Dimensional Fund Advisors was founded in 1981 by David Booth and Rex Sinquefeild to apply academic research on capital markets to the practical world of investing. The firm maintains close ties to the University of Chicago and other research centers. Board members and consultants include some of the nations most distinguished academic theorists, including Eugene Fama, Kenneth French, Roger Ibbotson, Donald Keim, Nobel laureates Merton Miller (1990) and Myron Scholes (1997).  Dimensional manages over $100 billion and serves over 200 corporate, government, college endowment, and charitable organizations.

Dimensional does not distribute its product through direct marketing or conventional broker/dealer firms. Access to the funds is restricted to advisors demonstrating a commitment to employ business methods and investment strategies consistent with this philosophy.  MPM receives no compensation from Dimensional Fund Advisors.  Dimensional's overall objective is to help clients structure globally diversified portfolios that add value over simple index strategies while remaining consistent with passive " no forecasting" philosophy.

DFA is the only company that has pure asset class funds. This means that they have different characteristics than index funds and actively managed funds.  DFA is truly one of a kind in the management of their funds.  They are the only money managers to embrace the three factor model that explains 94% of stock market returns.

They differ from your traditional index fund in that they have 24 criteria that allow a stock to be bought or sold.  If a stock meets all of the criteria it is bought and places in the portfolio. If it does not, then it is not bought.  It is this simple, passive approach that sets them apart from the competition.  It makes DFA different than index funds in that it is not buying an arbitrary index that was never designed to be an investment vehicle, and in turn does not offer superior returns.  It also differs from active management in that there are no decisions to be made.  The 24 criteria are derived from research that dates back to the beginning of financial markets. 

DFA's differing philosophy is only the beginning.  DFA's corporate structure sets them apart more than anything else.  By only offering their services through limited channels they are working for the investor to achieve the highest gains possible.  Their trading structure can not be matched by anyone in the industry, which benefits investors the most.  Internal fees are kept to a minimum, making them some of the lowest in the industry.

This overview only gives you a few of the many reasons we use DFA in our clients portfolios.