Liberty All Star Equity Fund : -Star(R) Equity Fund December 2015 Update
January 19, 2016 at 01:54 pm EST
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BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Jan 19, 2016) - Below is the December 2015 Monthly Update for the Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund. (NYSE: USA)
Liberty All-Star Equity Fund
Monthly Update
Ticker: USA
December, 2015
Investment Approach
Fund Style: Large-Cap Core
Fund Strategy: Combines three value-style and two growth-style
investment managers. Those selected demonstrate a consistent
investment philosophy, decision making process, continuity of key
people and above-average long-term results compared to managers
with similar styles.
Investment Managers:
Value Managers:
Aristotle Capital Management, LLC
Delaware Investments
Pzena Investment Management, LLC
Growth Managers:
Cornerstone Capital Management LLC
TCW Investment Management Company
Top 20 Holdings at Month-End
(27.6% of equity portfolio)
(Rank from previous month)
1
Alphabet, Inc., Class A & C (1)
2.7%
2
Microsoft Corp. (2)
1.9%
3
Amazon.com, Inc. (4)
1.8%
4
Salesforce.com, Inc. (3)
1.8%
5
Facebook, Inc., Class A (5)
1.8%
6
The Home Depot, Inc. (24)
1.7%
7
Visa, Inc., Class A (10)
1.3%
8
Bank of America Corp. (34)
1.3%
9
Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (9)
1.3%
10
Intel Corp. (11)
1.3%
11
ACE Ltd. (27)
1.3%
12
Mondelez International, Inc., Class A (83)
1.2%
13
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (7)
1.2%
14
CVS Health Corp. (6)
1.1%
15
American Tower Corp. (22)
1.0%
16
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (98)
1.0%
17
Oracle Corp. (53)
1.0%
18
Baxalta, Inc. (31)
1.0%
19
The Coca-Cola Co. (26)
1.0%
20
The Charles Schwab Corp. (19)
0.9%
Holdings are subject to change.
Monthly Performance
Performance
NAV
Market Price
Discount
Beginning of month value
$6.35
$5.40
15.0%
Distributions
-
-
End of month value
$6.18
$5.35
13.4%
Performance for month
-2.68%
-0.93%
Performance year-to-date
-1.01%
-1.98%
The net asset value (NAV) of a closed-end fund is the market value of the underlying investments (i.e., stocks and bonds) in the Fund's portfolio, minus liabilities, divided by the total number of Fund shares outstanding. However, the Fund also has a market price; the value at which it trades on an exchange. If the market price is above the NAV the Fund is trading at a premium. If the market price is below the NAV the Fund is trading at a discount.
Performance returns for the Fund are total returns, which includes dividends, and are net of management fees and other Fund expenses. The Fund's performance is calculated assuming that a shareholder reinvested all distributions. Past performance cannot predict future investment results.
Performance will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data shown. Performance information shown does not reflect the deduction of taxes that shareholders would pay on Fund distributions or the sale of Fund shares. Shareholders must be willing to tolerate significant fluctuations in the value of their investment. An investment in the Fund involves risk, including loss of principal.
Sources of distributions to shareholders may include ordinary dividends, long-term capital gains and return of capital. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. If a distribution includes anything other than net investment income, the fund provides a Section 19(a) notice of the best estimate of its distribution sources at that time, available at http://www.all-starfunds.com/. These estimates may not match the final tax characterization (for the full year's distributions) contained in shareholders' 1099-DIV forms after the end of the year.
Net Assets at Month-End ($millions)
Total
$1,136.6
Equities
$1,116.5
Percent Invested
98.2%
Sector Breakdown (% of equity portfolio)*
Financials
20.7%
Information Technology
20.6%
Health Care
17.0%
Consumer Discretionary
13.9%
Consumer Staples
9.0%
Industrials
7.3%
Energy
6.9%
Materials
1.8%
Utilities
1.5%
Telecommunication Services
1.3%
Total Market Value
100.0%
*Based on Standard & Poor's and MSCI Barra Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).
New Holdings**
Holdings Liquidated**
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Baker Hughes, Inc.
NXP Semiconductors NV
Polaris Industries, Inc.
Seagate Technology PLC
** Transactions resulting from the manager replacement of Matrix Asset Advisors with Aristotle Capital Management, LLC as one of the Fund's five portfolio managers effective December 14, 2015 are excluded from the New Holdings and Holdings Liquidated.
Liberty All-Star Equity Fund (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund's investment objective is to seek total investment return, comprised of long-term capital appreciation and current income. The Fund seeks its investment objective through investment primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity securities. The Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities, defined as common stocks and securities convertible into common stocks such as bonds and preferred stocks, and securities having common stock characteristics such as warrants and rights to purchase equity securities (although, as a non-fundamental policy, not more than 20% of the value of the Fundâs total assets may be invested in rights and warrants). The Fund may lend its portfolio securities, write covered call and put options and engage in options and futures strategies. The Fund's investment advisor is ALPS Advisors, Inc.