The views in these article excerpts and hyperlinks were those of the Fund manager as of each article's publication date and may be subject to change. For the period ending March 31, 2008 the Fund's 1-, 5-, 10-year and since inception (7/1/89) average annual returns were -12.02%, 19.65%, 8.42% and 11.25%, respectively. Performance data quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than original cost. Please click here for the Fund's most recent month end performance and related information. The article excerpts and hyperlinks reference individual securities that may or may not currently be held by the Fund. Click here to view a recent listing of the Fund's top 10 holdings. Furthermore, please see additional disclosure at the end of this section.

Archive

2006

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2003

2002

The Motley Fool
"Talking Global Investing With Bernie Horn"
January 17, 2008

In an e-mail interview, Mr. Bernie Horn shares his views about value investing, new investment opportunities, and concerns regarding China. He discussed the Polaris Global Value Fund’s unconstrained pure value equity selection process that is characterized as an active, all-capitalization investment approach. Polaris is considered a deep value manager; the Fund’s management believes that the best way to generate above average risk-adjusted returns is to wait for market fluctuations to produce undervalued companies. Although Polaris is coined as a "value investor," the Fund’s real strategy is to invest in companies that management believes are priced to give us a proper rate of return. From Polaris’ perspective, this is not just value investing: it is correct investing.

Fortune Magazine
"Investor's Guide 2008 - Harvesting The Top Foreign Stocks"
December 24, 2007

Smart value hounds continue to sift through the battered financial sector, looking for stocks that have been unfairly punished for the sins of others. The Bank of Ireland is one such name, suggests Bernard Horn, manager of the Polaris Global Value Fund. The stock has taken a hit as Ireland suffers through its own housing slump, but Mr. Horn argues that the long-term picture for the Bank of Ireland remains solid, largely because favorable corporate tax rates could result in a continuing flow of businesses and immigrants into the country. The bank also has little exposure to structured investment vehicles or collateralized debt obligations.

The Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors
"Overseas Values"
December 1, 2007

To view the complete text article, click here

In September, Bernie Horn, 52, did another of his trademark round-the-world research trips to check in on many of the companies in the Polaris Global Value Fund portfolio as well as to look for new companies in which to invest. In a Q&A with Independent Adviser, Mr. Horn discussed recent performance, top stock picks and new global investment strategies.

Nightly Business Report
"Of Mutual Interest - Polaris Global Value Fund"
November 6, 2007

With the recent market volatility, many investors are looking for a mutual fund that can show consistent performance over the long term. Bernard Horn, Jr., manager of the Polaris Global Value Fund, looks for companies that are poised to generate good, strong sustainable free cash flow and Fund management is willing to consider investments in virtually any sector anywhere in the world. Currently, Mr. Horn thinks that the American market is still a bit overvalued relative to the rest of the world. The Fund has approximately two-thirds of the portfolio outside of the U.S., and the U.S. exposure is a bit below its benchmark weighting.

Business Week
"Stocks Drop On Profit, Oil Concerns"
October 17, 2007

Major U.S. stock indexes ended lower on continued worries about fourth-quarter corporate profits and the inflation implications of surging oil prices. Downbeat news on the housing sector also weighed on equities. This is the first quarter where the negative fallout is being seen from the upward adjustment of interest rates on the riskier loans the more aggressive banks began to make once credit spreads flattened, said Bernard Horn, Jr., a portfolio manager at Polaris Capital Management in Boston. The more aggressive banks may not have sufficient reserves to back the loans they've made, while the banks backed by deposits, on which the interest rates have come down since the Federal Reserve interest rate cut, should have a fair amount of [higher-quality] capital that should allow them to easily weather the storm, commented Mr. Horn.

SmartMoney Magazine
"Fishing for Values In Foreign Markets"
August 1, 2007

A homebuilder based in Helsinki, Finland, YIT has discovered a profitable niche: building Western-style housing in Russia. Thousands of middle-class Russians are moving out of rundown Soviet-era apartments into modern, amenity-laden homes, and YIT is building those units as fast as it can. According to Bernard Horn, who owns the stock for the Polaris Global Value Fund: People are lifting themselves up in Russia and YIT is benefiting. You can’t buy into that trend with a U.S. company.

Investment Advisor
"Travel The World, While Staying Home"
July 1, 2007

Global equity funds differ from international stock funds in that they have the latitude to invest in U.S. stocks as well as foreign companies. Indeed, the majority of global stock portfolios are mandated to keep most of their assets in U.S. holdings, while the international segment typically is allocated to issues from the developed countries of Western Europe and Asia-Pacific. The sector has closely matched the performance of the S&P 500 Index (“Index”) over the past year, while significantly outperforming the Index over the longer three- and five-year terms.

The Polaris Global Value Fund typically invests in a portfolio of 50-100 companies and is diversified across 15 countries and 15 industries. Portfolio manager Bernard R. Horn, Jr. espouses a “pure value” investment philosophy, with special emphasis on seeking out companies with the most undervalued streams of sustainable cash flow.

Kiplinger.com
"Screening The World's Bargain Bins"
June 7, 2007

The Polaris Global Value Fund (PGVFX) illustrates one of the advantages of a quantitative approach to stock picking: Computers are immune to pressure from fads and indexes. Not to mention they can crank through thousands of stocks like it's nobody's business -- sometimes with marvelous results. Thanks to some timely calls by manager Bernard Horn's computer models, the Polaris Global Value Fund, which can invest in companies based anywhere in the world, has performed well since its inception of 1998.

