DFA Emerging Markets Small Cap I (DEMSX) Fund

DFA Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund (DEMSX) is an international stock mutual fund. This diversified emerging markets equity fund invests in small companies located in emerging market countries.

DFA Emerging Markets Small Cap I (Ticker: DEMSX)

The investment aim of DFA Emerging Markets Small Cap fund is to seek long-term appreciation of capital. This fund invests significantly all of its assets in broad market coverage of smaller companies associated with each emerging market, which may include frontier markets. It may invest in the form of depositary receipts.

Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: Mar 5, 1998
• Ticker Symbol: DEMSX
• CUSIP: 233-203-611
• Beta (3yr): 1.15
• Rank in category (YTD): 23%
• Category: Diversified Emerging Markets
• Yield: 2.06%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.79%
• Net Assets: $ 2.32 billion
• Number of Years Up: 8 years
• Number of Years Down: 5 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 18%

updated on 7/26/2012

This diversified emerging markets stock mutual fund was first introduced to public in March 1998. The current fund manager is Karen Umland. She started managing this DFA fund since December 1998. Its dividend yield is 2.06%. The most recent distribution was given in December 2011 in the amount of $0.15.  The fund has total net assets of $2.32 billion. It also has 0.79% annual expense ratio. It is lower compared to the average in the Diversified Emerging Markets category (1.63%). As a no-load fund, the annual holdings turnover rate is 18% (as of April 16, 2012).

This international stock fund has 4-stars rating from Morningstar. The YTD return is 17.22%. This fund has its highest 1-year total return in 2009 with 99.74%. The worst return was occurred in year 2005 with -54.53%.  Based on the load adjusted return, it has returned -7.53% over the past 1-year, 22.75% over the past 3-year and 17.49% over the past 10-year. The 3-year beta risk is 1.15.

You can buy this equity fund from several brokerages. They are Pershing Fund Center, Protected Investors of America, JP Morgan, Schwab Institutional, Scottrade TF, Invest n Retire, etc. The benchmark of this fund is MSCI Emerging Markes Index.

The top 5 holdings as of April 2012 are Arca Continental SAB (0.61%), Eletropaulo Metropolitana (0.42%), Eletricidade De Sao Paul (0.38%), Aveng Ltd (0.36%), Totvs SA (0.34%), Pretoria Portland Cement Co Ltd (0.34%), Lojas Renner SA (0.34%), Tongaat Hulett Ltd (0.33%), CIA Hering (0.33%) and Mando Corp (0.33%). The top sector allocations are Consumer Discretionary (18.4%), Industrials (17.6%), Financials (17.1%), Materials (14.6%), Consumer Staples (11.0%) and Information Technology (10.0%).

Principal Investment Risks include Foreign Securities and Currency Risk, Market Risk, Small Company Risk, Emerging Markets Risk, Derivatives Risk and Securities Lending Risk.

Pros:

• No sales load
• Low expense ratio
• Good track record

Disclosure: No Position