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Small Company Growth

Distinguishing Characteristics

Thought Process

A process that emphasizes the direction of growth opposed to the absolute level of growth.

Proof Points

We focus on actual fundamental improvement rather than speculating on anticipated improvement.

Repeatable Success

Disciplined analysis concentrated on the magnitude and sustainability of the key fundamental drivers.

The Way We Think

The market often underestimates the magnitude and duration of a company’s change in fundamentals.  We believe inefficiencies can be found in the way investors analyze change.  These established behavioral biases allow us to identify those companies undergoing fundamental changes that are meaningful, sustainable, and mispriced in the marketplace.

We Believe In:

Unique Risk Management

The failure rate is high for small-cap growth companies which elevates the importance of risk management.

Behavioral Biases

Small-cap growth market participants underprice the magnitude and duration of a change in fundamentals due to behavioral biases.

Collaboration

A broad investment knowledge coupled with a highly collaborative decision-making process is a powerful combination.

Sustainability

Alpha generation is directly linked to the magnitude and sustainability of changes in financial metrics.

Process and Portfolio Construction

Our investment process seeks to identify companies undergoing positive change driven by new management, new products, restructuring, acquisition, or changes in the secular growth rate that are not fully discounted by the marketplace.  We demand tangible improvements in the fundamentals that are explainable and sustainable, with a valuation that is understandable.  This leads to a construction of a diversified portfolio of 85-110 companies that display these characteristics.

Balancing Company and Factor Risk

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  • Use fundamental analysis to understand company specific risk
    • Understanding the business allows for a better assessment of the company specific risk of failure/disruption
  • Use traditional factor analysis to evaluate sources of stock price volatility
    • Momentum, growth, size, valuation, etc
  • Utilize our proprietary factor model to evaluate exposures to macroeconomic variables that can/might change
    • Inflation
    • Optimism
    • Economic Growth

Investment Strategy

We optimize the best attributes of a collaborative culture, fundamental and quantitative analysis, while maintaining a differentiated definition of growth and risk.

Strategy: CastleArk U.S. Small Company Growth

Index: Russell 2000 Growth*

Available Vehicles:  Separately Managed Account, Collective Trust

Inception Date: 5/31/2007

A process that emphasizes the direction of growth over the absolute level of growth.

A focus on actual fundamental improvements vs. anticipated improvements enhance our success rate.

A disciplined analysis focused on the magnitude and sustainability of the driver of fundamental improvement.

Composite Performance as of September 30, 2024*

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 Russell 2000 Growth Index represents a segment of the Russell 2000 Index that display signs of above average growth. The Russell 2000 Index is an index measuring the performance of approximately 2,000 U.S. small-cap companies.

Composite Performance reflects reinvestment of all income and capital gains and is shown in US dollars and after the deduction of transaction costs. Composite Performance is shown gross and net of actual management fees charged. Actual investment advisory fees incurred by clients may vary. Additional information on the calculation methodologies used herein is available upon request. Indexes are unmanaged, do not incur management fees and cannot be invested in directly. The Composite and index returns are net of any foreign withholding taxes on dividends, interest, and capital gains.

Past performance is not indicative of future results. Performance during certain periods reflect strong stock market performance that is not typical and may not be repeated.

Portfolio Managers

CastleArk Management, LLC is a registered investment advisor registered with The Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

CastleArk Form CRS

© CastleArk Management, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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