Investment Process
We believe that our comprehensive research-driven approach to stock selection offers the best opportunity to achieve superior long-term performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

The Small Cap Core Equity portfolio management team collaborates with our fundamental and quantitative research teams, as well as the portfolio management teams for our Small Cap Value and Small Cap Growth products, to identify the best opportunities in the small-cap core arena and make timely buy and sell decisions.

Our goal is to construct a diversified portfolio that offers a blend of growth and value companies with market capitalizations of less than $3.0 billion. Our process relies on fundamental and quantitative research to identify companies that exhibit:

Compelling fundamentals, including above-average growth in revenue and earnings, a strong competitive position, and strong management

Attractive valuations relative to historic trading ranges and peer groups

A catalyst or identifiable theme that may propel the growth of the stock in the near future

Research
Portfolio managers, along with experienced equity analysts who specialize by industry, conduct fundamental research. They have a thorough understanding of the industries and an in-depth knowledge of the companies they follow, acquired through years of experience and maintained by on-site and off-site visits with management teams, analysis of financial statements, due diligence of competitors, suppliers, customers, and products.

Our quantitative stock screening process evaluates sector-specific factors regarding valuation, business fundamentals, and catalysts and identifies stocks that have the potential to drive outperformance.

Risk Management
Aside from guiding our efforts to deliver positive performance in up markets, our disciplined investment process – specifically our strict sell discipline – helps limit downside risk. We also manage risk by being fully diversified across all sectors and continuously monitoring individual issues and sector parameters.