Barron's: Ariel Funds

Posted by: Barrons

Updated:
07.14.07
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Description:

From Barron's 7-16-07:

"Ariel Fund (ARGFX), which is in Morningstar's mid-cap blend category, has a one-year return of 27.5%, besting 60% of its peers. Its three-year annual return of 12.7% isn't terrible in absolute terms, but trails more than 90% of its Morningstar peers. It's similar for the five-year return, 14.3%, which puts it in the category's bottom 20%.

The fund, however, has a strong long-term record: Its 10-year annual return of 12.9% places in the top 20%.

Ariel Appreciation (CAAPX), which has more of a large-cap tilt but is in the mid-cap blend box, has a similar performance history.

The lead manager for both funds is John Rogers, a staunch value-investing practitioner who likes to buy and hold quality companies that he and his colleagues view as temporarily beaten down.

"In the last year, we have started to have a better performance of higher-quality stocks," says Charles Bobrinskoy, director of research at Ariel, who also is portfolio co-manager on the more recently established Ariel Focus Fund (ARFFX). "Until then, lower-quality names and highly leveraged companies did very well."

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