Highlights

  • DACE provides diversified exposure to Australian-listed companies.
  • It reports 488 company holdings, with the ten largest representing 32.18% of reported holdings.
  • Basic Materials leads sector exposure at 31.01%, followed by Financial Services at 22.87%.
  • Australia accounts for 99.51% of geographic exposure and larger companies dominate the market-capitalisation mix.

Dimensional Australian Core Equity Trust (ASX:DACE) is an actively managed fund offering broad exposure to Australian-listed shares. It seeks long-term capital growth through a diversified portfolio that gives increased emphasis to securities with higher expected returns compared with a market-capitalisation-weighted portfolio.

Diversified Exposure Across Australian Equities

DACE follows an Australian large-blend strategy and owns 488 companies. It allocates across multiple industries while allowing the investment manager to adjust weights according to expected-return characteristics. Reported asset allocation is 100.00% equities. Australia represents 99.51% of geographic exposure, followed by the United Kingdom at 0.26%, United States at 0.20% and New Zealand at 0.03%. Its benchmark is the S&P/ASX 300 Total Return Index.

Materials and Financial Services Lead Sector Allocations

Basic Materials is the largest sector at 31.01%, compared with the category benchmark of 26.24%. Financial Services contributes 22.87%, Industrials 8.70%, Energy 7.50%, Consumer Cyclical 7.22%, Real Estate 5.65%, Healthcare 4.50%, Consumer Defensive 4.28%, Technology 3.61% and Communication Services 3.38%. Together, Materials and Financial Services account for 53.88% of sector weight.

BHP and Commonwealth Bank Among Major Holdings

The ten largest holdings make up 32.18% of the 488-company reported portfolio. BHP (ASX:BHP) leads at 10.20%, followed by Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) at 4.15%, Westpac (ASX:WBC) at 3.07%, National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) at 2.80%, Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) at 2.34%, ANZ (ASX:ANZ) at 2.27%, Rio Tinto 2.10%, Wesfarmers 1.92%, Goodman Group 1.82% and QBE Insurance 1.46%. The portfolio therefore reaches banking, resources, energy, retail, property and insurance.

Fund Size and Management Structure

DACE has a reported fund size of AUD 7.01 billion and around 376.49 million units outstanding. Its stated management fee is 0.28%. Companies valued over AUD 1 billion represent 86.14% of reported market-capitalisation exposure, followed by 11.59% in businesses between AUD 500 million and AUD 1 billion and 2.28% in smaller companies. Turnover is reported at 7.10% and beta at 0.93. An interim AUD 0.254-per-unit distribution was paid on 19 October 2026.

Key Insights

DACE provides extensive Australian equity coverage through hundreds of investments. This wide company count reduces reliance on a narrow list of names, although Materials and Financial Services still represent over half of sector weight. Commodity prices, Australian corporate earnings, financial conditions and the manager’s active allocation decisions are relevant factors.