Sunday, April 2, 2017

AIM Class of 2017 Posts Strong Q1 2017 Performance!

Some Small Cap Equity Managers Face a ‘Must Win’ Situation – Not the AIM Program – The Class of 2017 Posted Strong Q1 2017 Returns

The active-passive challenge continues with about half of the actively managed funds posting returns above their benchmarks in Q1 2017. Active managers are almost in a ‘must win’ situation and need a strong 2017 performance. According to Jefferies, of the over 4700 mutual funds they track, only 45% are beating as of the end of Q1, but the average fund is only 8 basis points behind their respective benchmark.

How did small cap managers fare?  The common belief is that small cap managers should have the best chance of beating their benchmarks. Q1 2017 was better for the style managers, but only 33% of core managers are ahead of the Russell 2000 with the average fund off by 54 basis points; growth managers are ahead by 64 basis points with nearly 60% beating the index; and 54% of small cap value managers beat their benchmark with the average manager 33 basis points better.

So how did the AIM Class of 2017 fare? The students have had an excellent run since the beginning of the fall semester – posting strong excess returns versus the Russell 2000 Index for Q1 2017 (4.1% vs. 2.5%) – and a solid 12.3% return for the past six months - also beating the benchmark. (Click on the box to see the full performance table).

Note: complete performance metrics for the Class of 2017 will be posted in mid-April.

AIM Small Cap Fund Performance (% Total Return)
Mar-17
Q1 2017
Past 6 Months
AIM Small Cap Fund
0.51
4.14
12.29
Benchmark:Russell 2000
0.13
2.47
11.52
Holdings:
Achaogen Inc
7.59
93.78
426.72
Agree Realty Corp
-2.37
5.22
-0.99
AMERISAFE Inc
1.24
4.41
16.59
AMN Healthcare Services Inc
-1.34
5.59
27.39
AmTrust Financial Services Inc
-19.00
-31.96
-29.30
Anika Therapeutics Inc
-7.16
-11.27
-9.22
Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc
4.79
15.94
20.53
Astec Industries Inc
-2.49
-8.69
3.05
Astronics Corp Class B
-6.69
-5.22
-18.72
ATN International Inc
3.47
-11.69
9.32
AxoGen Inc
0.00
16.11
15.73
AZZ Inc
1.45
-6.62
-8.32
Balchem Corp
-5.45
-1.79
6.80
Beacon Roofing Supply Inc
8.19
6.71
16.85
Berry Plastics Group Inc
-3.50
-0.33
10.76
BlackLine Inc
4.31
7.71

BofI Holding Inc
-17.15
-8.48
16.65
Bojangles Inc
-2.61
9.92
28.45
Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc
-4.65
-0.24
29.46
Buffalo Wild Wings Inc
-1.45
-1.07
8.53
CalAmp Corp
3.58
15.79
20.36
Calavo Growers Inc
7.45
-1.30
-6.01
Carriage Services Inc
5.24
-5.13
15.10
Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc
-11.95
-23.27
-29.44
Columbia Banking System Inc
-2.26
-12.24
21.03
Columbia Sportswear Co
7.26
1.08
4.18
Comfort Systems USA Inc
-3.75
10.27
25.52
Connecticut Water Service Inc
-6.84
-4.33
8.01
ConnectOne Bancorp Inc
-3.39
-6.26
35.11
Control4 Corp
5.76
54.80
28.58
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc
-1.08
-3.94
22.18
Cryolife Inc
4.06
-13.05
-5.24
Editas Medicine Inc
-10.47
37.52
65.58
Ensign Group Inc
0.01
-15.16
-6.18
Envestnet Inc
-16.43
-8.37
-11.39
Exact Sciences Corp
9.76
76.80
27.19
Farmer Bros Co
8.19
-3.68
-0.56
Federal Signal Corp
-6.72
-11.08
5.20
Flotek Industries Inc
-5.40
36.21
-12.04
Fogo de Chao Inc
16.07
13.24
53.74
Franklin Electric Co Inc
2.74
10.93
6.24
Gentherm Inc
8.28
15.95
24.92
Golub Capital BDC Inc Class B
5.54
9.84
11.85
GTT Communications Inc
-12.72
-15.30
3.48
Home BancShares Inc
-3.80
-2.20
30.95
Inogen Inc
13.03
15.47
29.48
Insteel Industries Inc
0.14
1.49
3.34
Johnson Outdoors Inc Class A
4.05
-7.81
0.85
Landec Corp
-4.76
-13.04
-10.51
Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP
-2.29
0.33
-10.95
LeMaitre Vascular Inc
11.50
-2.58
24.65
LendingTree Inc
5.87
23.68
29.35
Malibu Boats Inc Class A
9.19
17.66
50.67
Matrix Service Co
1.85
-27.31
-12.05
MDU Resources Group Inc
1.67
-4.20
9.10
Mercury Systems Inc
4.52
29.22
58.93
Methode Electronics Inc Class A
9.88
10.50
30.91
MidWestOne Financial Group Inc
-5.98
-8.36
13.98
Multi-Color Corp
-0.98
-8.44
7.73
Nautilus Inc
13.35
-1.35
-19.67
Netgear Inc
-9.58
-8.83
-18.09
NewStar Financial Inc
6.22
14.59
9.17
NIC Inc
-3.89
-15.15
-10.94
Northern Technologies International Corp
17.71
32.69
44.80
Omeros Corp
24.24
52.42
35.48
PCTEL Inc
27.14
33.27
36.48
Physicians Realty Trust
-0.25
5.99
-5.66
PNM Resources Inc
1.93
8.58
14.49
RSP Permian Inc
4.91
-7.15
6.83
Shenandoah Telecommunications Co
-0.18
2.75
4.01
Sparton Corp
-9.49
-11.99
-20.07
Standex International Corp
4.87
14.18
8.18
Superior Uniform Group Inc
1.53
-4.75
-5.13
Synaptics Inc
-6.85
-7.60
-15.48
Synchronoss Technologies Inc
-9.90
-36.29
-40.75
Synnex Corp
-4.26
-7.30
-1.46
The Hackett Group Inc
-3.32
10.36
18.77
Tronox Ltd
6.72
79.39
97.87
US Concrete Inc
2.46
-1.45
40.13
Verint Systems Inc
14.90
23.05
15.27
Web.com Group Inc
0.26
-8.75
11.75
Wintrust Financial Corp
-6.21
-4.56
24.85
World Wrestling Entertainment Inc Class A
6.48
21.41
5.45