12.50% 11.29%
Russell 3000® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 20.89% 15.43% 13.79%
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, 7,599,874 B1 and 8,438,092 B2.