Identifying The Next Generation Of Leading Businesses Outside The U.S., Neuberger Berman Launches International Small Cap Equity Fund

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Jan 18, 2017, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager, has launched the Neuberger Berman International Small Cap Fund (tickers: NIOAX, NIOCX, NIOIX, NIORX) (the "Fund").

In an ongoing effort to offer investors strategies that are uniquely positioned to benefit from active portfolio management, the Fund will provide access to the tremendous universe of international small cap equities. The Fund's managers employ a disciplined fundamental process to identify high-quality, undervalued companies in non-U.S. developed and emerging markets, and will aim to deliver performance by accessing the expansive universe of small cap stocks. There are over 5,000 small cap companies in developed markets outside the U.S., and another 7,000 in emerging markets. Fund managers will subscribe to a "companies not countries" investment approach, and seek to own firms with the potential to sustain or accelerate growth and return on capital, due to level of quality and ability to maintain competitive advantages within their sectors.

The Fund is managed by managing director David Bunan, alongside Benjamin Segal, head of Neuberger Berman's Global Equity Team. Mr. Bunan and Mr. Segal are supported by a team of global sector research analysts who combine economic and strategic analysis, primary research and valuation analysis to build the portfolio.

Historically, international small cap stocks are under-covered by the analyst community, and Neuberger Berman's deep and accomplished international research team is well positioned to deliver maximum value though its fundamental investment research process. Benjamin Segal and his team have a long track record of successfully managing international equity portfolios. Mr. Segal has managed Neuberger Berman's International Equity portfolios, which take an all-cap approach to investing outside of the U.S., since 2001. Segal and Bunan have worked together on the Neuberger Berman International Equity Fund (ticker: NIQVX) since Bunan joined Neuberger Berman's global equity team in 2008.

Mr. Segal said, "Small cap stocks internationally offer some of the most exciting opportunities to access global growth niches – and they tend to diversify U.S. equity portfolios."

Mr. Bunan added, "The scarcity of information about smaller firms outside the U.S. means that many are misunderstood and mispriced, creating opportunities for active managers who have the resources to conduct fundamental research and valuation analysis."

About Neuberger Berman

Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages equities, fixed income, private equity and hedge fund portfolios for institutions and advisors worldwide. With offices in 19 countries, Neuberger Berman's team is more than 1,900 professionals and the company has been named by Pensions & Investments as a Best Place to Work in Money Management for four consecutive years. Tenured, stable and long-term in focus, the firm fosters an investment culture of fundamental research and independent thinking. It manages $255 billion in client assets as of December 31, 2016. For more information, please visit our website at www.nb.com.

An investor should consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks and fees and expenses carefully before investing. This and other important information can be found in the Fund's prospectus and summary prospectus, which you can obtain by calling 877.628.2583. Please read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before making an investment. The prospectus contains a more complete discussion of the risk of investing in the Fund. Investments could result in loss of principal.

Currency Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates could adversely impact investment gains or add to investment losses. Currency exchange rates can be affected unpredictably by intervention, or failure to intervene, by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks or by currency controls or political developments in the U.S. or abroad.

Foreign and Emerging Market Risk. Foreign securities involve risks in addition to those associated with comparable U.S. securities. Additional risks include exposure to less developed or less efficient trading markets; social, political, diplomatic, or economic instability; fluctuations in foreign currencies or currency redenomination; potential for default on sovereign debt; nationalization or expropriation of assets; settlement, custodial or other operational risks; higher transaction costs; confiscatory withholding or other taxes; and less stringent auditing, corporate disclosure, governance, and legal standards. As a result, foreign securities may fluctuate more widely in price, and may also be less liquid, than comparable U.S. securities. World markets, or those in a particular region, may all react in similar fashion to important economic or political developments. In addition, foreign markets may perform differently than the U.S. market. The effect of economic instability on specific foreign markets or issuers may be difficult to predict or evaluate.

Investing in emerging market countries involves risks in addition to and greater than those generally associated with investing in more developed foreign countries. The governments of emerging market countries may be more unstable and more likely to impose capital controls, nationalize a company or industry, place restrictions on foreign ownership and on withdrawing sale proceeds of securities from the country, and/or impose burdensome taxes that could adversely affect security prices. In addition, the economies of emerging market countries may be dependent on relatively few industries that are more susceptible to local and global changes. Emerging market countries may also have less developed legal and accounting systems. Securities markets in emerging market countries are also relatively small and have substantially lower trading volumes. As a result, securities of issuers in emerging market countries may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of issuers in foreign countries with more developed economies or markets. In times of market stress, regulatory authorities of different emerging market countries may apply varying techniques and degrees of intervention, which can have an effect on prices and may require that the Fund fair value its holdings in those countries.

