Fund overview
Pursuing alpha with a CPA-minded approach
The Special Small Cap Value Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in small-cap companies using a disciplined, consistent process that focuses on valuation and stocks with high reward/risk ratios.

Accounting expertise and processes guide decision-making.

Key differentiators

  • Leverages a unique security selection process in the pursuit of compelling returns and a low-risk profile
  • Performs bottom-up research to find companies with durable competitive advantages, free cash flow generation, and balance sheet flexibility
  • Uses a disciplined valuation approach to find companies with favorable reward/risk profiles

Performance

Average annual returns Add Minus

Average annual returns

(as of 3/31/2024)
5/7/1993
1M
3M
YTD
1Y
3Y
5Y
10Y
Inception
Fund
4.98
7.27
7.27
23.88
5.86
10.28
8.70
11.12
Russell 2000® Value Index
4.38
2.90
2.90
18.75
2.22
8.17
6.87
9.65
Lipper Small-Cap Core Funds
4.25
5.85
5.85
19.10
3.98
9.37
7.57
-
Expenses (as of 8/1/2023)
Gross Expense Ratio
0.83 %
Net Expense Ratio
0.83 %

One-month, three-month and year-to-date returns are not annualized.

Figures quoted represent past performance, which is no guarantee of future results, and do not reflect taxes that a shareholder may pay on an investment in a fund. Investment return, principal value, and yields of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted and assumes the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. 

Net asset value (NAV) is the value of one share of the fund excluding any sales charges.

R6 Class shares are sold without a front-end sales charge or contingent deferred sales charge.

Calendar year Add Minus

Calendar year

(as of 12/31/2023)
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
Fund
19.16
-13.52
28.27
1.57
28.61
-13.35
11.52
29.46
-4.15
7.83
Benchmark
14.65
-14.48
28.27
4.63
22.39
-12.86
7.84
31.74
-7.47
4.22
Morningstar
16.86
-10.16
31.57
4.02
21.43
-15.46
8.54
25.99
-6.71
3.34
Cumulative Add Minus

Cumulative

(as of 3/31/2024)

This chart shows the value of a hypothetical $10,000 investment in the fund over the specified time period up to 10 years or since its inception (for funds lacking 10-year records). The result is compared with benchmarks, which may include a broad-based market index and a peer group average or index. Market indexes do not include expenses, which are deducted from fund returns as well as mutual fund averages and indexes.

Does not include sales charges and assumes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. If sales charges were included, returns would be lower.

Performance and volatility metrics Add Minus

Performance and volatility metrics

(as of 3/31/2024)
3 Year 5 Year 10 Year
Alpha 3.64 2.60 22.78
Beta 0.88 0.89 0.89
Excess Return 3.64 2.11 1.82
Information Ratio 0.69 0.42 0.43
Sharpe Ratio 0.16 0.37 0.39
R2 0.95 0.97 0.96
Tracking Error 5.25 4.97 4.23
Standard Deviation 19.14 22.36 18.82
Upside Market Capture Ratio 92.79 86.45 83.88
Downside Market Capture Ratio 88.92 93.25 96.19
Morningstar ratings and rankings Add Minus

Morningstar ratings and rankings

(as of 3/31/2024)
Overall
Small Value (Out of 457 funds)
Three Year
47th percentile (183 out of 457)
Five Year
43rd percentile (164 out of 426)
Ten Year
17th percentile out of 335

The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted-average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) ratings.

