Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Market ETF

Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Market ETF (DFAE) held 6,310 emerging-market stocks as of July 31, 2026, mostly from Taiwan, South Korea, India and China. Dimensional chooses and weights them itself instead of copying an index. It leans slightly toward smaller, cheaper and more profitable companies. Its 0.29% expense ratio is above plain index funds like IEMG (0.09%) and VWO (0.07%), but well below EEM (0.72%).

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, DFAE returned +14.5%, 3rd of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +8.4%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-17.5%); its best was 2025 (+31.5%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 32.2% (Jun 2, 2021 to Oct 24, 2022), recovered by Sep 26, 2024.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 6,310 securities; the ten largest made up 30.49% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $450.7M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +8.39%, -1.67%, -3.82%.

DFAE doesn't track an index. Dimensional Fund Advisors, its manager, starts with all the emerging-market companies in countries its Investment Committee has approved. The prospectus filed February 27, 2026, lists 24 approved countries, from Brazil and India to Saudi Arabia and Taiwan. The fund weights companies by market capitalization, so a bigger company gets a bigger share. It then holds slightly less of very large, expensive or less profitable companies. That leaves a bit more weight on smaller companies, value stocks (low price compared with book value, which is roughly assets minus debts) and highly profitable firms. Normally at least 80% of net assets stays in emerging-market stocks.

The manager can also add, trim or drop a stock for shorter-term reasons, such as price momentum or fast asset growth. It trades patiently to keep costs down, and portfolio turnover was 6%. As of July 31, 2026, the top 10 holdings made up 30.49% of the fund. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing alone was 13.19%, followed by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

Some holdings come through depositary receipts (certificates for foreign shares that trade on other exchanges) or equity swaps (contracts that pay the return of a stock). The fund can also own China A-shares and Chinese variable interest entities. These are contract-based structures that give foreign investors exposure to some Chinese companies. It uses futures, such as a small S&P 500 position, to manage cash as money moves in and out.

• DFAE charges 0.29% a year, versus an average of 0.25% for the similar funds below (6th of 9, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $30 in the first year and $368 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It adds thousands of companies outside the US, especially Asian chip and electronics makers, that a US-focused portfolio may not own.

DFAE launched in December 2020, so it has no record for the 2008 financial crisis or the 2020 COVID crash. In the 2022 bear market it fell 27.9% between January 12 and October 11, 2022. It then took 21 months to recover. Its deepest drop was 32.2%, from June 2, 2021, to October 24, 2022, and it regained that peak only in September 2024. Its worst calendar year was 2022, down 17.25%. Anyone who had to sell shares during that stretch would have locked in losses. The trailing yield was 2% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly. Costs come to $30 in the first year on $10,000 under the SEC's standard example. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.