INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SBAuer Funds, LLC, announced its Auer Growth Fund [AUERX] has earned an overall Morningstar Rating™ of 5 stars among 464 Small Value funds based upon risk-adjusted returns as of 12/31/2024.
As of 12/31/2024, AUERX showed a 1-year return of 11.31% while its benchmark, the S&P 500, posted 25.02%; a 3-year return of 14.08% as the S&P 500 returned 8.94%; a 5-year return of 16.16% versus 14.53% by the S&P 500; and a 10-year return of 9.08% while the S&P 500 posted a 13.10% return during that same period. Within the Small Value category of funds based upon total returns, the Auer Growth Fund ranked in the 27th percentile out of 488 funds at the 1-year mark, in the 2nd percentile out of 464 funds at the 3-year mark, the 4th percentile out of 441 funds at the 5-year mark, and the 12th percentile out of 349 funds at 10 years.
Morningstar’s 5-star rating system assigns a one- to five-star ranking to each fund based on past performance of risk-adjusted returns relative to peer funds, according to Investopedia. Graded on a curve, star ratings give the top 10% of funds 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive four stars, the middle 35% get three stars, followed by 22.5% percent receiving two stars and the bottom 10% only getting one star.
“I have always liked the following quote from Muriel Siebert, ‘You create opportunities by performing, not complaining,’” says AUERX fund manager Bob Auer. “And I believe it’s the perfect summation of our performance rating with Morningstar, which we’re extremely excited about.”
SBAuer was established in 2008 when, after twenty years of investing with the strategy, father and son team Bryan and Bob Auer converted their portfolio into a retail mutual fund—the Auer Growth Fund. Currently, lead manager Bob Auer and managers Eric McKenzie and Auer’s brother Paul oversee the Fund’s investment picks.
Maintaining a disciplined investment strategy, the Auer Growth Fund selects stocks of companies whose quarterly year-over-year profit growth is 25% with quarterly year-over-year revenue growth of at least 20%; stocks must also have a price-to-earnings ratio of less than 12 times earnings. Any stock that doesn’t meet the firm’s demanding criteria on a quarterly basis is removed from the portfolio, plus a stock is sold if it doubles in value.
About SB Auer, LLC:
SB Auer Funds, LLC, is an SEC-registered, registered investment advisor with $59.8 million AUM as of 12/31/2024.
All of its assets are in the Auer Growth Fund, with the sole objective being capital appreciation. Visit sbauerfunds.com for information.
Disclosures:
AUERX (12/31/2024) – 1 Year: 11.31%, 3 Year: 14.08%, 5 Year: 16.16%, 10 Year: 9.09%, Total Gross Expense Ratio: 2.07% as of March 29, 2024.
You should carefully consider the investment objectives, potential risks, management fees, and charges and expenses of the Fund before investing. The Fund’s prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund, and should be read carefully before investing. You may obtain a current copy of the Fund’s prospectus by calling 888-711-2837.
Performance quoted represents past performance, which is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than what is stated. Investment return and principal value will vary with market conditions so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. For current to most recent month-end performance, please visit sbauerfunds.com/performance or call us at 888-711-2837. The Fund imposes a 1% redemption fee on proceeds redeemed or exchanged within 7 days of purchase. The performance illustrated does not include the effect of the redemption charge. If it did, performance would have been lower.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. You could lose money by investing in the Fund. There can be no assurance that the Fund’s investment objectives will be achieved. Small-cap and mid-cap investing involves greater risk not associated with investing in more established companies, such as greater price volatility, business risk, less liquidity and increased competitive threat. Stocks of micro-capitalization companies are more volatile, less liquid, involve substantial risks, and are subject to more abrupt or erratic movements than small, mid or large capitalization companies. The Fund invests in companies that appear to be growth-oriented companies. If the Adviser’s perceptions of a company’s growth potential are wrong, the securities purchased may not perform as expected, causing losses that will reduce the Fund’s return. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
The S&P 500 Index is a widely recognized unmanaged index of equity prices and are representative of a broader market and range of securities than is found in the Fund’s portfolio. The Index returns do not reflect the deduction of expenses, which have been deducted from the Fund’s returns. The Index return assumes reinvestment of all distributions and does not reflect the deduction of taxes and fees.
© 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (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. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
The Morningstar Rating TM 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 Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. 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. As of 12/31/24, the Auer Growth (AUERX) fund received a ten-year rating of 4 stars out of 349 Small Value funds, a five-year rating of 5 stars out of 441 funds, and three-year rating of 5 stars out of 464 funds. The Auer Growth Fund inception is December 28, 2007.
Morningstar classifies funds into categories based on similar investment objective and strategy. Morningstar percentile rankings are based on a fund’s total return compared to its Morningstar Category of exchange-traded and open-end mutual funds. The highest percentile rank is 1 and the lowest percentile rank is 100. Rankings are relative to a peer group and do not necessarily mean the fund had high or positive total returns. Morningstar updates its fund rankings daily. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Auer Growth Fund is distributed by Ultimus Fund Distributors, LLC, 225 Pictoria Dr., Suite 450 , Cincinnati, OH 45246 United States. (Member FINRA). Ultimus Fund Solutions and Auer Growth Fund are not affiliated entities.
