ETF Evaluator: Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF () Follow This ETF

Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF Overview

Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF (DFAE) is an actively managed International Equity Diversified Emerging Mkts exchange-traded fund (ETF). Dimensional Fund Advisors launched the ETF in 2020.

The investment seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation. The fund is designed to purchase a broad and diverse group of readily marketable emerging markets equity securities that is composed of companies within the Emerging Markets Universe that meet the Advisor's investment criteria. The Advisor defines the "Emerging Markets Universe" as a market capitalization weighted set of non-U.S. companies associated with emerging markets, which may include frontier markets that have been designated as Approved Markets for investment by the Advisor.

About Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF (DFAE)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.59 years: Jed Fogdall (2020), Joel Schneider (2024) and Joseph Hohn (2020). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 1 primary benchmark: MSCI EM IMI NR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF has 6281 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 30.7% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the International Equity ETF group. Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF has 99.4% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.9% There is 99.4% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF has -0.4% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $9 billion in total assets, which is above the $3 billion average for the Diversified Emerging Mkts category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

DFAE Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF expense ratio is below average compared to funds in the Diversified Emerging Mkts category. Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF has an expense ratio of 0.29%, which is 44% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 6%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.2 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 44% for the Diversified Emerging Mkts category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF returned -3.8%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Diversified Emerging Mkts category had an average return of -3.0%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF has a trailing yield of 1.84%, which is below the 2.41% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Mkt ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 17.7%, 0.6 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 32.3% over the past year (grade of C), 18.2% over the past three years (grade of C) and 9.1% per year over the past five years (grade of B).

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