Investment Process

The investment team seeks to invest in companies with franchise characteristics that are benefiting from an accelerating profit cycle and are trading at a discount to private market value.

Security Selection

  • Identify companies with franchise characteristics and defensible competitive positions
  • Invest in emerging profit cycles
  • Purchase stocks at a discount to private market value
  • Assess key environmental, social and governance issues that could impact future stock returns

Capital Allocation—Garden, Crop, Harvest® Investing

  • Build position size according to conviction
  • GardenSM — Smaller position sizes in companies that are early on in the profit cycle
  • CropSM — Larger position sizes in companies where profit cycle is being realized
  • HarvestSM — Reduced or sold positions as stock approaches full valuation or profit cycle begins to decelerate

Broad Knowledge

  • Invest opportunistically across entire global economy
  • Find growth wherever growth occurs

In-depth Investment Process

 

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Investment
Results (%)

As of 30 November 2024 QTD YTD 1 Yr 3 Yr 5 Yr 10 Yr Inception
Investor Class: ARTSX 7.65 22.71 33.75 -1.99 6.84 10.57 9.37
Russell 2000® Growth Index 10.77 25.42 40.44 3.25 9.19 9.34 8.11
Russell 2000® Index 9.37 21.58 36.43 4.96 9.90 9.05 9.29
As of 30 September 2024 QTD YTD 1 Yr 3 Yr 5 Yr 10 Yr Inception
Investor Class: ARTSX 9.02 13.99 24.46 -6.49 7.26 10.54 9.15
Russell 2000® Growth Index 8.41 13.22 27.66 -0.35 8.82 8.95 7.78
Russell 2000® Index 9.27 11.17 26.76 1.84 9.39 8.78 9.01

Calendar Year Returns (%)

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Investor Class: ARTSX 40.14 61.00 -8.90 -29.44 9.29
Russell 2000® Growth Index 28.48 34.63 2.83 -26.36 18.66
Russell 2000® Index 25.52 19.96 14.82 -20.44 16.93
Returns for periods less than one year are not annualized. 

Past performance does not guarantee and is not a reliable indicator of future results. Investment returns and principal values will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than that shown. 

Ratings

Morningstar Overall RatingTM
As of 30 November 2024
   
Morningstar Medalist RatingTM
As of 30 November 2024
Silver

Analyst-Driven: 100%
Data Coverage: 100%

Morningstar Rating Disclosure

Star ratings are based on risk-adjusted returns. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year Morningstar Ratings metrics. 536 funds in the overall Small Growth category. View full Fund ratings.

View Important Disclosures below for further details on Morningstar Medalist Rating™. 

Expense Ratio

Annual Report 30 September 2024 1.23%
Prospectus 30 September 2023 1.23%

Expense Ratio Disclosure

See prospectus for further details. 

Top 10 Holdings
(% of total portfolio as of 30 November 2024)
Guidewire Software Inc (Information Technology) 5.2
Lattice Semiconductor Corp (Information Technology) 3.9
Ascendis Pharma A/S (Health Care) 3.8
Veracyte Inc (Health Care) 3.5
SPX Technologies Inc (Industrials) 3.3
MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings Inc (Information Technology) 3.3
Twist Bioscience Corp (Health Care) 2.7
Novanta Inc (Information Technology) 2.4
SharkNinja Inc (Consumer Discretionary) 2.4
Flex Ltd (Information Technology) 2.4
Total 33.0%
View Full Holdings Historical Holdings
Portfolio Statistics
(as of 30 November 2024)
Median Market Cap (Billions) $7.5
Weighted Avg. Market Cap (Billions) $9.0
Weighted Harmonic Avg. P/E (FY1) 38.4X
Weighted Harmonic Avg. P/E (FY2) 32.8X
Weighted Avg. Hist. 3 Yr Sales Growth 26.8%
Weighted Avg. LT Debt/Capital 28.9%
Active Share 92.5%
Annual Turnover 46.7%
Number of Securities 59
Cash (% of total portfolio) 3.4%
Market Cap Distribution
(% of portfolio securities as of 30 November 2024)

$ in billions
5.9+ 74.1
4.1–5.9 8.6
2.9–4.1 6.6
1.8–2.9 9.9
0.0–1.8 0.9
Not Applicable
TOTAL 100.0%

Sector Diversification
(% of portfolio securities as of 30 November 2024)

The investment team leverages high degrees of experience and knowledge within a disciplined investment process. Learn more about the Team.
  • Craigh Cepukenas, CFA
  • Portfolio Manager
  • 36Years Investment
    Experience
  • Jay Warner, CFA
  • Portfolio Manager
  • 23Years Investment
    Experience
  • James Hamel, CFA
  • Portfolio Manager
  • 28Years Investment
    Experience
  • Jason White, CFA
  • Portfolio Manager
  • 25Years Investment
    Experience
  • Matthew Kamm, CFA
  • Portfolio Manager
  • 25Years Investment
    Experience
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Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk. The value of portfolio securities selected by the investment team may rise or fall in response to company, market, economic, political, regulatory or other news, at times greater than the market or benchmark index. A portfolio’s environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) considerations may limit the investment opportunities available and, as a result, the portfolio may forgo certain investment opportunities and underperform portfolios that do not consider ESG factors. International investments involve special risks, including currency fluctuation, lower liquidity, different accounting methods and economic and political systems, and higher transaction costs. These risks typically are greater in emerging and less developed markets, including frontier markets. Securities of small- and medium-sized companies tend to have a shorter history of operations, be more volatile and less liquid and may have underperformed securities of large companies during some periods. Growth securities may underperform other asset types during a given period. These risks are discussed in the prospectus. Please read it carefully before you invest or send money. 

