ESG Growth

N.A. – Information is not statistically meaningful due to an insufficient number of portfolios in the composite for the entire year.
* Partial Year from 10/1/2016 to 12/31/2016

Sit Investment Associates, Inc. claims compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) and has prepared and presented this report in compliance with the GIPS standards. Sit Investment Associates, Inc. has been independently verified for the period January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2022 by ACA Performance Services, for the period January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2016 by Ashland Partners & Company LLP and for the period January 1, 1997 through December 31, 2006 by KPMG LLP. The verification report(s) is/are available upon request. A firm that claims compliance with the GIPS standards must establish policies and procedures for complying with all the applicable requirements of the GIPS standards. Verification provides assurance on whether the firm’s policies and procedures related to composite and pooled fund maintenance, as well as the calculation, presentation, and distribution of performance, have been designed in compliance with the GIPS standards and have been implemented on a firm-wide basis. Verification does not provide assurance on the accuracy of any specific performance report.

The creation and inception date of the ESG Growth Composite are October 1, 2016. ESG Growth Composite contains fully discretionary accounts, and for comparison purposes is measured against the MSCI World Index. There is no minimum account size. The composite contains portfolios generally emphasizing investment in companies that the Adviser believes have strong environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) practices. The portfolios invest primarily in common stocks of U.S. and foreign companies, primarily of large to medium capitalizations (companies with market capitalizations in excess of $ 2 billion). The MSCI World Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets.

Sit Investment Associates, Inc. is an independent registered investment adviser which includes the following subsidiaries: Sit Investment Fixed Income Advisors, Inc.; and Sit Investment Fixed Income Advisors II, Inc. On December 31, 2007, Sit/Kim International Investment Associates, Inc. and Sit/Kim International Investment Associates II, LLC were liquidated into Sit Investment Associates, Inc. Prior to 2000, Sit Investment Associates, Inc. and Sit/Kim International Investment Associates, Inc. issued separate GIPS reports, including disclosure of each entity’s assets under management. Beginning in 2000 the two entities issued a combined GIPS report to reflect the entities’ current operational and management affiliation. Total assets for all years presented in the table above reflect the combined total assets of all subsidiaries. A list of composite descriptions, a list of limited distribution pooled fund descriptions, and a list of broad distribution pooled funds are available upon request.

The U.S. Dollar is the currency used to express performance. Returns are presented gross and net of management fees and include the reinvestment of all income. Net of fee returns were updated for all years to reflect the appropriate highest fee for each year. Net of fee performance was calculated using the highest fee applicable annual management fee of 1.25% applied quarterly, for the period April 1, 2015 through September 30, 2017, and 1.00% applied quarterly, thereafter. The annual composite dispersion presented is an equal-weighted standard deviation calculated for the accounts in the composite the entire year using gross-of-fees returns Beginning April 1, 2006, SIA calculates a true Time Weighted Return (TWR) for each portfolio within the composite and asset weights their returns to come up with a composite return. Periods are geometrically linked together. Policies for valuing investments, calculating performance, and preparing GIPS reports are available upon request.

The investment management fee schedule for the composite is 0.80% on the first $10 million, 0.75% on the next $20 million, 0.65% on the next $20 million, and 0.50% on the amounts over $50 million. The management fee for Sit ESG Growth Fund Class S is 1.00% with an expense ratio of 1.25%, and the management fee for Sit ESG Growth Class I is 1.00% with an expense ratio of 1.00%. Actual investment advisory fees incurred by clients may vary.

The three-year annualized standard deviation measures the variability of the composite and the benchmark returns over the preceding 36-month period. The standard deviation is not presented for 2016 through 2018 because the monthly returns were not available. For purposes of this calculation, gross-of-fees composite returns were used.

GIPS® is a registered trademark of CFA Institute. CFA Institute does not endorse or promote this organization, nor does it warrant the accuracy or quality of the content contained herein.

Past performance is not indicative of future results.