Pear Tree Polaris International Opportunities Fund
The PEAR TREE POLARIS INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FUND provides investors with the opportunity to participate in the growth potential of companies predominantly located in developed foreign countries.
Investment Process
The Fund will generally own approximately 75 stocks of non-U.S. companies located in Europe, Australia and the Far East. In addition, the Fund may also invest in companies located in emerging markets. The diversification within the Fund, coupled with the fact that the operation of the Fund’s investment model will generally lead the Fund to be invested in 15 or more foreign markets, reduces the likelihood that negative performance of a single country will significantly impact the Fund's return.
Buy and Sell Discipline
The investment process for the Fund combines both quantitative and fundamental techniques. The Fund's approach is primarily “bottom up,” searching for individual stocks with strong, undervalued cash flows, regardless of location or industry. The Fund uses proprietary models to rank countries and industries on the basis of value and to narrow a universe of over 40,000 companies down to 400 to 600 for further consideration. The Fund supplements the screening process by performing in-depth financial and fundamental analysis.
Portfolio Management
The Fund is managed by Polaris Capital Management, LLC, a Boston, Massachusetts money manager that specializes in the management of global, international, and domestic equity portfolios. Polaris brings over 40 years of investment experience to the Fund.
Fund Overview
YTD RETURN*
6.67%
NAV*
$12.15
INCEPTION
January 30, 2019
MINIMUM INVESTMENT
$2,500
CUSIP
70472Q757
BENCHMARK
MSCI ACWI ex US
NET EXPENSE RATIO(1)
1.47%
GROSS EXPENSE RATIO(2)
1.57%
*as of 4/29/2025
Investment Professionals
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Sub-Advisor
Polaris Capital Management, LLC
Polaris is a leading global value equity manager, serving the investment needs of institutions and individuals since 1995. At Polaris Capital Management, we have a disciplined approach to investing in undervalued companies around the world, regardless of country, industry or market capitalization.
Portfolio Managers
Bernard R. Horn, Jr.
Bin Xiao, CFA
Jason Crawshaw
Performance
| YTD As Of 4/29/2025 |
Quarterly As Of 3/31/2025 |
1 Year As Of 3/31/2025 |
3 Years As Of 3/31/2025 |
5 Years As Of 3/31/2025 |
10 Years As Of 3/31/2025 |
Since Inception As Of 3/31/2025 |
Total Gross Expense Ratio(1) | Total Net Expense Ratio(2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.67% | 3.16% | -0.20% | -1.15% | 11.62% | N/A | 5.45% | 1.57% | 1.47% |
Calendar Year
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -5.62% | 15.93% | -19.57% | 13.11% | 13.26% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Portfolio
as of March 31, 2025
Top Ten Holdings
| Percentage Of Total Net Assets | 32.20% |
|---|---|
| SOL S.p.A. | 4.10% |
| Cranswick plc | 3.90% |
| Neurones S.A. | 3.60% |
| ALSO Holding AG | 3.40% |
| Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. | 3.30% |
| Equatorial Energia S.A. | 3.10% |
| D'Ieteren S.A. | 2.90% |
| EQB Inc. | 2.80% |
| Sparebanken Vest | 2.60% |
| Chailease Holding Co., Ltd. | 2.50% |
Sector Weightings
| Percentage Of Total Net Assets | 100.00% |
|---|---|
| Financials | 25.00% |
| Information Technology | 20.30% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 19.80% |
| Consumer Staples | 13.60% |
| Industrials | 7.10% |
| Materials | 5.60% |
| Utilities | 3.10% |
| Health Care | 2.20% |
| Communication Services | 1.00% |
| Cash and Other Assets (Net) | 2.30% |
Top Ten Country Allocations
| Percentage Of Total Net Assets | 69.00% |
|---|---|
| China | 10.40% |
| France | 10.00% |
| Canada | 8.40% |
| Taiwan | 8.20% |
| Japan | 7.30% |
| United Kingdom | 6.90% |
| Switzerland | 6.60% |
| Italy | 4.60% |
| Germany | 3.50% |
| Brazil | 3.10% |
Portfolio Characteristics
| Net Assets | $63,297,671 |
|---|---|
| Number Of Holdings | 61 |
| Percentage in Top 10 Holdings | 32.20% |
| Weighted Average Market Cap (Mil) | $31,767.48 |
| Annual Turnover | 38.00% |
Portfolio Allocation
| Percentage of Portfolio | 100.00% |
|---|---|
| Equity Securities | 97.70% |
| Cash and Other Assets (Net) | 2.30% |
Commentary
For the Quarter ended March 31, 2025
The Pear Tree Polaris International Opportunities Fund’s Ordinary Shares (the “Fund”) underperformed its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index (the “Index”). The Fund had a return of 3.16% at net asset value compared to 5.36% for the Index.
