The fund seeks capital appreciation by investing in companies across any size outside 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.
Next, the research team focuses on international securities with growth potential that are trading at attractive valuations.
The team also looks for companies that have a durable competitive advantage in an industry with high barriers to entry.
Other attributes that the team considers are companies in an attractive industry with pricing power, organic growth and limited cyclicality.
Also, the team favors companies with superior management teams having a track record of stable profit margins, balance sheet strength, and that are trading at a discount to their estimated intrinsic value.
However, 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 microeconomic factors.
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 manager invests in companies located in at least three countries other than the United States, including emerging market countries.
Generally, the portfolio holds stocks from 25 to 45 companies.
From time to time, the fund may focus its investments in certain countries or geographic areas, including Europe.
Additionally, the fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of fewer issuers than can a diversified fund.