Morningstar rankings represent a fund's total return rank relative to all funds that have the same category. The percentile ranking is based on the fund's total return percentile rank relative to all funds that have the same category for the same time period. The highest (most favorable) percentile rank is 1% and the lowest (least favorable) percentile rank is 100%. Morningstar rankings do not include the effect of sales charges. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Prices and distributions

Historical prices

YTD high $44.28 3/31/2024
YTD low $39.45 1/17/2024
52-week high $44.28 3/31/2024
52-week low $34.95 5/4/2023
2023 high $41.81 12/27/2023
2023 low $34.77 3/19/2023
Best quarterly return 28.29% 12/31/2020
Worst quarterly return -33.57% 3/31/2020
Best annual return 38.59% 12/31/2013
Worst annual return -13.52% 12/31/2022

Distribution summary

Dividends Annually
Capital gains Annually

Distribution history

Distribution history Type Per share amount Re investment price
2023-12-15 Dividend $0.52344 $40.47
2023-12-11 Long-term capital gain $0.45039 $39.32
2023-12-11 Short-term capital gain $0.04136 $39.32
2022-12-15 Dividend $0.41491 $35.48
2022-12-09 Long-term capital gain $1.8432 $36.40
2022-12-09 Short-term capital gain $0.06345 $36.40
2021-12-16 Dividend $0.28656 $42.25
2021-12-09 Long-term capital gain $1.53975 $43.10
2021-12-09 Short-term capital gain $1.05666 $43.10
2020-12-16 Dividend $0.25357 $36.23
2020-12-09 Long-term capital gain $0.0106 $36.12
2019-12-17 Dividend $0.43869 $35.77
2019-12-10 Long-term capital gain $0.23959 $35.53
2019-12-10 Short-term capital gain $0.06785 $35.53
2018-12-14 Dividend $0.30289 $29.69
2018-12-10 Long-term capital gain $1.89906 $30.54
2018-12-10 Short-term capital gain $0.16361 $30.54
2017-12-15 Dividend $0.48952 $35.39
2017-12-13 Long-term capital gain $1.02931 $35.79
2017-12-13 Short-term capital gain $0.5084 $35.79
2016-12-14 Dividend $0.29985 $33.61
2016-12-09 Long-term capital gain $0.35578 $34.60
2016-12-09 Short-term capital gain $0.21227 $34.60
2015-12-16 Dividend $0.33014 $27.14
2015-12-11 Long-term capital gain $0.4196 $27.06
2014-12-16 Dividend $0.345 $27.32
2014-12-11 Long-term capital gain $4.05414 $28.24
2014-12-11 Short-term capital gain $1.1263 $28.24
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Composition

Portfolio statistics Add Minus

Portfolio statistics

(as of 3/31/2024)
Fund Benchmark
Number of Holdings 1416
Median Market Cap 2.80 0.81
Dividend Yield 1.93 2.08
PE Ratio 18.30 22.70
PB Ratio 1.81 1.44
EPS Growth 11.52 7.40
Return on Equity 12.69 5.01
Portfolio Turnover 21.44 -

Equity Style Box

(as of 3/31/2024) Overview chart

Placement within the Morningstar Equity Style Box is based on two variables: relative median market capitalization and relative price valuations (price/book and price/earnings) of the fund’s portfolio holdings. These numbers are drawn from the fund’s portfolio holdings figures most recently entered into Morningstar’s database and the corresponding market conditions. The Ownership Zone is represented by a shaded area surrounding the centroid. This zone encompasses 75% of a portfolio’s holdings on an asset-weighted basis and is designed to be a visual measure of how wide-ranging the portfolio is.

Top 10 holdings Add Minus

Top 10 holdings

(as of 3/31/2024)
Security
Fund
Mueller Industries, Inc.
3.47%
Innospec Inc.
3.44%
Eagle Materials Inc.
2.97%
Franklin Electric Co., Inc.
2.91%
J & J Snack Foods Corp.
2.60%
Avient Corporation
2.47%
UMB Financial Corporation
2.29%
Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc.
2.07%
Enstar Group Limited
1.73%
CSW Industrials, Inc.
1.71%
Top 10 represents 25.65% of total net assets
Sector allocation Add Minus

