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Wasatch Micro Cap Value Strategy

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Wasatch Micro Cap Value Strategy
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Strategy Overview

Highlights
  • Seeks undervalued micro-cap companies with future growth potential
  • Flexible approach allows for multiple expansion and earnings growth
  • Blend of undiscovered growth, value momentum, graduating class and fallen angel micro-cap stocks
Investment Approach

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

  • Undiscovered growth: growth companies with low valuation due to lack of street coverage
  • Value momentum: companies with attractive multiples and accelerating growth
  • Graduating class: maturing micro-cap companies that are entering a period of EPS growth and valuation expansion
  • 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

Portfolio Managers
Brian Bythrow Brian Bythrow Lead Portfolio Manager
20 years on strategy
20 years at wasatch
Thomas Bradley Thomas Bradley Associate Portfolio Manager
1 year on strategy
9 years at wasatch
21 Cumulative PM years on strategy

It’s as if we’re miners. We turn over a lot of stones. Most of them are just rocks, but occasionally we find gold.”

—Brian Bythrow, Lead Portfolio Manager

Performance

Total Returns AS OF 09/30/23 AS OF 11/30/23
Quarter-End Month-end
1 Month
3 Month
ytd
1 yr
3 yr
5 yr
10 yr
Since
Inception
Micro Cap Value Composite (Gross)
9.68%
-2.78%
4.75%
3.29%
2.15%
11.25%
11.26%
13.53%
Micro Cap Value Composite (Net)
9.61%
-3.08%
3.52%
1.99%
0.87%
9.84%
9.67%
11.54%
Russell Microcap® Index
9.47%
-4.91%
-4.33%
-8.41%
-1.36%
3.02%
4.61%
6.67%

Returns for periods less than one year are not annualized. Since inception performance is calculated from 07/31/2003.

Calendar Year Returns (%) NET OF FEES (AS OF 12/31/22)
Micro Cap Value Composite
Russell Microcap® 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.

The Micro Cap Value Composite contains fully discretionary equity accounts following the Micro Cap Value style.  The composite primarily invests in micro cap companies with the goal of long-term growth of capital.  For comparison purposes the composite is measured against the Russell Microcap TR and Russell 2000 TR indices.

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 09/30/23
Portfolio
Index
Number of Holdings
84
1525
Average Market Cap
($ Weighted)
$1.01B
$650M
Median Market Cap
$597M
$207M
EPS Growth (%, est. 5 yr)
23
14
P/E (Forward)
15
10
Portfolio Turnover (%)
58.73
N/A
Active Share (%)
96
N/A
Performance Statistics AS OF 09/30/23
5 yr
Alpha
7.23
Beta
0.87
R-Squared
0.87
Standard Deviation
24.21
Upside Capture
96.42
Downside Capture
89.40
Top 10 Holdings AS OF 09/30/23
Company
% of Net Assets
Skyline Champion Corp.
3.3%
Esquire Financial Holdings Inc.
2.4%
Construction Partners Inc.
2.3%
ICF International Inc.
2.1%
Instem PLC (United Kingdom)
1.9%
Veeco Instruments Inc.
1.9%
JDC Group AG (Germany)
1.8%
Sterling Infrastructure Inc.
1.8%
Ezcorp Inc. - Cl A
1.6%
HCI Group, Inc.
1.6%
84 Number of holdings
96% Active share
Sector Allocation AS OF 09/30/23
Sector
Portfolio
Index
Industrials
22.4 %
14.1 %
Information Technology
19.3 %
10.6 %
Financials
17.2 %
20.9 %
Health Care
15.8 %
23.9 %
Consumer Discretionary
7.6 %
10.3 %
Consumer Staples
6.3 %
1.7 %
Cash & Cash Equivalents*
4.0 %
N/A
Communication Services
2.2 %
3.1 %
Materials
1.9 %
4.0 %
Energy
1.2 %
6.7 %
Real Estate
1.2 %
3.9 %
Utilities
0.9 %
0.9 %
Country Allocation AS OF 09/30/23
Portfolio (%)
Developed
94.8%
United States
77.1%
United Kingdom
8.6%
Germany
3.0%
Canada
2.4%
Israel
1.4%
Japan
1.4%
Australia
0.8%
Other
0.2%
Emerging & Frontier
1.2%
India
1.2%
77.1% United States

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

Commentary & Literature

News & Updates

Celebrating 20 Years of Success: Wasatch Micro Cap Value Fund

October 23, 2023

One year. Five years. Ten years. Twenty years. Since inception. Across all…

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Market Scout – “Value” Funds in a Growth Shop

October 6, 2023

The third quarter of 2023 was negative for stocks as investors fretted…

Read More >

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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