LIBERTY ALL-STAR® EQUITY FUND
Period Ending March 31, 2014 (Unaudited)
Fund Statistics | 1st Quarter 2014 | |
Net Asset Value (NAV) |
$6.67 | |
Market Price |
$5.88 | |
Discount |
11.8% | |
Distribution* |
$0.10 | |
Market Price Trading Range |
$5.50 to $6.02 | |
Discount Range |
10.6% to 12.6% | |
Performance | ||
Shares Valued at NAV with Dividends Reinvested |
1.11% | |
Shares Valued at Market Price with Dividends Reinvested |
0.18% | |
Dow Jones Industrial Average |
(0.15)% | |
Lipper Large-Cap Core Mutual Fund Average |
1.69% | |
NASDAQ Composite Index |
0.83% | |
S&P 500® Index |
1.81% |
* | Sources of distributions to shareholders may include ordinary dividends, long-term capital gains and return of capital. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Funds investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. Pursuant to Section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, the taxability of this distribution will be reported on Form 1099-DIV for 2014. |
Returns for the Fund are total returns, which include dividends. Performance returns are net of management fees and other Fund expenses.
The figure shown for the Lipper Large-Cap Core Mutual Fund Average is based on open-end mutual funds total returns, which include dividends, and are net of fund expenses. Figures for the unmanaged Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ Composite Index and the S&P 500® Index are total returns, including dividends. A description of the Lipper benchmark and the market indices can be found on page 18.
Past performance cannot predict future results. Performance will fluctuate with market conditions. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data shown. Performance information does not reflect the deduction of taxes that shareholders would pay on Fund distributions or the sale of Fund shares. An investment in the Fund involves risk, including loss of principal.
Closed-end funds raise money in an initial public offering and shares are listed and traded on an exchange. Open-end mutual funds continuously issue and redeem shares at net asset value. Shares of closed-end funds frequently trade at a discount to net asset value. The price of the Funds shares is determined by a number of factors, several of which are beyond the control of the Fund. Therefore, the Fund cannot predict whether its shares will trade at, below or above net asset value.
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund |
Presidents Letter | |
(Unaudited) |
Fellow Shareholders: |
April 2014 |
Measured by return, the first quarter of 2014 was subdued, especially when compared with 2013s 32.39 percent gain in the S&P 500® Index, including the fourth quarter return of 10.51 percent. For the first quarter, the S&P 500® returned 1.81 percent; the widely followed Dow Jones Industrial Average was fractionally negative, losing 0.15 percent; and the technology-focused NASDAQ Composite Index advanced 0.83 percent.
The first quarter represented the fifth straight quarterly rise for the S&P 500® and the NASDAQ Composite, although it was the smallest advance for both since the fourth quarter of 2012. While the S&P 500® rose to a record high in February, it backed off in March when it appeared that the Federal Reserve might raise short-term interest rates earlier than anticipated. As the quarter closed, remarks from the new Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, eased investor concerns about the potential for an early rate increase and the second quarter opened with the S&P 500® rising to another recordits seventh of the year. Economic news remained mixed during the quarter; on balance, however, data continued to indicate moderate, but steady improvement. Investors did find cause for concern in soft economic news out of China and heightened geopolitical tensions arising from Russias seizure of Crimea and unrest in Ukraine.
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund returns generally tracked broad indices over the quarter. The Fund returned 1.11 percent with shares valued at net asset value (NAV) with dividends reinvested and 0.18 percent with shares valued at market price with dividends reinvested. For the trailing 12-month period, the Fund has returned 22.83 percent with shares valued at NAV with dividends reinvested and 21.47 percent with shares valued at market price with dividends reinvested. For the quarter and trailing 12 months, the Lipper Large-Cap Core Mutual Fund Average returned 1.69 percent and 21.18 percent, respectively. For the quarter, the discount at which Fund shares traded relative to their NAV was largely unchanged from the previous quarter, ranging from a low of 10.6 percent to a high of 12.6 percent.
For the quarter, value style investing generally outperformed growth style investing, which is of interest to Fund shareholders, as the Funds multi-management structure allocates assets between value and growth style investment managers. The Russell 1000® Value Index returned 3.02 percent for the quarter compared with 1.12 percent for the Russell 1000® Growth Index.
