497K 1 d43509d497k.htm CONTINENTAL SMALL COMPANY PORTFOLIO CONTINENTAL SMALL COMPANY PORTFOLIO

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Continental Small Company Portfolio

 

 

SHARE CLASS (TICKER): INSTITUTIONAL CLASS (DFCSX)

 

 

Summary Prospectus

February 28, 2021

 

Before you invest, you may want to review the Portfolio’s Prospectus, which contains more information about the Portfolio and its risks. You can find the Portfolio’s Prospectus and other information about the Portfolio, including the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) and most recent reports to shareholders, when available, online at https://us.dimensional.com/fund-documents. You can also get this information at no cost by calling collect to (512) 306-7400 or by sending an e-mail request to document_requests@dimensional.com. The Portfolio’s Prospectus and SAI, both dated February 28, 2021, as may be supplemented, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.


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 and hold shares of the Continental Small Company Portfolio.

 

 

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        0.50%  
Other Expenses        0.06%  
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses        0.56%  
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement        0.10%  
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement        0.46%  
*

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 0.47% to 0.40% effective as of February 28, 2021.

**

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

 

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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
  $ 47      $ 148      $ 258      $ 579

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 8% of the average value of its investment portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Continental Small Company Portfolio pursues its investment objective by investing substantially all of its assets in the Continental Small Company Series. The Series, using a market capitalization weighted approach, purchases 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. In general, the higher the relative market capitalization of a small company within an eligible country, the greater its representation in the Series. The Advisor may adjust the representation in the Series of an eligible company, or exclude a company, after considering such factors as free float, momentum, trading strategies, liquidity, relative price, profitability, investment characteristics, 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. In assessing profitability, the Advisor considers different ratios, such as that of earnings or profits from operations relative to book value or assets. 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 relative price, profitability, and investment characteristics are subject to change from time to time.

 

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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, 2020, for the Series, the market capitalization of a small company in any country or region in which the Series invests would be below $8,678 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 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 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.

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.

 

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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 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

 

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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 http://us.dimensional.com.

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.

 

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Continental Small Company Portfolio Institutional Class Shares—Total Returns

 

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January 2011-December  2020

Highest Quarter

  

Lowest Quarter

22.55% (4/20–6/20)

  

-29.78% (1/20–3/20)

 

 

Annualized Returns (%)

Periods ending December 31, 2020

 

     1 Year     5 Years     10 Years  
Continental Small Company Portfolio                         

Return Before Taxes

     15.05     10.73     8.32

Return After Taxes on Distributions

     14.72     10.05     7.69

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

     9.32     8.46     6.63
MSCI Europe ex UK Small Cap Index (net dividends)
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes on sales)
     21.80     11.56     9.02

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.

 

 

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Bhanu P. Singh, 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 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.

 

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Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

6300 Bee Cave Road, Building One

Austin, TX 78746

(512) 306-7400

 

RRD022821-DFCSX

00257117

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