Performance Source: Artisan Partners/Russell. Data & Statistics Sources: Artisan Partners/Russell/GICS. Sector exposure percentages reflect sector designations as currently classified by GICS. Annual turnover is reported as of the Fund’s fiscal year end. Artisan Partners may exclude outlier data and certain securities which lack applicable attributes, such as private securities when calculating portfolio statistics. If information is unavailable for a particular security Artisan may use data from a related security to calculate portfolio statistics. For the purpose of determining the Fund's holdings, securities of the same issuer are aggregated to determine the weight in the Fund. Cash weighting includes cash and cash equivalents. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 

Median is the data's midpoint value. Market Cap (USD) is the aggregate value of all of a company's outstanding equity securities. Weighted Average is the average of values weighted to the data set's composition. Weighted Harmonic Average is a calculation of weighted average commonly used for rates or ratios. Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E Ratio) measures how expensive a stock is. Earnings figures used for FY1 and FY2 are estimates for the current and next unreported fiscal years. Hist. 3 Yr Sales Growth is the average growth rate of a company’s sales over the past three years. LT Debt/Capital is the long-term debt to total capital relationship of each company within the portfolio. Active Share is defined as the percentage of a portfolio that differs from its benchmark index. Active Share can range from 0% for an index fund that perfectly mirrors its benchmark to 100% for a portfolio with no overlap with an index. Annual Turnover is a measure of the trading activity in an investment portfolio—how often securities are bought and sold by a portfolio. 

Russell 2000® Index measures the performance of roughly 2,000 US small-cap companies. Russell 2000® Growth Index measures the performance of US small-cap companies with higher price/book ratios and forecasted growth values. The index(es) are unmanaged; include net reinvested dividends; do not reflect fees or expenses; and are not available for direct investment. 

Frank Russell Company (“Russell”) is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes. Russell® is a trademark of Frank Russell Company. Neither Russell nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings or underlying data and no party may rely on any Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings and/or underlying data contained in this communication. No further distribution of Russell Data is permitted without Russell’s express written consent. Russell does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of this communication. 

The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) is the exclusive intellectual property of MSCI Inc. (MSCI) and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services, LLC (S&P). Neither MSCI, S&P, their affiliates, nor any of their third party providers (“GICS Parties”) makes any representations or warranties, express or implied, with respect to GICS or the results to be obtained by the use thereof, and expressly disclaim all warranties, including warranties of accuracy, completeness, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The GICS Parties shall not have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of such damages.

The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.

The Morningstar Medalist Rating™ is the summary expression of Morningstar’s forward-looking analysis of investment strategies as offered via specific vehicles using a rating scale of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral, and Negative. The Medalist Ratings indicate which investments Morningstar believes are likely to outperform a relevant index or peer group average on a risk-adjusted basis over time. Investment products are evaluated on three key pillars (People, Parent, and Process) which, when coupled with a fee assessment, forms the basis for Morningstar’s conviction in those products’ investment merits and determines the Medalist Rating they’re assigned. Pillar ratings take the form of Low, Below Average, Average, Above Average, and High. Pillars may be evaluated via an analyst’s qualitative assessment (either directly to a vehicle the analyst covers or indirectly when the pillar ratings of a covered vehicle are mapped to a related uncovered vehicle) or using algorithmic techniques. Vehicles are sorted by their expected performance into rating groups defined by their Morningstar Category and their active or passive status. When analysts directly cover a vehicle, they assign the three pillar ratings based on their qualitative assessment, subject to the oversight of the Analyst Rating Committee, and monitor and reevaluate them at least every 14 months. When the vehicles are covered either indirectly by analysts or by algorithm, the ratings are assigned monthly. For more detailed information about these ratings, including their methodology, please go to global.morningstar.com/managerdisclosures/.

The Morningstar Medalist Ratings are not statements of fact, nor are they credit or risk ratings. The Morningstar Medalist Rating (i) should not be used as the sole basis in evaluating an investment product, (ii) involves unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected, (iii) are not guaranteed to be based on complete or accurate assumptions or models when determined algorithmically, (iv) involve the risk that the return target will not be met due to such things as unforeseen changes in management, technology, economic development, interest rate development, operating and/or material costs, competitive pressure, supervisory law, exchange rate, tax rates, exchange rate changes, and/or changes in political and social conditions, and (v) should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the investment product. A change in the fundamental factors underlying the Morningstar Medalist Rating can mean that the rating is subsequently no longer accurate. 

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