Geographic Risk. From time to time, based on market or economic conditions, the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in one country or geographic region. If the Fund does so, there is a greater risk that economic, political, diplomatic, social and environmental conditions in that particular country or geographic region may have a significant impact on the Fund's performance and that the Fund's performance will be more volatile than the performance of more geographically diversified funds.

Growth Stock Risk. Because the prices of most growth stocks are based on future expectations, these stocks tend to be more sensitive than value stocks to bad economic news and negative earnings surprises. Bad economic news or changing investor perceptions may adversely affect growth stocks across several sectors and industries simultaneously.

Issuer-Specific Risk. An individual security may be more volatile, and may perform differently, than the market as a whole.

Market Volatility Risk. Markets may be volatile and values of individual securities and other investments, including those of a particular type, may decline significantly in response to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, market, economic or other developments that may cause broad changes in market value, public perceptions concerning these developments, and adverse investor sentiment. If the Fund sells a portfolio position before it reaches its market peak, it may miss out on opportunities for better performance.

New Fund Risk. The Fund may not be successful in implementing its investment strategy, and its investment strategy may not be successful under all future market conditions, either of which could result in the Fund being liquidated at some future time without shareholder approval and/or at a time that may not be favorable for certain shareholders. New funds may not attract sufficient assets to achieve investment, trading or other efficiencies.

Operational Risk. The Fund and its service providers, and your ability to transact with the Fund, may be negatively impacted due to operational risks arising from, among other problems, human errors, systems and technology disruptions or failures, or cybersecurity incidents. It is not possible for the Manager or the other Fund service providers to identify all of the operational risks that may affect the Fund or to develop processes and controls to completely eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects. Cybersecurity incidents could also affect issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, leading to significant loss of value.

Recent Market Conditions. Since the financial crisis that started in 2008, the U.S. and many foreign economies continue to experience its after-effects, which have resulted, and may continue to result, in an unusually high degree of volatility in the financial markets, both domestic and foreign. Because the impact on the markets has been widespread, it may be difficult to identify both risks and opportunities using past models of the interplay of market forces, or to predict the duration of these market conditions. In addition, global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, which increases the possibilities that conditions in one country or region might adversely impact issuers in a different country or region. A significant slowdown in China's economy is adversely affecting worldwide commodity prices and the economies of many countries, especially those that depend heavily on commodity production and/or trade with China. The severity or duration of adverse economic conditions may also be affected by policy changes made by governments or quasi-governmental organizations.

Redemption Risk. The Fund may experience periods of heavy redemptions that could cause the Fund to sell assets at inopportune times or at a loss or depressed value. Redemption risk is heightened during periods of declining or illiquid markets. Heavy redemptions could hurt the Fund's performance.

Risk Management. Risk is an essential part of investing. No risk management program can eliminate the Fund's exposure to adverse events; at best, it may only reduce the possibility that the Fund will be affected by such events, and especially those risks that are not intrinsic to the Fund's investment program.

Risk of Increase in Expenses. A decline in the Fund's average net assets during the current fiscal year due to market volatility or other factors could cause the Fund's expenses for the current fiscal year to be higher than the expense information presented in "Fees and Expenses."

Sector Risk. From time to time, based on market or economic conditions, the Fund may have significant positions in one or more sectors of the market. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. Individual sectors may be more volatile, and may perform differently, than the broader market. The industries that constitute a sector may all react in the same way to economic, political or regulatory events.

Small- and Mid-Cap Companies Risk. At times, small- and mid-cap companies may be out of favor with investors. Compared to larger companies, small- and mid-cap companies may depend on a more limited management group, may have a shorter history of operations, and may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources. The securities of small- and mid-cap companies are often more volatile and less liquid than the securities of larger companies and may be more affected than other types of securities by the underperformance of a sector or during market downturns. To the extent the Fund holds securities of mid-cap companies, the Fund will be subject to their risks.

Valuation Risk. The Fund may not be able to sell an investment at the price at which the Fund has valued the investment. The Fund's ability to value its investments in an accurate and timely manner may be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by third party service providers, such as pricing services or accounting agents.

Value Stock Risk. Value stocks may remain undervalued during a given period or may not ever realize their full value. This may happen, among other reasons, because of a failure to anticipate which stocks or industries would benefit from changing market or economic conditions.

The "Neuberger Berman" name and logo are registered service marks of Neuberger Berman Group LLC.

"Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC" and the individual fund names in this piece are either service marks or registered service marks of Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC.

Media Contact: Alex Samuelson, 212 476 5392, [email protected]

SOURCE Neuberger Berman