The fund seeks capital appreciation in the long term by investing in companies across any size outside the United States.
The sub-adviser’s 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 invests in stocks of domestic companies and American Depositary Receipts of foreign companies.
The team also focuses on companies that are estimated to trade below their fair values or demonstrating growth potential that is not reflected in their current valuations.
In addition, the team emphasizes companies that have a superior competitive position relative to their peers.
In selecting securities for the portfolio, the research team relies on a proprietary index.
As part of the process, the team evaluates companies on the basis of factors such as cash flow, and valuation multiples such as earnings and book value.
The team also reviews a company's financial statements and meets with various levels of a company's management as well as customers and (as relevant) competition.
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 portfolio holds a core position of between 15 and 30 stocks.
From time to time the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in a limited number of industry sectors, but will not concentrate in any particular industry
The fund may also invest in exchange traded funds.
Additionally, the fund is a non-diversified fund, which means it can invest in fewer securities at any one time than a diversified fund.
Also, the fund may hold for extended periods of time all or a portion of its assets in cash or cash-equivalents like money market funds, certificates of deposit, short-term debt obligations, and repurchase agreements.
