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 35 years of investment experience to the Fund.

Fund Overview

YTD RETURN*
4.44%

NAV*
$11.30

INCEPTION
January 30, 2019

MINIMUM INVESTMENT
$100,000

CUSIP
70472Q732

BENCHMARK
MSCI ACWI ex US

NET EXPENSE RATIO(1)
1.29%

GROSS EXPENSE RATIO(2)
1.29%

 

*as of 5/31/2023

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.
Sumanta Biswas, CFA
Bin Xiao, CFA
Jason Crawshaw

Performance

YTD
As Of 5/31/2023
Quarterly
As Of 3/31/2023
1 Year
As Of 3/31/2023
3 Years
As Of 3/31/2023
5 Years
As Of 3/31/2023
10 Years
As Of 3/31/2023
Since Inception As Of
3/31/2023
Total Gross Expense Ratio(1) Total Net Expense Ratio(2)
4.44% 9.06% -6.30% 19.18% N/A N/A 7.71% 1.29% 1.29%

Calendar Year

2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
-19.19% 13.55% 13.71% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Portfolio

as of March 31, 2023

Top Ten Holdings

Percentage Of Total Net Assets 21.50%
D'Ieteren S.A. 2.80%
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. 2.40%
United Overseas Bank Limited 2.30%
Bravida Holding AB 2.10%
Neurones S.A. 2.10%
Zhejiang Supor Co. 2.00%
TISCO Financial Group 2.00%
Toronto-Dominion Bank 2.00%
SOL SpA 1.90%
Accent Group Limited 1.90%

Sector Weightings

Percentage Of Total Net Assets 100.0%
Consumer Discretionary 27.30%
Financials 24.20%
Information Technology 16.30%
Industrials 15.40%
Materials 8.80%
Consumer Staples 3.90%
Utilities 1.60%
Communication Services 1.20%
Cash and Other Assets (Net) 1.30%

Top Ten Country Allocations

Percentage Of Total Net Assets 68.30%
Canada 10.80%
United Kingdom 9.60%
Japan 8.00%
China 7.00%
Taiwan 6.70%
France 6.60%
Australia 5.90%
Sweden 5.40%
Italy 4.70%
Mexico 3.60%

Portfolio Characteristics

Net Assets $28,056,754
Number Of Holdings 70
Percentage in Top 10 Holdings 21.50%
Weighted Average Market Cap (Mil) $26,088.86
Annual Turnover 51.00%

Portfolio Allocation

Percentage of Portfolio 100.0%
Equity Securities 98.70%
Cash and Other Assets (Net) 1.30%

For the Quarter ended March 31, 2023

The Pear Tree Polaris International Opportunities Fund’s Ordinary Shares (the “Fund”) outperformed its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index (the “Index”). The Fund had a return of 9.06% at net asset value compared to 7.00% for the Index.

Market Conditions and Investment Strategies

The Fund had double-digit returns in overweight sectors (Consumer Discretionary, Industrials, Information Technology and
Materials), as well as Real Estate. Financials and Communication Services were the largest detractors, the latter of which was
weighed down by Next Fifteen Communications. At the country level, Fund holdings in most European countries, including the
U.K., France, Italy, Spain and Germany, contributed measurably. Negative performance was recorded in South Africa, Norway,
Thailand, India, Singapore and Peru.

Accent Group, SEB SA and Jumbo SA each had gains in excess of 30% for the quarter, bolstering Consumer Discretionary results.
Australia’s footwear company, Accent, had a strong trading report on resilient purchasing power among its young consumer base.
French small appliance manufacturer, SEB, offered higher margin guidance for 2023. In Industrials, Mexican airport holdings
recovered strongly as vacation travel resumed to local hotspots. Fullcast Holdings Co. dampened Industrial results, as the temp
staffing company expected lower 2023 demand relative to 2022 COVID-related demand that will not repeat. In Energy, SOL
Group reported robust full year 2022 results, as its technical gas and home care divisions grew markedly. Open Text Corp. had
double-digit returns for the quarter, feeding IT sector results. Market skepticism originally surrounded Open Text’s acquisition
of U.K.-based Micro Focus. By February 2023, the deal closed and OpenText announced robust quarterly earnings, with strong
cloud bookings and revenue.

In Financials, Toronto-Dominion Bank reported lumpy quarterly results, with strong U.S. retail net income and Canadian
personal/commercial banking, but decreases in wealth management, insurance and wholesale banking income. Nearly 40%
of TD’s business is in the U.S.; as a result, TD suffered along with its U.S.-based counterparts, reeling from the recent SVB and
crypto bank failures. Canada’s goeasy was down when the federal government capped the annual interest rate on loans at 35%
from the previously allowable 47%. Loan loss provisions at Nordic banks are set to climb in 2023, as rising interest rates hurt
commercial real estate exposure. Both Sparebanken Vest and Sparebank Nord-Norge fell on this expectation.

Portfolio Changes

The Fund sold British bakery chain Greggs PLC and Italian water pump manufacturer, Interpump Group, as both reached Polaris’
upper valuation limits. VIB Vermoegen was exited on concerns of warehouse oversupply in the German commercial real estate
market. Capital was reallocated to purchase Sony Corp., the Japanese supplier of electronic products (TVs, music, video gaming);
U.K. based packaging/paper producer, Mondi Group; and Canadian Tire, one of the oldest and largest general stores in Canada.

Outlook

Markets have remained remarkably resilient in the face of rising interest rates, recent banking crises and energy price/output
concerns in Europe. The pace of inflation is finally moderating, but central banks will likely continue tightening monetary supply
until other metrics (unemployment, labor, consumption) are within an acceptable range. In this context, we expect demand to
be challenging in coming quarters. Market volatility bodes well for the Fund, as we are able to add attractively-priced companies
with the potential to outperform in an economic recovery.

Distributions

Dividend Short-Term Capital Gain Long-Term Capital Gain
2022 $0.1988 $0.0000 $0.0000
2021 $0.1961 $1.0176 $0.4147
2020 $0.0000 $0.0913 $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.

Axiom International Investors began subadvising the Pear Tree Axiom Emerging Markets World Equity Fund December 8, 2018.

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 (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, 2023.

2. 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.

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 Axiom Emerging Markets World Equity
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.