Investment Style
The Aston/Barings International Fund invests in companies of all sizes outside of the U.S. that show signs of unrecognized growth, which management defines as the ability to exceed market consensus growth expectations over the medium term, and that are fairly priced relative to their industry peers and historic valuations.
Investment Strategy
Under normal conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in common stock and other equity securities of non-U.S. companies.
The portfolio managers employ a Growth at Reasonable Price (GARP) strategy. GARP investing involves buying stocks that have a reasonable price/earnings ratio in relationship to a company's earnings growth rate. The investment process combines bottom-up and top-down analysis. Bottom-up analysis is based on global company research that seeks to identify positive catalysts for outperformance or earnings surprise based on both growth and value factors. Top-down analysis seeks to assess the relative attractiveness of countries and sectors.
The Fund may invest in companies of all sizes, and market capitalization is a residual of the investment proces. The Fund invests primarily in companies in Europe, Australasia and the Far East or "EAFE" countries and emerging markets. Under normal conditions, the Fund will invest in issuers from at least five countries excluding the United States.
The Fund's annual portfolio turnover rate is not expected to exceed 150%.
Note: Risks of investing in international markets include but are not limited to social and political instability, market illiquidity and currency volatility.
| Fund Overview |
| Inception Date |
11/2/2007 |
| Ticker |
ABIIX |
| Cusip |
00080Y785 |
| Load |
None |
| Fund Statistics (as of
3/31/2008) |
|
|
$6,967,897.00 |
| Expense Ratio |
1.25% |
|
|
| Sector Breakdown (as of
3/31/2008) |
| Materials |
16.71% |
| Cash Equivalents & Other |
12.75% |
| Energy |
12.38% |
| Financials |
12.28% |
| Industrials |
11.75% |
| Telecommunication Services |
9.39% |
| Consumer Staples |
6.41% |
| Healthcare |
4.64% |
| Consumer Discretionary |
4.45% |
| Exchange Traded Funds |
3.19% |
| Utilities |
3.12% |
| Information Technology |
2.93% |
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of mutual funds will vary with market conditions, so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.
Expense Ratio. A fund's cost of doing business, expressed as a percentage of its assets and disclosed in a prospectus.
Turnover. The number of shares traded for a period as a percentage of the total shares in a portfolio or of an exchange.
Alpha. Measures the difference between a fund’s actual returns and its expected performance, given its level of risk.
Beta. The measure of risk which shows a fund’s volatility relative to an index.
R-Squared. The percentage of a fund’s movement that can be explained by movements in its benchmark index.
Standard Deviation. A statistical measure of the historical volatility of a mutual fund or portfolio, usually computed using 36 monthly returns. More generally, a measure of the extent to which numbers are spread around their average.
Sharpe Ratio. A risk-adjusted measure used to determine reward per unit of risk.