In keeping with policy, the Funds distribution for the first quarter was $0.10. The Funds distribution policy has been in place since 1988 and is a major component of the Funds total return. These distributions add up to $24.37 since 1987 (the Funds first full calendar year of operations). We would emphasize that shareholders should include these distributions when determining the return on their investment in the Fund.
While markets moved sideways in the first quarter, volatility increased as the period drew to a close and the second quarter got underway. The volatility hit the NASDAQ Composite hardest
First Quarter Report (Unaudited) | March 31, 2014 |
1 |
Presidents Letter |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | |
(Unaudited) |
specifically, high-growth information technology, biotechnology and social networking stocksbut showed some signs of spreading to other sectors of the market. One contributing factor was last years strong gains, as investors became concerned valuations had become stretched. A retrenchment is to be expectedand can be healthy for the long termin the wake of the 30 percent-plus returns seen in 2013, not to mention a bull market that dates back five years to March 2009. We will monitor trends as they unfold, but continue to believe that the Funds philosophy, objectives and structure will serve long-term investors well through all market cycles.
Sincerely,
William R. Parmentier, Jr.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund
The views expressed in the Presidents letter reflect the views of the President as of April 2014 and may not reflect his views on the date this report is first published or anytime thereafter. These views are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict so actual outcomes and results may differ significantly from the views expressed. These views are subject to change at any time based upon economic, market or other conditions and the Fund disclaims any responsibility to update such views. These views may not be relied on as investment advice and, because investment decisions for the Fund are based on numerous factors, may not be relied on as an indication of trading intent.
2 |
www.all-starfunds.com |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund |
Table of Distributions & Rights Offerings | |
March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
Rights Offerings | ||||||||||||
Shares Needed to | ||||||||||||
Per Share | Month | Purchase One | Subscription | |||||||||
Year | Distributions | Completed | Additional Share | Price | Tax Credits* | |||||||
1988 |
$0.64 | |||||||||||
1989 |
0.95 | |||||||||||
1990 |
0.90 | |||||||||||
1991 |
1.02 | |||||||||||
1992 |
1.07 | April | 10 | $10.05 | ||||||||
1993 |
1.07 | October | 15 | 10.41 | $0.18 | |||||||
1994 |
1.00 | September | 15 | 9.14 | ||||||||
1995 |
1.04 | |||||||||||
1996 |
1.18 | 0.13 | ||||||||||
1997 |
1.33 | 0.36 | ||||||||||
1998 |
1.40 | April | 20 | 12.83 | ||||||||
1999 |
1.39 | |||||||||||
2000 |
1.42 | |||||||||||
2001 |
1.20 | |||||||||||
2002 |
0.88 | May | 10 | 8.99 | ||||||||
2003 |
0.78 | |||||||||||
2004 |
0.89 | July | 10** | 8.34 | ||||||||
2005 |
0.87 | |||||||||||
2006 |
0.88 | |||||||||||
2007 |
0.90 | December | 10 | 6.51 | ||||||||
2008 |
0.65 | |||||||||||
2009*** |
0.31 | |||||||||||
2010 |
0.31 | |||||||||||
2011 |
0.34 | |||||||||||
2012 |
0.32 | |||||||||||
2013 |
0.35 | |||||||||||
2014 1st Quarter |
0.10 | |||||||||||
Total |
$23.19 |
* | The Funds net investment income and net realized capital gains exceeded the amount to be distributed under the Funds distribution policy. In each case, the Fund elected to pay taxes on the undistributed income and passed through a proportionate tax credit to shareholders. |
** | The number of shares offered was increased by an additional 25% to cover a portion of the over-subscription requests. |
*** | Effective with the second quarter distribution, the annual distribution rate was changed from 10 percent to 6 percent. |
DISTRIBUTION POLICY
Liberty All-Star® Equity Funds current policy is to pay distributions on its shares totaling approximately 6 percent of its net asset value per year, payable in four quarterly installments of 1.5 percent of the Funds net asset value at the close of the New York Stock Exchange on the Friday prior to each quarterly declaration date. The fixed distributions are not related to the amount of the Funds net investment income or net realized capital gains or losses and may be taxed as ordinary income up to the amount of the Funds current and accumulated earnings and profits. If, for any calendar year, the total distributions made under the distribution policy exceed the Funds net investment income and net realized capital gains, the excess will generally be treated as a non-taxable return of capital, reducing the shareholders adjusted basis in his or her shares. If the Funds net investment income and net realized capital gains for any year exceed the amount distributed under the distribution policy, the Fund may, in its discretion, retain and not distribute net realized capital gains and pay income tax thereon to the extent of such excess. The Fund retained such excess gains in 1993, 1996 and 1997.
