Fund Evaluator:

DFA Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I Overview

DFA Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I (DFTEX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Corporate Bond fund. Dimensional Fund Advisors launched the fund in 2010.

The investment seeks to maximize total returns. The fund seeks to maximize total returns from a universe of U.S. and foreign corporate debt securities with an investment grade credit rating. As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Portfolio will invest at least 80% of its net assets in fixed income securities considered to be investment grade quality. In addition, the Portfolio is authorized to invest more than 25% of its total assets in U.S. Treasury bonds, bills and notes, and obligations of federal agencies and instrumentalities.

About DFA Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I (DFTEX)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 9.83 years: David Plecha (2010), Lovell Shao (2019), Christopher Cummins (2025), Joseph Kolerich (2012). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Bloomberg US Credit TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. DFA Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I has 658 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 18.0% 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 Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. DFA Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I has 24.2% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0%. There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 69.0% (44.9% domestic bond, 24.2% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). DFA Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I has 31.0% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $1 billion in total assets, which is above the $723 million average for the Corporate Bond 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.

DFTEX 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 Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I expense ratio is below average compared to funds in the Corporate Bond category. DFA Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I has an expense ratio of 0.20%, which is 73% 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 Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I has a portfolio turnover rate of 35%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 117% for the Corporate Bond category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, DFA Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I returned -1.6%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Corporate Bond category had an average return of -1.6%. 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 Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I has a trailing yield of 5.19%, which is above the 4.39% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly 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 Intermediate-Term Extnd Qlty I Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned -0.3%, 0.6 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 3.0% over the past year (grade of A), 5.3% over the past three years (grade of A) and -0.0% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 2.1% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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