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Wasatch Micro Cap Growth – U.S. Strategy

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Wasatch Micro Cap Growth – U.S. Strategy
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Strategy Overview

Highlights
  • Capitalize on an inefficient, alpha-rich segment of the market
  • Truly active, fundamental, bottom-up investment approach
  • Blend of high growth, core growth, and fallen angel micro-cap stocks
Investment Approach

We use a bottom-up approach that seeks to identify companies with outstanding long-term growth potential. We look for the following types of companies:

  • High growth: companies with minimum annual earnings growth of 20%
  • Core growth: high-quality, stable growing companies
  • Fallen angels: growth companies that have suffered a temporary setback

Primarily invests in companies with market caps of less than $1.5 billion at the time of purchase

Approximately 50-80 positions

Portfolio Managers
Ken Korngiebel Ken Korngiebel Lead Portfolio Manager
6 years on strategy
8 years at wasatch
Natalie Pesqué Natalie Pesqué Portfolio Manager
1 year on strategy
8 years at wasatch
7 Cumulative PM years on strategy

The micro-cap universe is big, diverse and less efficient—a great place for stock picking. Our extensive experience in this universe is critical in our search for future stars.”

—Ken Korngiebel, Lead Portfolio Manager

Performance

Total Returns AS OF 06/30/23 AS OF 08/31/23
Quarter-End Month-end
1 Month
3 Month
ytd
1 yr
3 yr
5 yr
10 yr
Micro Cap Growth - U.S. Composite (Gross)
-3.74%
9.04%
19.59%
3.53%
1.13%
6.91%
12.88%
Micro Cap Growth - U.S. Composite (Net)
-4.06%
8.67%
18.43%
2.20%
-0.21%
5.52%
11.36%
Russell Microcap® Growth Index
-6.33%
0.18%
2.08%
-4.95%
-2.93%
-1.98%
4.60%
Russell Microcap® Index
-6.65%
4.82%
0.62%
-4.79%
6.04%
0.89%
6.63%

Returns for periods less than one year are not annualized.

Calendar Year Returns (%) NET OF FEES (AS OF 12/31/22)
Micro Cap Growth - U.S. Composite
Russell Microcap® Growth Index

Performance is preliminary and subject to change. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Wasatch Global Investors is an independent registered investment advisor. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Wasatch claims compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®). GIPS® is a registered trademark of CFA Institute. CFA Institute does not endorse or promote this organization, nor does it warrant the accuracy or quality of content contained herein. To receive a complete list and description of composites and pooled funds and/or a GIPS Composite Report, e-mail inforequest@wasatchglobal.com. The U.S. Dollar is the currency used to express performance.

Net performance was calculated using actual management fees for fee-paying accounts and a model fee for non-fee paying accounts. Since March 31, 2020, performance for the Micro Cap Growth U.S. Composite contained non-fee paying proprietary assets. A model fee of 1.35% was applied to the non-fee paying assets to show the effect of how an advisory fee, compounded over a period of years, would have on returns. Actual fees will vary depending on, among other things, the applicable fee schedule and portfolio size. See Wasatch Global Investors Form ADV Part 2A for more information on fee schedules.

The Micro Cap Growth-U.S. Composite contains fully discretionary equity accounts following the Micro Cap Growth–U.S. style.  The composite primarily invests in growing micro cap companies with the goal of long-term growth of capital.  Income is an objective only when consistent with long-term growth of capital.  The strategy prohibits investments in securities that trade on foreign exchanges.  For comparison purposes the composite is measured against the Russell Microcap TR and Russell 2000 TR indices.

The Russell Microcap Growth TR Index is an unmanaged total return index measuring the performance of the microcap growth segment of the US equity market.

The Russell Microcap TR Index is an unmanaged total return index of the smallest 1,000 securities in the small cap Russell 2000 Index and the next smallest 1,000 companies based on a ranking of U.S. equities by market capitalization.

The Fund has been developed solely by Wasatch Global Investors. The Fund is not in any way connected to or sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by the London Stock Exchange Group plc and its group undertakings (collectively, the “LSE Group”). FTSE Russell is a trading name of certain of the LSE Group companies. All rights in the Russell Indices vest in the relevant LSE Group company which owns the Index. Russell ® is a trademark of the relevant LSE Group company and used by any other LSE Group company under license. TMX® is a trademark of TSX, Inc. and used by the LSE Group under license. The Index is calculated by or on behalf of FTSE International Limited or its affiliate, agent or partner. The LSE Group does not accept any liability whatsoever to any person arising out of (a) the use of, reliance on or any error in the Index or (b) investment in or operation of the Wasatch Core Growth Fund or the suitability of the Index for the purpose to which it is being put by Wasatch Global Investors. Indexes are unmanaged, and investors cannot invest directly in an index.