Sector allocation

(as of 3/31/2024)
Type
Fund
Benchmark
Industrials
29.81% 14.89%
Financials
20.31% 25.81%
Materials
16.53% 4.99%
Consumer staples
9.25% 2.24%
Energy
6.99% 9.96%
Health care
4.47% 9.35%
Information technology
4.36% 5.92%
Consumer discretionary
4.21% 11.05%
Other
1.45% -
Real estate
1.03% 9.71%
Utilities
0.94% 3.74%
Communication services
0.66% 2.34%

Sector diversification is a breakdown of the fund's investments based on the S&P Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS), a breakdown of market sectors used by Standard & Poor's. Sector weights are subject to change and may have changed since the date specified. Percent total may not add to 100% due to rounding.

Documents

Literature Details Date
Fact Sheet C, A, R6, Institutional, Administrator 3/31/2024 Download Download
Regulatory Document Details Date
Annual Report C, A, R6, Institutional, Administrator 3/31/2023 Download Download
Full Prospectus R6 8/1/2023 Download Download
Quarterly Holdings C, A, R6, Institutional, Administrator 6/30/2023 Download Download
Quarterly Holdings C, A, R6, Institutional, Administrator 12/31/2023 Download Download
Semi-annual Report C, A, R6, Institutional, Administrator 9/30/2023 Download Download
Statement of Additional Information C, A, R6, Institutional, Administrator 8/1/2023 Download Download
Summary Prospectus R6 8/1/2023 Download Download
Our team
Meet the investment team

The team follows a fundamental approach of identifying companies with competitive advantages, sustainable free cash flow, and flexible balance sheets, helping deliver long-term capital appreciation.

Contact Us

We look forward to helping you with your investment needs

 

Stock values fluctuate in response to the activities of individual companies and general market and economic conditions. Smaller-company stocks tend to be more volatile and less liquid than those of larger companies. Consult the fund's prospectus for additional information on these and other risks.

  
The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or star rating, is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar risk-adjusted return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product’s monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its 3-, 5-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% 3-year rating for 36–59 months of total returns, 60% 5-year rating/40% 3-year rating for 60–119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% 5-year rating/20% 3-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent 3-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Some of Morningstar’s proprietary calculations, including the Morningstar Rating™, are not customarily calculated based on adjusted historical returns. However, for new share classes/channels, Morningstar may calculate an extended-performance Morningstar Rating. The extended performance is calculated by adjusting the historical total returns of the oldest share class of a fund to reflect the fee structure of the younger share class/channel, attaching this data to the younger share class’s performance record, and then compounding the adjusted plus actual monthly returns into the extended-performance Morningstar risk-adjusted return for the 3-, 5-, and 10-year time periods. The Morningstar risk-adjusted returns are used to determine the extended-performance Morningstar Rating. The extended-performance Morningstar Rating for this fund does not affect the retail fund data published by Morningstar, as the bell curve distribution on which the ratings are based includes only funds with actual returns. The Overall Morningstar Rating for multi-share funds is based on actual performance only or extended performance only. Once the share class turns three years old, the Overall Morningstar Rating will be based on actual ratings only. The Overall Morningstar Rating for multi-share variable annuities is based on a weighted average of any ratings that are available.

While the inclusion of pre-inception data in the form of extended performance can provide valuable insight into the probable long-term behavior of newer share classes of a fund, investors should be aware that an adjusted historical return can provide only an approximation of that behavior. For example, the fee structures of a retail share class will vary from that of an institutional share class, as retail shares tend to have higher operating expenses and sales charges. These adjusted historical returns are not actual returns. The underlying investments in the share classes used to calculate the pre-performance string likely will vary from the underlying investments held in the fund after inception. Calculation methodologies used by Morningstar may differ from those applied by other entities, including the fund itself.

© 2024 Morningstar. All rights reserved. The information contained herein is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; may not be copied or distributed; and is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Performance for the fund or the class shown may reflect a predecessor fund's or class' performance and may be adjusted to reflect the fund's or class' expenses as applicable.