Episode 28 – Staying Ahead of the Curve: The History of Dimensional Fund Advisors

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!

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Key Points From This Episode:

• Brad’s initial attraction to working at Dimensional. [0:01:45.5]
• The college years and the following epiphanies. [0:02:37.9]
• Why Brad did not look at his early paychecks at Dimensional. [0:06:29.3]
• How David Booth preempted the evidence-based approach. [0:08:53.1]
• Dimensional’s continual approach to new research and data mining. [0:14:55.5]
• The criteria Dimensional apply when assessing findings. [0:17:26.9]
• Brad and Dimensional’s philosophy when it comes to stock momentum. [0:20:41.1]
• The implementation strategy at Dimensional. [0:25:51.1]
• ETFs versus mutual funds and Dimensional’s decision in this battle. [0:28:05.1]
• Dimensional’s unique approach to working with the advisor community. [0:30:51.5]
• Three of Brad’s favorite stories from his time at the company. [0:32:49.6]
• Brad’s science based approach to happiness! [0:37:34.1]
• And much more!

Tweetables:

“Back then, there weren’t even small cap indices to track even if you wanted to. What we promised was broadly diversified and efficient exposure to small companies.” — Brad Steiman [0:10:23.5]

“As David Booth says, even to this day, the most important thing about an investment philosophy is that you have one you can stick with.” — Brad Steiman [0:12:49.4]

Links From Today’s Episode:

Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582.
Rational Reminder Website — https://www.pwlcapital.com/author/benjamin-felix/
Benjamin Felix — https://www.pwlcapital.com/author/benjamin-felix/

Benjamin on Twitter — https://twitter.com/benjaminwfelix

Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/

Cameron Passmore — https://www.pwlcapital.com/profile/cameron-passmore/

Cameron on Twitter — https://twitter.com/CameronPassmore

Cameron on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronpassmore/

Brad Steiman — https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=28438838&privcapId=28159929

Dimensional Fund Advisors — https://us.dimensional.com

Eugene Fama — https://www.chicagobooth.edu/faculty/directory/f/eugene-f-fama

Rex Sinquefield — https://www.rexsinquefield.com

Merton Miller — https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/merton-miller.asp

Dan Wheeler — https://wheelerwrites.com/meet-dan-2/

David Booth — https://us.dimensional.com/about-us/our-company

Bill Sharpe — https://web.stanford.edu/~wfsharpe/

Wells Fargo — https://www.wellsfargo.com

Robert Novy-Marx — https://www.top1000funds.com/2015/06/quality-factor-explained-by-profitability-robert-novy-marx/

Ken French — https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1455

Gerard O’Riley — https://www.forumfin.com/blog_posts/gerard-oreilly-appointed-co-ceo-dimensional-fund-advisors

10% Happier — https://www.10percenthappier.com

Deepak Chopra — https://chopra.com

Eckhart Tolle — https://eckharttolle.com

Peter Jennings — https://abcnews.go.com/US/peter-jennings-dies-67/story?id=1015438

Martin Seligman — https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_seligman_on_the_state_of_psychology

Download the transcript of this episode: The Rational Reminder Podcast – Episode 28 Transcript