Fund Evaluator:

DFA International Small Company I Overview

DFA International Small Company I (DFISX) is an actively managed International Equity Foreign Small/Mid Blend fund. Dimensional Fund Advisors launched the fund in 1996.

The investment seeks long-term capital appreciation. As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the International Small Company Portfolio, through its investments in the underlying funds, will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities of small companies. The Portfolio and each underlying fund may invest in affiliated and unaffiliated registered and unregistered money market funds to manage its cash pending investment in other securities or to maintain liquidity for the payment of redemptions or other purposes.

About DFA International Small Company I (DFISX)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 8.18 years: Jed Fogdall (2010), Joel Schneider (2020), Brendan McAndrews (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: MSCI World ex USA NR USD index with a weighting of 100% and MSCI World Ex USA Small Cap NR USD index with a weighting of 100%. DFA International Small Company I has 3 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 47.8% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

DFA International Small Company I is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the International Equity fund group. DFA International Small Company I has 0.2% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 47.5%. There is 0.2% 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). DFA International Small Company I has 52.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $16 billion in total assets, which is above the $553 million average for the Foreign Small/Mid Blend 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.

DFISX 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 DFA International Small Company I expense ratio is below average compared to funds in the Foreign Small/Mid Blend category. DFA International Small Company I has an expense ratio of 0.39%, which is 66% 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. DFA International Small Company I has a portfolio turnover rate of 14%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 64% for the Foreign Small/Mid Blend category.

Recently, in the month of August 2026, DFA International Small Company I returned 4.3%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Foreign Small/Mid Blend category had an average return of 4.3%. 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 funds in that category.

DFA International Small Company I has a trailing yield of 2.80%, which is above the 2.63% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.

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.

DFA International Small Company I Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 13.4%, 1.0 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 21.1% over the past year (grade of C), 19.4% over the past three years (grade of B) and 8.3% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 9.6% per year over the past 10 years (grade of B).

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