Pear Tree Essex Environmental Opportunities Fund
The PEAR TREE ESSEX ENVIRONMENTAL OPPORTUNITIES FUND operates at the nexus of environment and finance, investing in companies that enable greater natural resource and energy efficiency.
Investment Process
The Fund invests in companies the management team believes solve environmental and related social challenges, seeking to provide attractive financial and social impact returns. The Fund is fossil fuel free, investing in public equities will full alignment to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Investments are made across nine environmental themes, providing clean technology diversification in companies with revenue and earnings growth greater than the broad equity market, in companies exhibiting effective capital allocation and strong profitability.
Buy and Sell Discipline
The Fund is concentrated, typically owning 35-45 equity holdings, in growth companies which provide solutions to the world's environmental challenges. Stock selection is based on rigorous fundamental company analysis and a valuation process that is informed by the portfolio management team’s thematic industry assessment. The Fund is generally lower turnover, with half from existing positions. Position sizes average 2-3%, and are diversified across themes, geographies and industries. Risk management and assessment is integral to portfolio construction, with position sizes determined by industry maturity, liquidity, individual security volatility and the management of price and profit expectations.
Portfolio Management
The Fund is managed by William Page and Robert Uek of Essex Investment Management, LLC. Essex is an independent, employee-owned firm with over a 40 year history of growth equity investing. Page and Uek have almost 60 years of combined institutional investment experience. The portfolio management team has been managing clean technology portfolios for over 16 years, with the first listed impact strategy in North America.
Fund Overview
YTD RETURN*
13.95%
NAV*
$18.79
INCEPTION**
September 1, 2021
MINIMUM INVESTMENT
$1,000,000
CUSIP
70472Q716
BENCHMARK
MSCI WORLD
NET EXPENSE RATIO(1)
0.99%
GROSS EXPENSE RATIO(2)
1.38%
*as of 8/6/2026
** The Pear Tree Essex Environment Opportunities Fund (the “Fund”) is the successor to the investment performance of the Essex Environmental Opportunities Fund (“Predecessor Fund”) as a result of the reorganization of the Predecessor Fund into the Environmental Opportunities Fund on September 1, 2021. Performance information shown prior to the close of business on August 31, 2021 is that of the Predecessor Fund’s for the Fund’s Ordinary Shares and Institutional Shares.
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Sub-Advisor
Essex Investment Management Co., LLC
Essex Investment Management Company, LLC. follows an investment philosophy based on the early identification of growth, wherever growth exists.
Portfolio Managers
Robert Uek, CFA
William Page
Performance
| YTD As Of 8/6/2026 |
Quarterly As Of 6/30/2026 |
1 Year As Of 6/30/2026 |
3 Years As Of 6/30/2026 |
5 Years As Of 6/30/2026 |
10 Years As Of 6/30/2026 |
Since Inception As Of 6/30/2026 |
Total Gross Expense Ratio(1) | Total Net Expense Ratio(2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13.95% | 24.03% | 43.33% | 11.64% | 1.80% | N/A | 9.47% | 1.38% | 0.99% |
Calendar Year
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23.79% | 1.60% | -1.28% | -27.69% | 11.15% | 63.14% | 25.83% | -15.60% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Portfolio
as of June 30, 2026
Top Ten Holdings
| Percentage Of Total Net Assets | 36.60% |
|---|---|
| Infineon Technologies AG | 5.30% |
| Keyence Corporation | 4.00% |
| ON Semiconductor Corporation | 3.90% |
| Badger Meter, Inc. | 3.80% |
| GE Vernova Inc. | 3.40% |
| Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. | 3.30% |
| SMA Solar Technology AG | 3.30% |
| Kingspan Group plc | 3.20% |
| American Superconductor Corporation | 3.20% |
| Carrier Global Corporation | 3.20% |
Sector Weightings
| Percentage Of Total Net Assets | 100.00% |
|---|---|
| Industrials | 49.20% |
| Information Technology | 31.70% |
| Materials | 6.60% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 2.10% |
| Consumer Staples | 1.90% |
