Kansas City-based Scout Investment Advisors has added an international fund to its lineup of UMB Scout Funds. A no-load fund, the UMB Scout International Discovery Fund focuses on the more-developed end of the emerging markets sector and comes with an expense ratio of 160 bps.
Company Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The UMB Scout Funds are pleased to announce the launch of the UMB Scout International Discovery Fund (UMBDX). Scout Investment Advisors, Inc. is the Fund’s investment advisor. The Fund, a no–load member of the UMB Scout Funds family of mutual funds, will seek long-term growth of capital by following a disciplined top-down/bottom-up investment approach. In selecting companies, the Advisor will look at the economic, political and market conditions in the various countries in which the Fund may invest. The Advisor will then focus on what the Advisor believes are smaller and mid-sized companies that it expects will benefit from certain macroeconomic or company-specific factors.
James Moffett, CFA, a two-time Finalist for the Morningstar International-Stock Manager of the Year Award (2005, 2007), leads the team that manages the Fund’s assets. Michael Stack, CFA, joins Moffett as co-portfolio manager and brings more than 12 years of international investment experience to the Fund. Stack most recently served as an assistant portfolio manager of the UMB Scout International Fund (UMBWX), also managed by Moffett, which received a 5-Star Overall Morningstar Rating™ based on risk-adjusted performance as of December 31, 2007 when rated against 557 Foreign Large Blend Funds1.
“The UMB Scout International Discovery Fund management team will leverage Scout Investment Advisors’ existing abilities to identify, analyze and understand international small-cap and mid-cap companies,” said Moffett. “The Fund will employ an investment process similar to that of the UMB Scout International Fund – our large-cap fund – that includes top-down/bottom-up analysis of economic, political and market conditions and looks to leverage both global and regional trends. Bottom-up analysis will include critical factors such as strong balance sheets, positive cash flow, valuation, accounting and management quality, and company-specific or top-down catalysts.”
The UMB Scout International Discovery Fund focuses on the more-developed end of the emerging markets spectrum, maintaining a maximum exposure of 20 percent of its net assets in investments in developing countries.
“As world economies continue to expand, we see a growing investment opportunity in small-cap and mid-cap companies that will benefit investors,” said Gary DiCenzo, president of the UMB Scout Funds. “We plan to capitalize on 15 years of successful international investing experience to expand our product offering and help to further diversify our clients’ portfolios.”
Shares of the Fund are available for purchase directly or through various mutual fund supermarkets.
Foreign investments present additional risks due to currency fluctuations, economic and political factors, government regulations, differences in accounting standards and other factors. Investments in emerging markets involve even greater risks. This Fund is also more susceptible to market volatility because smaller companies may not have the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies. Additionally, smaller company stocks tend to be sold less often and in smaller amounts than larger company stocks.
You should consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. To obtain a prospectus, which contains this and other information about the Fund, call 800.996.2862 or visit umbscoutfunds.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.
1 The Overall Morningstar RatingTM for a fund is derived from the weighted-average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar RatingTM based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variations 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 the funds in a broad asset class 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 UMB Scout International Fund received the following star ratings among U.S. domiciled Foreign Large Blend funds for the following time periods: 4 stars (among 557 funds) for the three-year, 4 stars (among 462 funds) for the five-year and 5 stars (among 227 funds) for the ten-year time periods.
The UMB Scout Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC, Milwaukee, WI, an affiliate of UMB Financial Corporation, and Managed by Scout Investment Advisors, Inc., a subsidiary of UMB Bank, n.a.
"UMB," "Scout" and the Scout design are registered service marks of UMB Financial Corporation.
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