(as of 12/31/08)
February 2009, Lake Oswego, OR—Even as the recession deepened, the Auxier Focus Fund has outperformed many of its peers. ”Twenty‐five years of hard research and managing money through difficult markets has helped our performance,” says Auxier. “The firm is debt free, and personally I am debt free, so we can concentrate on being stewards without conflicts or pressures of insolvency facing so many bigger firms today. I also have skin in the game—my entire personal retirement is on the line with my investors.”
Auxier Focus Fund Performance:
- Wall Street Journal “Category King” Auxier Focus Fund ranked ninth out of 389 funds for the one year period ending December 31, 2008. Wall Street Journal Source: Lipper. For Funds with multiple share classes, only the largest is shown. (As of 12/31/08 Lipper’s Multi‐Cap Value classification received the following rankings: 12 out of 381 for the one year period, 9 out of 299 for the three year period and 28 out of 231 for the five year period.
- AUXFX Outperformed S&P 500 Index by 71.52 percentage points cumulative (since inception 7/9/1999 and as of 12/31/2008)
- Overall Lipper Leader for “Preservation” (Lipper’s MultiCap Value classification, received the following ratings for the 3, 5 year and Overall periods, respectively: Lipper Leader among 9240, 7428 and 9240 Funds as of 12/31/2008)
- Overall Lipper Leader for “Total Return” (Lipper’s Multi‐Cap Value classification, received the following ratings for the 3, 5 year and Overall periods: Lipper Leader among 307, 238 and 307 Funds respectively, as of 12/31/2008)
- Overall 4 Star designation from Morningstar (Overall Morningstar rating as of 12/31/2008 out of 962 Moderate Allocation Funds. Derived from a weighted average of the risk adjusted performance figure associcated with the Fund’s 3‐ and 5‐ year Morningstar Rating metrics.)
- AUXFX average annual returns as of 12/31/2008 for the 1 year, 5‐year and since inception (7/9/1999) were ‐24.52%, 3.27% and 4.16%, respectively.
Performance data quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than original cost. For the most recent month‐end performance, please call (877) 328‐9437 or visit the Fund’s website. As stated in the current prospectus, the Fund’s annual operating expense ratio (gross) is 1.35%. The Fund’s adviser has contractually agreed to maintain the total annual operating expenses at 1.35% which is in effect until October 31, 2009. Fund charges a 2.0% redemption fee on shares redeemed within six months of purchase. Please refer to additional important disclosure at the end of this release.
The Auxier Focus Fund is founded and managed by Jeff Auxier who also manages Auxier Asset Management, based in Oregon. Despite all the gloom on Wall Street, Auxier remains optimistic about what he believes will be “historic, generational buying opportunities” coming out of the world‐wide economic slump. A serious student of market history, Auxier says, “Successful investors have historically sown the seeds of fortunes in economic downturns. I’ve waited for this opportunity my entire career.” (Note: There can be no guarantee of success with any technique, strategy, or investment. All investing involves risk, including the loss of principal.)
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Contact Information:
Shirley Hancock
(503) 781-4234
[email protected]
Lillian Walker
(503) 885-8807 or 1 (800) 835-9556
[email protected]
Auxier Asset Management
5000 SW Meadows Road, Suite 410, Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035
(503) 885-8807 or 1 (800) 835-9556
Visit our website at: www.AuxierAsset.com
Fund returns (i) assume the reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions and (ii) would have been lower during the period if certain fees and expenses had not been waived. Performance shown is for the Fund’s Investor Class shares; returns for other share classes will vary. Performance for Investor Class shares for periods prior to December 10, 2004 reflects performance of the applicable share class of Auxier Focus Fund, a series of Unified Series Trust (the “Predecessor Fund”). Prior to January 3, 2003, the Predecessor Fund was a series of Ameriprime Funds. The performance of the Fund’s Investor Class shares for the period prior to December 10, 2004 reflects the expenses of the Predecessor Fund. The S&P 500 Index is a broad‐based, unmanaged measurement of changes in stock market conditions based on the average of 500 widely held common stocks. One cannot invest directly in an index. Foreside Fund Services, LLC, distributor.
For More Information On The Auxier Focus Fund Contact:
Auxier Asset Management LLC 5000 SW Meadows Rd., Suite 410 Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035
Phone: 1 (800) 835-9556
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.auxierasset.com
Before investing you should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information is in the prospectus, a copy of which may be obtained by calling (877) 328-9437 or visiting the Fund’s website. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest.
The Fund may invest in value and/or growth stocks. Investments in value stocks are subject to risk that their intrinsic value may never be realized and investments in growth stocks may be susceptible to rapid price swings, especially during periods of economic uncertainty. In addition, the Fund may invest in smaller companies which generally carry greater risk than is customarily associated with larger companies for various reasons such as narrower markets, limited financial resources and less liquid stock. Moreover, if the Fund’s portfolio is overweighted in a sector, any negative development affecting that sector will have a greater impact on the Fund than a fund that is not overweighted in that sector.
2008 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. For the period ended 12/31/2008, the Fund’s Overall Morningstar Rating was 4 stars. For each fund with at least a three‐year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating based on a Morningstar Risk‐Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund’s monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each 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. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) The Overall Morningstar Rating for the Fund is derived from a weighted‐average of the performance figures associated with its 3‐ and 5‐year Morningstar Rating metrics. The Fund was rated against the following numbers of U.S. domiciled Moderate Allocation funds over the following time periods: 962 funds in the last three years and 768 funds in the last five years. With respect to these Moderate Allocation funds, the Fund received a Morningstar Rating of 4 stars and 4 stars for the 3‐ and 5‐year periods, respectively. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Lipper Leader ratings for Preservation reflect funds’ historical loss avoidance relative to other funds within the same asset class. Lipper Leader ratings for Total Return reflect fund’s historical total return performance relative to peers. Scores are subject to change every month and are calculated for the following periods: 3‐ year, 5‐year, 10‐year, and Overall. The overall calculation is based on an equal‐weighted average of percentile ranks for each measure over 3‐year, 5‐year, and 10‐year periods (if applicable).For each measure, the highest 20% of funds in each peer group are named Lipper Leaders. The next 20% receive a rating of 4; the middle 20% are rated 3; the next 20% are rated 2, and the lowest 20% are rated 1. Lipper ratings are relative, rather than absolute measures, and funds named Lipper Leaders may still experience losses periodically; those losses may be larger for equity and mixed equity funds than for fixed income funds. The Auxier Focus Fund, in Lipper’s Multi‐Cap Value classification, received the following ratings as of 12/31/2008: Preservation (in Equity asset class) 3, 5‐year and Overall periods, respectively: Lipper Leader among 9240, 7428 and 9240 Funds). Total Return (in Equity asset class): Lipper Leader among 307, 328 and 307 Funds for 3 year, 5 year and Overall periods, respectively. Lipper ratings are not intended to predict future results, and Lipper does not guarantee the accuracy of this information. More information is available at www.lipperweb.com. Lipper Leader Copyright 2008, Reuters, All Rights Reserved.
As of 12/31/08, the Fund’s top 10 holdings were: Philip Morris International (2.4%); Wal Mart Stores (1.7%); Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (1.5%); The Travelers Companies Inc. (1.4%); Marsh & McLennan Co. (1.3% ; Unitedhealth Group Inc. (1.3%); Wellpoint Inc. (1.3%); Quest Diagnostics Inc. (1.2%); Coca‐Cola Company
(1.2%); Kraft Foods Inc. (1.1%).