Investment objective & strategy
As of Feb. 27, 2026 · prospectusObjective. The investment objective of the Dimensional International Sustainability Core 1 ETF (the International Sustainability ETF or Portfolio) is to achieve long-term capital appreciation.
Strategy. To achieve the International Sustainability ETFs 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 Portfolio is designed to purchase a broad and diverse group of securities within a market capitalization weighted universe (e.g., the larger the company, the greater the proportion of the universe it represents) of non-U.S. companies associated with … To achieve the International Sustainability ETFs 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 Portfolio is designed to purchase a broad and diverse group of securities within a market capitalization weighted universe (e.g., the larger the company, the greater the proportion of the universe it represents) of non-U.S. companies associated with developed markets that have been authorized for investment by the Advisors Investment Committee (the International Universe). The Portfolio invests in companies of all sizes and seeks to moderately increase the Portfolios exposure to smaller capitalization, lower relative price, and higher profitability companies as compared to their representation in the International Universe, while adjusting the composition of the Portfolio based on sustainability considerations. The Portfolio may seek to achieve a moderately increased exposure to smaller capitalization, lower relative price, and higher profitability companies by decreasing the allocation of the Portfolios assets to larger capitalization, higher relative price, or lower profitability companies relative to their weight in the International 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. 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. Additionally, the representation of securities in the Portfolio as compared to their representation in the International Universe may be affected by the Portfolio's sustainability considerations. The Portfolio intends to purchase securities of companies associated with developed market countries that the Advisor has designated as approved markets. As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Portfolio will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities. The Advisor determines company size on a country or region specific basis and based primarily on market capitalization. The percentage by which the Portfolios allocation to securities of the largest high relative price companies is reduced will change due to market movements, sustainability considerations and other factors. The Advisor may also increase or reduce the 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 Portfolio may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for foreign or 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. 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 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 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 (i) relative to the broader equity market based on potential emissions from reserves and scaled potential emissions from reserves and the securities of the worst-ranking companies are generally underweighted or excluded, (ii) relative to the applicable universe of securities based on carbon intensity and the securities of the worst-ranking companies are generally underweighted or excluded and (iii) relative to their sector peers based primarily on carbon intensity, but also considering several other factors, including controversies related to land use and biodiversity, toxic spills and releases, operational waste, and water management, and the securities of the worst-ranking companies are generally underweighted or excluded and the securities of the remaining companies are generally overweighted or neutral-weighted. 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. The Portfolio is an actively managed exchange traded fund and does not seek to replicate the performance of a specific index and may have a higher degree of portfolio turnover than such index funds.
Top holdings
As of April 30, 2026 · N-PORT| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| The DFA Short Term Investment Fund | — | $35.25M | 3.40% |
| ASML Holding NV - NY Reg Shares | — | $23.13M | 2.23% |
| Novartis AG | — | $11.35M | 1.09% |
| ROCHE HOLDING AG | — | $11.31M | 1.09% |
| AstraZeneca PLC ORD USD0.25 | AZN LN | $8.27M | 0.80% |
| ROYAL BANK OF CANADA | — | $7.93M | 0.76% |
| SIEMENS ENERGY AG | — | $7.07M | 0.68% |
| ROLLS-ROYCE HOLDINGS PLC | — | $6.78M | 0.65% |
| LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON SE | MC | $6.17M | 0.59% |
| TOYOTA MOTOR CORP | — | $5.84M | 0.56% |
Portfolio moves
Jan 31, 2026 → Apr 30, 2026How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.
Similar funds
Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight| Fund | Overlap | Net exp. |
|---|---|---|
| International Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio | 78% | 0.24% |
| Dimensional International Core Equity 2 ETF · DFIC | 70% | 0.22% |
| Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF · DFAI | 66% | 0.18% |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| DIMENSIONAL FUND ADVISORS LP | Adviser |
| Dimensional Fund Advisors Ltd. | Sub-adviser |
| DFA Australia Limited | Sub-adviser |
Footnotes
- Expense ratio as of February 27, 2026, from the fund's prospectus.
- Net assets and holdings count as of April 30, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
- Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. As reported in the fund's prospectus performance bar chart.
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