Market Conditions and Investment Strategies
An overweight in underperforming Financials and Consumer Staples tempered otherwise strong results, as the Fund outperformed in Consumer Discretionary, Information Technology (IT), Utilities, Industrials and Health Care. Top country contributions included China, Japan, Brazil, France and the United Kingdom, while Thailand, Canada, Taiwan and South Africa detracted.
In Financials, Thailand’s Muangthai Capital and Krungthai Card were negatively impacted by a slowdown in the local economy. Losses were partially offset by gains at Sparebanken Vest, which capitalized on a strong Norwegian economy and a tangential bump from strong return-on-equity targets at competitor banks. A traditionally defensive sector, Consumer Staples didn’t perform as expected, due entirely to losses from Alimentation Couche-Tard and AVI Ltd. Couche-Tard’s proposed acquisition of Seven & i (owner of 7-Eleven stores) had hit some roadblocks and anti-trust issues.
On the positive side, Consumer Discretionary results were strong on the back of double-digit gains from Alibaba Group Holding, NextAge Co, Zhejiang Supor and Games Workshop Group. Alibaba jumped on news of its cloud AI model and the strength of its e-commerce business. Zhejiang Supor benefited from the Chinese government subsidy program helping homeowners replace old white goods/appliances. Games Workshop had solid results, pointing to licensing deals (with Amazon Studios and Marvel Entertainment) for its flagship Warhammer game. The Fund outperformed the Index IT sector, as more than a half dozen stocks posted gains in excess of 10% including Neurones, Also Holding and Computacenter PLC. Neurones reported continued
strong organic growth following a multi-year trend, while Computacenter beat earnings expectations and boasts a strong order book especially in the North American market. In Utilities, Equatorial Energia met with success, adapting to changing Brazilian government policies by expanding into renewable energy generation and selling its transmission assets to reinvest in its core businesses.
Portfolio Changes
During the quarter, the Fund sought to reduce European small cap exposure and consolidate the portfolio into more high-quality names. Defensive companies were certainly appealing, seeking “recession resistant” holdings in the face of tariffs and ensuing global macroeconomic uncertainty. In that vein, we sold a dozen names, some as they reached valuation targets, while others were exited on competitive threats or business model deterioration. The new buys focused on Consumer Staples (Nestle SA, Jeronimo Martins) and a few commodity businesses (Lundin Mining). We also purchased IPSOS, adding a weighting into the underrepresented Communication Services sector.
Outlook
We have always said that market volatility poses opportunity, as price dislocations allow us to buy fundamentally strong companies at attractive valuations. There are few markets more volatile than the recent, as tariff negotiations take center stage whipsawing global markets from day to day. We have taken a more defensive posture in our portfolio holdings, both from a sector and market cap perspective, as global GDP growth has labored under geopolitical turmoil, slow Chinese recovery, sticky inflation and the recent tariff concerns. We believe that this positioning alleviates some downside risk, while also leveraging any
upswing in markets reliant on consumer spending.
Distributions
| Dividend | Short-Term Capital Gain | Long-Term Capital Gain | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $0.2031 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2023 | $0.0147 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2022 | $0.1016 | $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.
Polaris Capital began subadvising the Pear Tree Small Cap Fund on January 1, 2015.
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.
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, 2025 for all funds except, Polaris International Opportunities Institutional and R6, Polaris Small Cap Institutional and R6 and Quality R6. For these fund classes the fee waiver and/or expense reimbursements that will reduce any fund operating expenses will be in effect until October 31, 2025.
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.