August 25, 2020 Oakbrook Terrace, IL - PSN Top Guns Press Release

Oakbrook Terrace, IL – August 25, 2020 – Ballast Equity Management has been awarded multiple PSN Top Guns distinctions by Informa Financial Intelligence’s PSN manager database, North America’s longest running database of investment managers.

 

Ballast was honored with Bull and Bear Master recognition for its Quality Value Midcap strategy as well as 2-star and 3-star Top Gun ratings for that product in the Mid Cap Value Universe. Ballast also received a 2-Star award for its Select strategy in the Small-Mid Value Universe.

 

“Ballast is pleased to have delivered results for our clients that have been recognized by Informa Financial Intelligence,” noted Ballast CEO Jeff Kautz. “We are particularly gratified that the Bull and Bear Master recognition reflects the smoother ride we seek to offer investors in volatile markets.”

 

Through a combination of Informa Financial Intelligence’s proprietary performance screens, *PSN Top Guns (*free registration to view Top Guns) ranks products in six proprietary categories in over 50 universes. This is a well-respected quarterly ranking and is widely used by institutional asset managers and investors. Informa Financial Intelligence is part of Informa plc, a leading provider of critical decision-making solutions and custom services to financial institutions.

 

Ballast’s Quality Value Midcap strategy was named among the Bull and Bear Masters, meaning the strategy had an r-squared of 0.80 or greater relative to the style benchmark for a three-year period. Moreover, the strategy had an upside market capture over 100 and a downside market capture less than 100 relative to the style benchmark. The top ten ratios of Upside Capture Ratio over Downside Capture Ratio become the PSN Bull & Bear Masters. Ballast Quality Value Midcap also received a Top Gun 2-Star and 3-Star rating, meaning this product had one of the top ten returns for the one-year and three-year periods in the Mid Value Universe.

 

Ballast’s Select Value strategy was named Top Gun 2-Star rating, noting its top ten returns for the one-year period in the Small-Mid Value Universe.

 

Ballast manages the Quality Value Midcap and Select Value strategies, and its Quality Value Smallcap strategy, with the objective to reward clients with performance that is above it benchmarks and peers over a full market cycle with less volatility. The sole focus of its partners is to invest alongside clients in small and mid-cap businesses it believes can sustain high returns on invested capital through durable competitive advantages. Markets currently present investors with high levels of uncertainty and Ballast believes that selectively owning durable businesses purchased at reasonable valuations will be key to preserving and growing wealth.

 

“Congratulations to Ballast Equity Management for being recognized as a PSN Top Gun,” said Ryan Nauman, Market Strategist at Informa Financial Intelligence’s Zephyr. “This highly esteemed designation allows us to recognize success, excellence and performance of leading investment managers each quarter.”

 

The complete list of PSN Top Guns and an overview of the methodology can be located on https://psn.fi.informais.com/

 

For more details on the methodology behind the PSN Top Guns Rankings or to purchase PSN Top Guns Reports, contact Margaret Tobiasen at Margaret.tobiasen@informa.com.

 

For more details on the specific performance and characteristics of Ballast’s strategies, including a fully GIPS compliant presentation, please contact Dave Mertens at dmertens@ballastequity.com.

 

About Ballast Equity Management, LLC

Ballast Equity Management is an employee-owned asset management firm that invests alongside its clients in high conviction portfolios of quality small and mid-capitalization businesses. Ballast manages these portfolios of publicly traded companies for individuals, family offices and institutions. Based in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, Ballast was founded in 2016 by Jeff Kautz and Randy Hughes, investment professionals who previously held senior roles at Perkins Investment Management and have invested together for over 20 years. More information may be found at www.ballastequity.com.

 

About Informa Financial Intelligence’s Zephyr

Financial Intelligence, part of the Informa Intelligence Division of Informa plc, is a leading provider of products and services helping financial institutions around the world cut through the noise and take decisive action. Informa Financial Intelligence’s solutions provide unparalleled insight into market opportunity, competitive performance and customer segment behavioral patterns and performance through specialized industry research, intelligence, and insight. IFI’s Zephyr portfolio supports asset allocation, investment analysis, portfolio construction, and client communications that combine to help advisors and portfolio managers retain and grow client relationships. For more information about IFI, visit https://financialintelligence.informa.com. For more information about Zephyr’s PSN Separately Managed Accounts data, visit https://financialintelligence.informa.com/products-and-services/data-analysis-and-tools/psn-sma.

 

Ballast Quality Value Midcap honored with Bull & Bear Master Recognition.

Criteria: The PSN universes were created using the information collected through the PSN investment manager questionnaire and use only gross of fee returns. Mutual fund and commingled fund products are not included in the universe. PSN Top Guns investment managers must claim that they are GIPS compliant. Products must have an r-squared of 0.80 or greater relative to the style benchmark for the three-year period ending JUNE 30, 2020. Moreover, products must have an upside market capture over 100 and a downside market capture less than 100 relative to the style benchmark. The top ten ratios of Upside Capture Ratio over Downside Capture Ratio become the PSN Bull & Bear Masters. 

Upside Market Capture Ratio – The Up Market Capture Ratio measures the manager’s performance in up markets relative to the performance of the market (index) itself. An up market is defined as any period (quarter) where the market’s return is greater than or equal to zero. The higher the Up Market Capture Ratio, the better the manager grew capital during a market expansion. A value of 110 suggests that a manager’s gain was 110% of the market’s gain when the market was up. 

Downside Market Capture Ratio – measures the manager’s performance in down markets relative to the performance of the market (index) itself. A down market is defined as any period (quarter) where the market’s return is less than zero. The lower the Down Market Capture Ratio, the better the manager protected capital during a market decline. A value of 90 suggests that a manager’s losses were only 90% of the market’s loss when the market was down. 

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