| Utilities | 1.80% |
| Energy | 1.20% |
| Financials | 1.20% |
| Cash and Other Assets (Net) | 4.30% |
Top Ten Country Allocations
| Percentage Of Total Net Assets | 100.00% |
|---|---|
| United States | 63.00% |
| Japan | 12.10% |
| Germany | 8.60% |
| Ireland | 3.20% |
| Netherlands | 3.10% |
| China | 1.80% |
| Israel | 1.50% |
| Canada | 1.20% |
| United Kingdom | 1.20% |
| Cash and Other Assets (Net) | 4.30% |
Portfolio Characteristics
| Net Assets | $33,179,737 |
|---|---|
| Number Of Holdings | 40 |
| Percentage in Top 10 Holdings | 36.60% |
| Weighted Average Market Cap (Mil) | $39,264.40 |
| Annual Turnover | 56.00% |
Portfolio Allocation
| Percentage of Portfolio | 100.00% |
|---|---|
| Equity Securities | 95.70% |
| Cash and Other Assets (Net) | 4.30% |
Commentary
For the Quarter ended June 30, 2026
Market Conditions and Investment Strategies
Interest and investment in clean technology gained great momentum in the second quarter of 2026 based on multiple catalysts.
The most recognized trends are increased power demand stemming from data centers, and the need for domestic energy security
given the armed conflict in the Middle East. These drivers dominated headlines across the globe, seeding both economic and
political discussions. Electricity prices are a major issue for voters as we approach mid-term elections. We describe clean tech as
enabling economic growth with less resources, and the drivers go way beyond these headlines. The drivers for clean tech, to which
the Pear Tree Essex Environmental Opportunities Fund (the “Fund”)¹ has broad exposure:
• Energy security/independence
• Supply chain optimization
• Electric grid reliability
• Industrial productivity
• Energy efficiency
As our world faces enhanced geopolitical and economic risks, from nationalism to a stubborn inflationary cycle, the companies
addressing these five drivers should enable economic growth while lowering costs and enhancing productivity – the very essence
of clean technology solutions. Just as the drivers for clean tech have increased and deepened, the solutions are more commercially
viable today, with decreased costs that are driving adoption, from advanced battery solutions to industrial automation.
Attribution
During the second quarter, performance was led by holdings in Power Technology, Efficient Transport, and Clean Tech & Efficiency.
Infineon Technologies and ON Semiconductor both benefited from recovering industrial markets and improving automotive
trends, with Infineon seeing additional tailwinds from data center demand. Ambiq Micro capitalized on accelerating edge AI
demand alongside a growing backlog, while Aeva Technologies secured a key win with Daimler Truck and also partnered with
NVIDIA. Rounding out the top contributors, KEYENCE delivered strong performance driven by a recovery in Japanese automotive
manufacturing and expansion in food quality control automation.
Over the second quarter, performance detractors were impacted by macro headwinds, valuation adjustments, and temporary
operational disruptions. Within Power Technology, Primoris Services was weighed down by weak profitability across several utilityscale
solar projects, while Cameco faced temporary production halts due to mine flooding. In Agriculture Productivity, Trimble
encountered drag from ongoing weakness in freight and transportation alongside agricultural market volatility. Meanwhile, Samsara
(Clean Tech & Efficiency) was caught in broader negative sentiment impacting SaaS business models, and Amprius Technologies
(Efficient Transport) detracted following a valuation rerating after strong prior performance.
Outlook
A massive spike in power demand has strained old systems, and these drivers represent the shift away from simply building
more power plants towards the optimization of the entire energy ecosystem. You cannot have grid reliability and energy security
without focusing heavily on efficiency and industrial productivity. The five drivers cited above maximize the output our systems have
presently, as industrial productivity and supply chain optimization can reduce waste and resources, as energy efficiency and grid
reliability ensure that power generated is utilized optimally without being lost to transmission bottlenecks or outdated infrastructure.
