Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to banks or dealers which meet the creditworthiness standards established by the Board of Directors. Securities lending is subject to the risk that loaned securities may not be available to the Fund on a timely basis and the Fund may therefore lose the opportunity to sell the securities at a desirable price. Any loss in the market price of securities loaned by the Fund that occurs during the term of the loan would be borne by the Fund and would adversely affect the Fund’s performance. In addition, there may be delays in recovery, or no recovery, of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while the loan is outstanding.
Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, the DFA Real Estate Securities Portfolio may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The DFA Real Estate Securities Portfolio could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences. Operational Risk: Operational risks include human error, changes in personnel, system changes, faults in communication, and failures in systems, technology, or processes. Various operational events or circumstances are outside the advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The portfolio and the advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.
Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves a possible delay in recovery of the loaned securities or a possible loss of rights in the collateral if the borrower fails financially. The fund could also lose money if the value of the collateral decreases. Liquidity Risk. The fund is exposed to liquidity risk when trading volume, lack of a market maker or trading partner, large position size, market conditions, or legal restrictions impair its ability to sell particular investments or to sell them at advantageous market prices. Consequently, the Fund may have to accept a lower price to sell an investment or continue to hold it or keep the position open, sell other investments to raise cash or abandon an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on the fund’s performance. These effects may be exacerbated during times of financial or political stress. Risks Associated with Active Management. The success of the fund’s investment strategy depends on portfolio management’s successful application of analytical skills and investment judgment. Active management involves subjective decisions. Responsible Investing Risk. Investing primarily in responsible investments carries the risk that, under certain market conditions, the fund may underperform funds that do not utilize a responsible investment strategy. The application of responsible investment criteria may affect the fund’s exposure to certain sectors or types of investments, and may impact the fund’s relative investment performance depending on whether such sectors or investments are in or out of favor in the market. An investment’s ESG performance or the investment adviser’s assessment of such performance may change over time, which could cause the fund to temporarily hold securities that do not comply with the fund’s responsible investment criteria. In evaluating an investment, the investment adviser is dependent upon information and data that may be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable, which could adversely affect the analysis of the ESG factors relevant to a particular investment. Successful application of the fund’s responsible investment strategy will depend on the investment adviser’s skill in properly identifying and analyzing material ESG issues.
Securities Lending Risk. For the purpose of achieving income, the Fund may lend its portfolio securities to brokers, dealers, and other financial institutions provided a number of conditions are satisfied, including that the loan is fully collateralized. Please see “Investment Objectives and Policies—Loans of Portfolio Securities” in the Statement of Additional Information for more details. When the Fund lends portfolio securities, its investment performance will continue to reflect changes in the value of the securities loaned, and the Fund will also receive a fee or interest on the collateral. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. The Fund may pay lending fees to a party arranging the loan. Cash collateral received by the Fund in securities lending transactions may be invested in short-term liquid fixed income instruments or in money market or short-term mutual funds, or similar investment vehicles, including affiliated money market or short-term mutual funds. The Fund bears the risk of such investments. Call risk refers to the possibility that an issuer may exercise its right to redeem a fixed income security earlier than expected. Issuers may call outstanding securities prior to their maturity for a number of reasons. If an issuer calls a security in which the Fund has invested, the Fund may not recoup the full amount of its initial investment and may be forced to reinvest in lower-yielding securities, securities with greater credit risks or securities with other, less favorable features.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, the Portfolio may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Portfolio could also lose money if the Portfolio does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences.
Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, a mutual fund that lends its securities may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences for a mutual fund. Senior Loan Risk – Many senior loans present credit risk comparable to high-yield securities. The liquidation of the collateral backing a senior loan may not satisfy a borrower’s obligation to a mutual fund in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal. Senior loans also expose a mutual fund to call risk and liquidity risk. The secondary market for senior loans can be limited. Trades can be infrequent and the values for senior loans may experience volatility. In some cases, negotiations for the sale or settlement of senior loans may require weeks to complete, which may impair a mutual fund’s ability to raise cash to satisfy redemptions, pay dividends, pay expenses or to take advantage of other investment opportunities in a timely manner. If an issuer of a senior loan prepays or redeems the loan prior to maturity, a mutual fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in other senior loans or instruments that may pay lower interest rates. Short Sales Risk – A mutual fund may incur a loss as a result of a short sale if the price of the security increases between the date of the short sale and the date on which the fund replaces the security sold short. Short sales are speculative investments that will cause a mutual fund to lose money if the value of a security does not go down as the mutual fund’s investment adviser expects. The risk of loss is theoretically unlimited if the value of the security sold short continues to increase. In addition, the use of borrowing and short sales may cause a mutual fund to have higher expenses (especially interest and dividend expenses) than those of other mutual funds. There is also the risk that the third party to the short sale will not fulfill its contractual obligations, causing a loss to the mutual fund. To the extent that a mutual fund invests in derivatives, the fund may create short investment exposure by taking a derivative position in which the value of the derivative moves in the opposite direction from th...
Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, a fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. A fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. Securities lending also may have certain adverse tax consequences. Small Company Risk: Securities of small companies are often less liquid than those of large companies and this could make it difficult to sell a small company security at a desired time or price. As a result, small company stocks may fluctuate relatively more in price. In general, smaller capitalization companies are also more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business or economic developments and they may have more limited resources. Small and Mid-Cap Company Risk: Securities of small and mid-cap companies are often less liquid than those of large companies and this could make it difficult to sell a small or mid-cap company security at a desired time or price. As a result, small and mid-cap company stocks may fluctuate relatively more in price. In general, small and mid-capitalization companies are also more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business or economic developments and they may have more limited resources.
Securities Lending Risk. The Bond Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Bond Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of the collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Bond Fund. ● Telecommunications Sector Risk. Companies in the telecommunications sector may be affected by industry competition, substantial capital requirements, government regulation and obsolescence of telecommunications products and services due to technological advancement. ● Tracking Error Risk. Tracking error is the divergence of the Bond Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Bond Fund’s portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing differences, transaction costs, the Bond Fund’s holding of uninvested cash, differences in timing of the accrual of distributions, changes to the Underlying Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Bond Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying Index does not. The following table is intended to help Account Owners understand the risks of investing in the Bond Fund. The table shows how the performance of the Bond Fund’s ETF Shares (based on NAV) has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. The table shows how the average annual total returns of the ETF Shares compare with those of the Bond Fund’s target index, which has investment characteristics similar to those of the Bond Fund. Account Owners should keep in mind that the Bond Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not indicate how the Bond Fund will perform in the future. Note that the Bond Fund is not a Designated Portfolio. The Bond Fund’s performance will be higher than the performance of the Corporate Bond Portfolio, the Designated Portfolio that it underlies, due to the higher expenses of the Corporate Bond Portfolio. Total returns1 for period ended in September30, 2017 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year Since Inception 07/22/2002 Net asset value (NAV) re...
Securities Lending Risk. The Emerging Bond Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Emerging Bond Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Emerging Bond Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of the collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Emerging Bond Fund.