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Portfolio

Characteristics AS OF 06/30/23
Portfolio
Index
Number of Holdings
74
846
Average Market Cap
($ Weighted)
$1.44B
$753M
Median Market Cap
$999M
$179M
EPS Growth (%, est. 5 yr)
22
19
P/E (Forward)
22
15
Portfolio Turnover (%)
66.20
N/A
Active Share (%)
92
N/A
Performance Statistics AS OF 06/30/23
5 yr
Alpha
8.83
Beta
0.92
R-Squared
0.89
Standard Deviation
26.49
Upside Capture
106.11
Downside Capture
90.56
Top 10 Holdings AS OF 06/30/23
Company
% of Net Assets
Heritage-Crystal Clean Inc.
3.0%
Addus HomeCare Corp.
2.8%
Esquire Financial Holdings Inc.
2.6%
Transcat Inc.
2.6%
Kadant Inc.
2.6%
XPEL Inc.
2.5%
ICF International Inc.
2.4%
Veeco Instruments Inc.
2.2%
Boot Barn Holdings Inc.
2.1%
Construction Partners Inc.
2.0%
74 Number of holdings
92% Active share
Sector Allocation AS OF 06/30/23
Sector
Portfolio
Index
Information Technology
26.5 %
18.6 %
Industrials
25.7 %
14.5 %
Health Care
18.8 %
35.9 %
Consumer Discretionary
14.2 %
9.7 %
Financials
8.6 %
7.5 %
Cash & Cash Equivalents*
2.1 %
N/A
Energy
1.7 %
3.1 %
Consumer Staples
1.4 %
2.6 %
Communication Services
1.1 %
2.7 %
Materials
0.0 %
2.9 %
Utilities
0.0 %
1.3 %
Real Estate
0.0 %
1.2 %
Country Allocation AS OF 06/30/23
Portfolio (%)
Developed
97.9%
United States
92.1%
Israel
5.3%
Canada
0.5%
92.1% United States

Country weights are calculated as a percentage of total portfolio including cash & cash equivalents.

Commentary & Literature

News & Updates

After a Rough Year, Do Small-Caps Deserve a Closer Look?

January 13, 2023

Equity markets sold off broadly in 2022, but the pain was particularly…

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Market Scout – Valuations and Stock-Price Trends May Forecast a Parting of Clouds in 2023

January 10, 2023

Equity markets sold off broadly in 2022, but pain was particularly acute…

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Wasatch Wins Four 2022 Lipper Fund Awards

March 10, 2022

Wasatch Global Investors announced today that it has received four 2022 Refinitiv…

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Important Disclosures

Past performance does not guarantee future results. Performance results are net of transaction costs and reflect the reinvestment of dividend and other earnings. Net performance data was calculated using actual management fees. Actual fees may vary depending on, among other things, the applicable fee schedule and portfolio size. See Wasatch Global Investors Form ADV Part 2A for more information on fee schedules. Some portfolio net-of fees returns may be net of performance-based fees. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted.

Portfolio holdings are subject to change. References to individual companies should not be construed as recommendations to buy or sell shares in those companies. Wasatch analysts closely monitor the companies held in the portfolio. If a company’s underlying fundamentals or valuation measures change, Wasatch will reevaluate its position and my sell part or all of its holdings.

Portfolio Characteristics, Allocations and Top Ten Holdings are derived from a representative account. A representative account is selected based on accounts with substantially similar investment policies, objectives, and strategies that closely resemble, or are most representative of, the strategy it represents.

Est. 5-year EPS Growth %: Estimated percentage increase in earnings per share (EPS) per year of the fund's holdings over the next 5 years. Returns are not guaranteed and may be higher or lower. Source: Wasatch and FactSet. P/E Ratio (forward and trailing): Sum of stock prices of the fund's holdings divided by the aggregate earnings per share of those holdings for the next 12 months (forward), or past 12 months (trailing), calculated as a weighted harmonic average. P/E to Growth Rate: Forward 12-month P/E ratio divided by the estimated 5-year EPS growth rate. Portfolios with a number less than 1.0 would be considered undervalued, around 1.0 would be considered fair valued and significantly greater than 1.0 would be considered overvalued. Weighted Average Market Cap: Average market capitalization of companies held by the fund, weighted by their percentage of fund net assets. Portfolio Turnover: A measure of trading activity in a fund's portfolio over the past 12 months expressed as a percentage of the fund's average total assets. Alpha measures a fund's risk/reward potential. A positive alpha means the fund outperformed the index. A negative alpha means the fund underperformed the index. Beta measures a fund's risk in relation to the market. A beta of 0.8 means the fund's total return is likely to move up or down 80% of the market change; 1.25 means total return is likely to move up or down 25% more than the market. R-Squared measures (from 0 to 1.0) how closely a fund's movements are correlated with movements of its benchmark. An R-squared of 1.0 would mean that the fund's movements are completely correlated with the movements of its benchmark. Active Share measures the difference between portfolio holdings and the benchmark. It is the sum of the absolute values of the different weightings of each holding in the fund versus each holding in the benchmark, divided by 2. Standard Deviation measures the degree to which a fund's performance has varied from its average performance over a particular time period. The greater the standard deviation, the greater a fund's volatility (risk). Upside Capture explains how well a fund performs in time periods where the benchmark's returns are greater than zero. Downside Capture explains how well a fund performs in time periods where the benchmark's returns are less than zero.

Wasatch Advisors LP, trading as Wasatch Global Investors ARBN 605 031 909, is regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under U.S. laws which differ from Australian laws. Wasatch Global Investors is exempt from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services licence in accordance with class order 03/1100 in respect of the provision of financial services to wholesale clients in Australia.

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