These five drivers are helping solve the real-world pain points, grounding solutions in hard economic and geopolitical realities. By
optimizing supply chains and enhancing energy security, clean tech can reduce vulnerability to geopolitical fragmentation and volatile
global commodity markets. Through enhancing industrial productivity and our electrical grid, the physical backbone of our economy
is upgraded so it can run uninterrupted. These five drivers are a thematic blueprint to power and secure a highly productive and lowresource
intensive future. Importantly, we have made progress in pockets of these drivers globally in the past decade, but not wholly.
Battery electric storage systems (BESS) are extremely beneficial in this new energy ecosystem, although we are in very early innings
– think of solar power over a decade ago. Battery costs have decreased over 90% in the past several years, based on learning curves
not exhibited with fossil fuels such as natural gas.
The fundamental difference between clean technologies such as BESS and fossil fuels is the difference between technology and a
commodity. BESS is manufactured, and the steep learning curves are disrupting fossil fuels based on extraction economics, meaning
their prices are highly volatile and do not permanently decline. It is for this reason that BESS installation rates are highest now in
the EU, which has been burned twice with two successive wars in several years. Overnight, the EU has implemented energy security
measures, from solar and storage installation goals to energy efficiency initiatives. Texas is also rapidly installing BESS, given the
rapid data center development coupled with volatile real-time electricity pricing in the throes of severe weather. The Fund has
extensive exposure to these five drivers, from battery technology to grid optimization and management, to building energy efficiency.
We believe that the case for clean technology is grave currently, just as these technologies are maturing. Importantly, the market is
taking notice, but there are many different and related avenues of opportunity that still go unnoticed by the broad market which we
believe will be equally recognized over time.
Disclosures:
This commentary is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice and is not intended as an endorsement of any specific investment. The opinions and analyses expressed in this commentary are based on Essex Investment Management LLC’s (“Essex”) research and professional experience and are expressed as of the date of its release. Certain information expressed represents an assessment at a specific point in time and is not intended to be a forecast or guarantee of future results, nor is it intended to speak to any future periods. Accordingly, such statements are inherently speculative as they are based on assumptions that may involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties.
Distributions
| Dividend | Short-Term Capital Gain | Long-Term Capital Gain | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $0.0107 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2024 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2023 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
Performance data quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than 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.
Before investing, carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. For this and other information obtain the Fund's prospectus or, if available, the Fund's summary prospectus by calling (800) 326-2151 or by clicking the Literature and Forms section of this website to view or download a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest or send money.
1, 3, 5, and 10Yr performance numbers quoted are average annual total returns. Performance numbers quoted under one year are cumulative.
Expense Ratios Disclosure
1. Expense Ratio (Gross)
The gross expense ratio is the total operating expense from the class of shares of the fund stated as a percent of the fund's total net assets as disclosed in the fund’s most recent prospectus before waivers or reimbursements.
2. Expense Ratio (Net)
Net Expense Ratio is the total annual operating expense from the class of shares of the funds stated as a percent of the fund's total net assets as disclosed in the fund’s most recent prospectus after any fee waiver and/or expense reimbursements that will reduce any fund operating expenses until July 31, 2027 for all funds.
Risk Disclosure
Pear Tree Polaris Foreign Value
Pear Tree Polaris Foreign Value Small Cap
Pear Tree Polaris International Opportunities
Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap
Pear Tree Essex Environmental Opportunities
Foreign and Emerging Market Risk. Foreign markets, particularly emerging markets, can be more volatile than the U.S. market due to increased risks of adverse issuer, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments and can perform differently from the U.S. market. Emerging markets can be subject to greater social, economic, regulatory, and political uncertainties and can be extremely volatile.
Small Cap Investing. The value of securities of smaller, less well-known issuers can perform differently from the market as a whole and other types of stocks and can be more volatile than that of larger issuers.