Horn's computers focus foremost on free cash flow, basically the amount of cash profits left after the capital expenditures needed to maintain a business. His quantitative models rank 24,000 companies around the globe on the basis of free-cash generation. The screens churn out about 500 names that merit further attention. Horn and his four analysts develop financial models of each company and in many cases meet with executives of potential investments, as well as officials from rival corporations. Horn brings a cautious eye to the table -- he likes companies that appear to be good buys regardless of future growth.

The Wall Street Journal
"Global Investing: One-Stop Shopping"
June 4, 2007

To receive the complete article in hardcopy, contact info@polariscapital.com

The case for buying a world stock fund can be pretty simple: The globe is your oyster. Managers of world-stock funds can pool the best ideas of analysts across their firms, regardless of where the companies those analysts follow are based. To get a look at the world funds category, The Wall Street Journal turned to three managers who Morningstar says represent different and smart ways of approaching a world fund – one of whom is Bernard Horn Jr. at Polaris Global Value Fund.

At the Polaris Global Value Fund, stock selection begins with data crunching. Using proprietary software, computers continually screen thousands of stocks from around the world, zeroing in on free cash flow, a measure of a company's available cash. Currency risk and country-specific data like economic growth and demographics are incorporated. Of the several hundred stocks that emerge from that process as candidates for investment, dozens end up in the Fund at any one time based on further research. Historically, stock selections typically span about 15 countries and 15 industries and are held for three to five years.

MORNINGSTAR
"Four Ideas For Exposure To Foreign Small Caps"
May 7, 2007

The Polaris Global Value Fund isn't all small caps and it isn't all foreign, but it still has a big chunk of its portfolio in small caps. It actually follows an all-cap strategy and has a fair amount in large, mid-, and small caps. The Fund’s asset base is modest and costs are reasonable, according to Morningstar. Manager Bernard Horn Jr. seeks to blend quantitative screens with fundamental value analysis. He equally weights roughly 75 stocks that make up the portfolio in much the way other quant funds will because such funds have faith in their process more than any one stock. The Fund has performed well since its 1998 inception.

Bull & Bear's Monetary Digest
"The World In Two Small Packages"
May-June 2007

One way to invest in global growth is through world equity funds. Managers of these funds have the difficult task of not only selecting countries where they think best investment opportunities lie, but also seek to choose attractive stocks in those markets. This area has attracted many talented managers, and has produced several interesting choices, one among them being the Polaris Global Value Fund.

This multi-cap value fund with global ambitions has a great pedigree. Managed by Bernard Horn since its inception in 1998, Polaris Global Value has outperformed its benchmark, the MSCI World Index, in every calendar except 1999.

Equity Fund Outlook
"Newly Added Funds"
April 2007

The Fund manager from the Polaris Global Value Fund has developed a selection process over the Fund’s 18 years that seeks firms that are undervalued with respect to their cash flow. The process excluded technology firms for several years, but included lots of business and consumer services firms. The Polaris Fund manager goes wherever his process leads, so the country allocations may not resemble those of the indexes. The Polaris Fund manager has found more opportunities abroad in the last year; only a third of the Polaris Global Value Fund is currently invested domestically.

SmartMoney Magazine
"The 35 Best Mutual Funds"
February 2007

To receive the complete article in hardcopy, contact info@polariscapital.com

Before the Polaris Global Value Fund investment team leaves the office, they use technical screens to winnow the field. Then they “kick the tires”, traveling to the far reaches of the earth to uncover good investments. Fund management is looking for the 75 most undervalued companies, regardless of size, country or sector. As of December 31, 2006, 33% of the portfolio was invested in U.S. stocks — slightly below the weight in the global market.

The team looks for high free cash flow, good management and strong financials. Lately, Japanese companies have looked attractive, and the team has invested 13% of the Fund in companies that primarily serve Japan's domestic market, including a dairy, a brewery and a regional railroad.

Returns, meanwhile, have been stellar: an average of 21% per year since 2001, which compares very well among global funds. Historically low turnover has minimized tax consequences. And the Fund has steadily reduced expenses since inception; they're now at 1.23%.

On June 1, 1998, a limited partnership managed by the adviser reorganized into the Fund. The predecessor limited partnership maintained an investment objective and investment policies that were, in all material respects, equivalent to those of the Fund. The Fund's performance for the periods before June 1, 1998 is that of the limited partnership and includes the expenses of the limited partnership. If the limited partnership's performance had been readjusted to reflect the first year expenses of the Fund, the Fund's performance for all the periods would have been lower. The limited partnership was not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 ("1940 Act") and was not subject to certain investment limitations, diversification requirements, and other restrictions imposed by the 1940 Act and the Internal Revenue Code, which, if applicable, may have adversely affected its performance.

The Fund invests in securities of foreign issuers, including issuers located in countries with emerging capital markets. Investments in such securities entail certain risks not associated with investments in domestic securities, such as volatility of currency exchange rates, and in some cases, political and economic instability and relatively illiquid markets.

The MSCI World Index ("MSCI") measures the performance of a diverse range of global stock markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East. The MSCI is unmanaged and does include the reinvestment of dividends, net of withholding taxes. The S&P 500 Index is a broad-based, unmanaged measurement of changes in stock market conditions based on the average of 500 widely held common stocks. One cannot invest directly in an index. Price to cash flow is the ratio of a stock's latest closing price divided by cash flow per share for the past 12 months.