Staying Ahead of the Curve: The History of Dimensional Fund Advisors (EP.28)

Today on the podcast we are very excited to welcome Brad Steiman who is the Canadian Head of Financial Advisor Services for Dimensional! This is an episode we literally cannot wait to share with our listeners as it is jam packed with really useful information, history, and inside scoops on Dimensional and what has helped them get to where they are today. As huge fans and associates of DFA this is the type of conversation we have been hoping to have for quite some time and hope you are as excited as we are. In our discussion, we cover Brad’s early career and how he became involved and employed by Dimensional. From there, Brad gives us some great insight into the important early events that shaped his and the companies trajectories as well as laying out the vital characters in DFA’s story. We also get into some of the ideas and the ethos that underpins the work done at the company, particularly around research, findings and implementation. For all of this and host of other interesting subjects be sure to join us for this episode!
Key Points From This Episode:
1:45 Brad’s initial attraction to working at Dimensional.
2:37 The college years and the following epiphanies.
6:29 Why Brad did not look at his early paychecks at Dimensional.
8:53 How David Booth preempted the evidence-based approach.
14:55 Dimensional’s continual approach to new research and data mining; The criteria Dimensional apply when assessing findings.
20:41 Brad and Dimensional’s philosophy when it comes to stock momentum.
25:51 The implementation strategy at Dimensional.
28:05 ETFs versus mutual funds and Dimensional’s decision in this battle.
30:51 Dimensional’s unique approach to working with the advisor community.
32:49 Three of Brad’s favourite stories from his time at the company; Brad’s science-based approach to happiness!
And much more!
Books From Today’s Episode:
10% Happier - amzn.to/3cveSzO
Links From Today's Episode:
Rational Reminder Website - rationalreminder.ca/podcast/28
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[@juanignacioadame8831]

Hmmm...it's still not clear to me what the relative advantages of a mutual fund might be over an etf. It seems to me that 1) the ability to reconstitute more frequently is cited as a reason, but I don't see why etfs would have this restriction *specifically* because they are an etf. To reference the example in the interview, it could be that an etf tracking an index that reconstitute every quarter only reconstitute every quarter, but then that restriction is coming from the underlying index it's tracking, not the fact that it's an etf. 2) "Greater flexibility" is cited as a relative advantage of a mutual fund over an etf, but it doesn't seem like a justification for that claim was given. My plausible question/explanation) If the redemption value of a share of a mutual fund is always equal to its NAV, then maybe that could be considered a relative advantage? My understanding is that etfs typically trade at a small but non-zero premium or discount to their NAV. I find this question especially interesting today since DFA has recently announced their intent to launch a few core etfs. Anyway, great content as always!