LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aristotle Capital Management, LLC (“Aristotle”), a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 with over $7.2 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2014, today announced the launch of the Aristotle International Equity Fund. The objective of the Fund is to seek long-term capital appreciation. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in publicly traded equity securities or depository receipts of companies organized, headquartered or doing a substantial amount of business outside of the United States. The institutional, no-load share class will trade under the symbol ARSFX.
Geoffrey S. Stewart, CFA, and Sean M. Thorpe, are the portfolio managers and are responsible for the day to day management of the Fund. All investment decisions are made by the portfolio managers as a team. Stewart and Thorpe currently direct the International Equity strategy at Aristotle, where they both serve as Principals, Portfolio Managers and members of Aristotle’s research team.
In selecting investments for the Fund, Aristotle employs a fundamental, bottom-up approach, focusing first on identifying companies that it believes have high-quality businesses that are undervalued by the market relative to what Aristotle believes to be their fair value.
Aristotle then assesses the attractiveness of the valuations of those high-quality companies by analyzing a variety of valuation metrics, such as cash flow return on enterprise value (i.e., the rate of return on the total value of the business), price-to-earnings ratios, sales and free cash flow ratios, and break-up values, among others. Aristotle then looks for potential catalysts for each company’s business that could help unlock what Aristotle believes is its true value.
“Our strategy follows the basic tenets of all of Aristotle’s investment strategies by focusing on what we believe to be high-quality companies, which we always analyze from a global perspective,” said Stewart. “We invest with a long-term view and construct focused portfolios. We are pleased to offer the Fund to the open-ended mutual fund marketplace. The strategy previously was only available on a separate account basis for high net worth individuals and institutions.”
“Another unique aspect of our strategy at Aristotle is the distinct but complementary perspectives that Geoff and I bring to the portfolio. With my significant operational experience outside of the United States combined with Geoff’s strong financial acumen, we believe we are able to identify great international companies with structural competitive advantages and clear paths to value creation for shareholders,” Thorpe added.
Geoff and Sean have 16 years and 26 years of investment experience, respectively. Prior to Aristotle, they both were Analysts and Portfolio Managers with Reed, Conner & Birdwell, LLC (“RCB”) with responsibility for co-managing the International Equity strategy (RCB combined its business with Aristotle Capital Management, LLC in January 2012).
Prior to RCB, Geoff served as an Equity Analyst at Oppenheimer & Company. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Duke University and is a CFA® charterholder.
Prior to RCB, Sean served as Senior Vice President for Shamrock Holdings, LLC, where he specialized in activist investments for domestic small cap companies. He was also Managing Director for Mandeville Partners, LLC for more than a decade, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, where he was involved in mergers and acquisitions throughout Latin America. He has held positions as the Vice President in Strategic Planning at Salick Health Care, Inc. and as Financial Analyst for both Kidder Peabody & Co. and Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc. Sean holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Finance from the University of California, Los Angeles.
About Aristotle Capital Management, LLC
With offices in Los Angeles and Orange County, California, Aristotle Capital Management, LLC is a value‐oriented investment management firm with a differentiated and highly disciplined approach focused on investing in high‐quality companies. Investment decisions are based on our investment team’s long collective experience, in‐depth fundamental research and our ability to assess and act on change. Our long‐term investment horizon is aligned with our clients’ goals to grow assets and control risk. Aristotle offers multiple investment solutions including Value Equity, International Equity, Global Equity and Global Opportunities. Our clients include public and ERISA funds, corporations, foundations, endowments, Taft‐Hartley, charitable organizations and high net worth individuals. Please visit www.aristotlecap.com for more information.
An investment in the Fund is subject to risks and you could lose money on your investment in the Fund. The principal risks of investing in the Fund include, but are not limited to, investing in foreign securities, emerging markets and ETFs.
Foreign securities have additional risks including currency rate changes, political and economic instability, lack of comprehensive company information, less market liquidity, less efficient trading markets and differing auditing controls and legal standards. Investments in emerging markets involve even greater risks.
Please consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. The prospectus or summary prospectus that contains this and other information about the Fund is available by calling 1.866.661.6691 or visit aristotlefunds.com and should be read carefully prior to investing.
The Aristotle International Equity Fund is distributed by IMST Distributors, LLC.