The fund seeks capital appreciation by investing in small-size companies in the United States.
The investment process starts with a list of companies in the benchmark index and the research team utilizes quantitative techniques and fundamental analysis to identify investment opportunities.
The research process is driven by fundamental analysis of one stock at a time. In selecting securities for the portfolio, the research team focuses on companies exhibiting above average earnings growth potential relative to its peers.
Also, the team favors companies that are estimated to trade below their fair values.
The team is not constrained by any particular investment style and therefore, has the flexibility to invest in a combination of growth and value companies.
In addition, the team utilizes fundamental analysis of individual issuers to determine a fundamental rating for an issuer, and also employs quantitative analysis to determine a quantitative rating for an issuer.
Next, the team combines the fundamental rating with the quantitative rating to create a blended rating for an issuer.
Additionally, the team considers the blended rating, as well as issuer, industry, sector weightings, market capitalization, and volatility when constructing the portfolio.
Then the manager constructs a portfolio of stocks from a list of companies favored by the research team and allocates capital based on its conviction level.
The fund may invest its net assets in foreign securities.
In addition, the fund invests its net assets across different industries and sectors, but may invest a significant percentage of its net assets in issuers in a single industry or sector.