Strategy. To achieve the World ex U.S. Sustainability Targeted Value Portfolios 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 Portfolios design emphasizes long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisors research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies, sectors, and countries. The Advisors 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. Sustainability Targeted Value Portfolio is designed to provide exposure to a broad and diverse portfolio of securities of non-U.S. companies, with a focus on small and mid-cap lower relative price … Show more… To achieve the World ex U.S. Sustainability Targeted Value Portfolios 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 Portfolios design emphasizes long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisors research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies, sectors, and countries. The Advisors 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. Sustainability Targeted Value Portfolio is designed to provide exposure to a broad and diverse portfolio of securities of non-U.S. companies, with a focus on small and mid-cap lower relative price companies with higher profitability, while adjusting the composition of the Portfolio based on sustainability considerations. The Portfolio may purchase securities of companies associated with countries with developed and emerging markets, which may include frontier markets (emerging market countries in an earlier stage of development), authorized for investment by the Advisors Investment Committee (Approved Markets). The Portfolio intends to invest its assets to gain exposure to at least three different countries, excluding the United States. 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 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 may also increase or reduce the World ex U.S. Sustainability Targeted Value Portfolios exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a companys price momentum, short-run reversals, and investment characteristics. In assessing a companys investment characteristics, the Advisor considers ratios such as recent changes in assets divided by total assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing a companys 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 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 issuers domicile country. The World ex U.S. Sustainability Targeted Value 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 Portfolios 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 above referenced investments are not subject to, although they may incorporate, the Portfolios sustainability considerations. The World ex U.S. Sustainability Targeted Value Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income. The Advisor intends to take into account certain sustainability considerations when making investment decisions for the World ex U.S. Sustainability Targeted Value Portfolio. Relative to a fund without these considerations that otherwise has the same investment objective, strategies, and policies as the Portfolio, the Portfolio will generally have excluded, and have less overall weight in, securities of companies that, according to the Portfolios sustainability considerations, may be less sustainable as compared to other companies in the Portfolios investment universe. Similarly, relative to such a fund, the Portfolio will generally have more overall weight in securities of companies that, according to the Portfolios sustainability considerations, may be more sustainable as compared to other companies in the Portfolios investment universe. In particular, the Advisor ranks companies relative to the applicable universe of securities based on carbon intensity and scaled potential emissions from reserves and the securities of the worst-ranking companies are generally excluded. In addition, the Advisor seeks to exclude securities of companies based on sustainability considerations relating to coal, factory farming, palm oil, cluster munitions and landmines, tobacco, child labor, civilian firearms, private prisons, and material involvement in severe environmental, social, or governance controversies that indicate operations inconsistent with responsible business conduct standards (such as those defined by the United Nations Global Compact Principles and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises). For a more detailed description of these sustainability considerations, see Applying the Portfolios Sustainability Considerations. The Advisor engages third party service providers to provide research information relating to the Portfolios sustainability considerations with respect to securities in the Portfolio, where information is available from such providers. The Advisor also may use, or supplement third party service providers data with, proprietary research relating to certain sustainability considerations where information is not available or has not been obtained from third party service providers engaged by the Advisor. The Advisor periodically reviews the Portfolios sustainability considerations and the Portfolio may periodically modify, add, or remove sustainability considerations. Show less