Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (Austin)


Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is a large advisory firm based in Austin. It manages $569.31 billion of regulatory assets for 468 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2006 and has operated in the jurisdictions of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, and 49 other states.

Dimensional Fund Advisors provides portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management for investment companies, portfolio management for pooled investment vehicles, and portfolio management for businesses and institutional clients. It doesn't provide financial planning services to its clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Dimensional Fund Advisors: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is $569.31 billion, all of which is managed in discretionary accounts. The firm's AUM has grown by 596% since the beginning of its operation, and $76.56 billion of the total AUM is attributable to clients outside of the United States.

The firm manages $569.31 billion in discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $1.22 billion each.
Dimensional Fund Advisors has custody of $31.79 billion in cash and securities for 39 clients in total but doesn’t act as a qualified custodian.

Investments

The firm invests in exchange traded securities the most. They account for 85% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is government bonds, which make up 2% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in investment and business development companies form 1% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Dimensional Fund Advisors LP for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management, fixed fees, and performance-based fees. Flat-fee based compensation is the most transparent and the one you can safely predict in advance. These fees don’t include brokerage commissions, interest, taxes, and other account expenses.

What kind of clients Dimensional Fund Advisors serves?

The firm provides services to insurance companies, investment companies, charitable organizations, high net worth individuals, pooled investment vehicles, pension and profit sharing plans, state or municipal government entities, and sovereign wealth funds and foreign official institutions. The largest group of clients of Dimensional Fund Advisors is investment companies with 178 clients and $467.63 billion of assets under management. Among the 10 most similar advisory firms, Dimensional Fund Advisors has the 2nd highest percentage of investment companies out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $568.36 billion for 465 clients that can include trusts, estates, and 401(k) plans and IRAs of individuals and their family members. 28% of the firm’s clients are foreign persons or businesses.

Dimensional Fund Advisors also advises several private funds. Namely, one hedge fund and four other private funds.

Careers at Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

The company employs 1,001 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 35 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 228 employees are registered as investment adviser representatives with the state securities authorities.

There’s a single person with the role of looking for and bringing in new clients on behalf of the firm. The firm doesn’t compensate employees in addition to the salary for bringing in new clients. Employees don’t receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

Direct owners and executive officers


Name Entity Date acquired Ownership Employer ID
David Gilbert Booth Chairman, president & co-chief executive officer 1 May 1981 Other 1031000
Michael Thomas Scardina Vice president,cfo & treasurer 1 Apr 1988 Other 2055228
Catherine Lee Newell Vice president, chief legal officer & secretary 1 Apr 2001 Other 2890628
Christopher Scott Crossan Global chief compliance officer, chief compliance officer & vice president 1 Sep 2004 Other 4269087
Patrick Michael Keating Vice president, chief operating officer 1 Jan 2006 Other 4239521
Dimensional Holdings Inc. General partner 1 Nov 2006 Other 22-2370029
Dimensional Holdings Llc Limited partner 1 Nov 2006 75% - 100% 22-2370029
David Robert Martin Vice president, chief financial officer & treasurer 1 Mar 2007 Other 3214765
Eduardo Augusto Repetto Vice president & chief investment officer 1 Mar 2007 Other 4508425
Eduardo Augusto Repetto Director, co-chief executive officer & co-chief investment officer 1 Jan 2010 Other 4508425
Gerard Kieran O'reilly Co-chief investment officer & vice president 1 Apr 2014 Other 4982644
Michael Sam Gilliland Chief operating officer 1 Feb 2016 Other 6609417
Gregory Keith Hinkle Interim chief financial officer, interim treasurer, vice president and controller 1 Apr 2016 Other 5531613
Gregory Keith Hinkle Chief financial officer, treasurer and vice president 1 Jul 2016 Other 5531613
David Gilbert Booth Executive chairman 1 Feb 2017 Other 1031000
Catherine Lee Newell Executive vice president, chief legal officer & secretary 1 Feb 2017 Other 2890628
Michael Sam Gilliland Chief operating officer & executive vice president 1 Feb 2017 Other 6609417
David Paul Butler Co-chief executive officer 1 Feb 2017 Other 2305298
Gerard Kieran O'reilly Co-chief investment officer & executive vice president 1 Feb 2017 Other 4982644
Gerard Kieran O'reilly Co-chief executive officer & chief investment officer 1 Sep 2017 Other 4982644

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 2 indirect owners.

Name Entity Date acquired Ownership Employer ID
David Gilbert Booth Chairman, president & co-chief executive officer 1 Oct 2006 25% - 50% 1031000
Rex Andrew Sinquefield Director 1 Oct 2006 Other 1038611

Based in Austin

The principal office where Dimensional Fund Advisors LP performs its advisory services is located at 6300 Bee Cave Road, Austin, TX 78746, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in Charlotte, NC. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 512-306-7400 or by fax 512-306-7499. The normal business hours are 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (central time) on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at us.dimensional.com and its LinkedIn profile.