Daren Clark Heitman

Skyline Asset Management specializes in small-cap value equity management. They look for underfollowed, neglected, out-of-favor stocks with below average valuations and attractive earnings growth prospects. The firm employs in-house, fundamental, bottom-up research to identify and select investments in the small-cap sector. Skyline Asset Management targets companies with market-caps that are within the range of the Russell 2000 Index. The portfolio manager on a stock makes the final decision after obtaining input from the entire research group. The firm sells a stock when its P/E ratio rises to a level equal to the overall small-cap stock market or its respective industry group. In the case of a stock that declines, Skyline Asset Management sells only if fundamentals have changed so that the original investment thesis is no longer valid. They trim a stock if it appreciates to more than a 5% weighting in the portfolio. Client portfolios are managed generally the same with an average holding of 55-75 positions.

Cooke & Bieler is a domestic equity value manager that employs a “High Quality, Low Risk” long-term approach. The firm is an active, bottom-up manager who studies the fundamental characteristics of companies and the industries in which they operate to reach a conclusion on their quality and intrinsic value. Their security analysis also emphasizes research meetings and interviews with corporate management. They seek to take advantage of short-term but fixable problems, either industry-wide or company-specific.

SCM employs an active value equity investment approach to invest in common stocks of companies with different market capitalizations, and which they believe are undervalued. The firm offers advice on exchange-listed securities, securities traded over the counter, foreign issuers, corporate debt securities, mutual fund shares, US government securities, options contracts on securities, options contracts on commodities, futures contracts on tangibles, futures contracts on intangibles and EFTs. They engage in fundamental securities analysis focused on value discipline and employ strategies including long-term and short-term purchases, short-term trading, short sales, margin transactions and option writing.

Functions as a College/University

Functions as a College/University

Azarias is an active, fundamental value-oriented investor which primarily invests in common stocks of companies with market capitalizations that are considered micro-cap or small-cap, and which the firm believes are undervalued. Azarias selects securities based on a continuous study of trends in industries and companies, industry literature, company reports, financial reports, company presentations, earnings power, and growth. The firm sells securities when: (1) a security appreciates in value to the point that it is considered to be fairly valued; (2) client portfolios should be rebalanced to include a more attractive stock or stocks; (3) they lose confidence in the company’s ability to realize an earnings recovery; or (4) the company’s balance sheet can no longer considered conservatively financed.