SAIC - Heartland Value Plus Fund Q2 2024 Portfolio Manager Commentary

2024-07-19 10:15:00 ET

Summary

• Heartland Advisors is a boutique, independent investment firm in Milwaukee, WI. Our value-focused, actively managed product suite includes distinct U.S. and international investing strategies, which are offered through five mutual funds and four separately managed accounts.
• In a difficult quarter for small caps, we are hunting for green shoots.
• The Strategy has been actively focusing on undervalued companies poised to see a potential uptick in earnings, once demand dynamics improve and the effects of self-help strategies kick in.
• Companies with strong capital allocation policies, including dividend growth and active stock buybacks, should stand out as the market eventually begins to broaden out.

In one respect, this was another challenging quarter for small-cap investors, as the Russell 2000® Index fell 3.28% while the S&P 500 Index gained 4.28%. But it was also a market in which some green shoots began to sprout up, giving disciplined bargain hunters, like us, hope that the markets can and will eventually broaden out....

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