First Quarter Report (Unaudited) | March 31, 2014 |
3 |
Top 20 Holdings & Economic Sectors | Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | |
March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
Top 20 Holdings* | Percent of Net Assets | |
Google, Inc., Class A |
2.28% | |
JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
2.24 | |
Schlumberger Ltd. |
2.14 | |
Salesforce.com, Inc. |
1.91 | |
Bank of America Corp. |
1.71 | |
Hewlett-Packard Co. |
1.63 | |
Citigroup, Inc. |
1.60 | |
SunTrust Banks, Inc. |
1.53 | |
Amazon.com, Inc. |
1.47 | |
MetLife, Inc. |
1.41 | |
Starbucks Corp. |
1.39 | |
QUALCOMM, Inc. |
1.38 | |
Visa, Inc., Class A |
1.34 | |
Devon Energy Corp. |
1.29 | |
American International Group, Inc. |
1.22 | |
State Street Corp. |
1.22 | |
Microsoft Corp. |
1.20 | |
Precision Castparts Corp. |
1.20 | |
Weatherford International Ltd. |
1.18 | |
TE Connectivity Ltd. |
1.13 | |
30.47% |
Economic Sectors* | Percent of Net Assets | |
Financials |
27.14% | |
Information Technology |
17.35 | |
Consumer Discretionary |
14.87 | |
Energy |
14.06 | |
Health Care |
10.50 | |
Industrials |
6.48 | |
Consumer Staples |
4.44 | |
Materials |
1.55 | |
Utilities |
0.54 | |
Other Net Assets |
3.07 | |
100.00% |
* | Because the Fund is actively managed, there can be no guarantee that the Fund will continue to hold securities of the indicated issuers and sectors in the future. |
4 |
www.all-starfunds.com |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund |
Major Stock Changes in the Quarter | |
March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
The following are the major ($4 million or more) stock changes - both purchases and sales - that were made in the Funds portfolio during the first quarter of 2014.
Shares | ||||
Security Name | Purchases (Sales) | Held as of 3/31/14 | ||
Purchases |
||||
Facebook, Inc. |
80,761 | 80,761 | ||
Pharmacyclics, Inc. |
37,530 | 37,530 | ||
Sales |
||||
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. |
(133,000) | 0 | ||
Citrix Systems, Inc. |
(129,054) | 0 | ||
Joy Global, Inc. |
(72,487) | 0 | ||
Morgan Stanley |
(143,475) | 405,034 | ||
Philip Morris International, Inc. |
(57,315) | 0 | ||
Praxair, Inc. |
(50,400) | 0 | ||
Ralph Lauren Corp. |
(25,726) | 0 |
First Quarter Report (Unaudited) | March 31, 2014 |
5 |
Investment Managers/ Portfolio Characteristics |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | |
March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
THE FUNDS ASSETS ARE APPROXIMATELY EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED AMONG THREE VALUE MANAGERS AND TWO GROWTH MANAGERS:
MANAGERS DIFFERING INVESTMENT STRATEGIES ARE REFLECTED IN PORTFOLIO CHARACTERISTICS
The portfolio characteristics table below is a regular feature of the Funds shareholder reports. It serves as a useful tool for understanding the value of a multi-managed portfolio. The characteristics are different for each of the Funds five investment managers. These differences are a reflection of the fact that each pursues a different investment style. The shaded column highlights the characteristics of the Fund as a whole, while the final column shows portfolio characteristics for the S&P 500® Index.
PORTFOLIO CHARACTERISTICS As of March 31, 2014 (Unaudited)
Investment Style Spectrum | ||||||||||||||
Value | Growth | |||||||||||||
SCHNEIDER | PZENA | MATRIX | CORNERSTONE | TCW | TOTAL FUND | S&P 500® INDEX | ||||||||
Number of Holdings |
39 | 39 | 35 | 47 | 33 | 164* | 500 | |||||||
Percent of Holdings in Top 10 |
55% | 37% | 38% | 38% | 44% | 19% | 18% | |||||||
Weighted Average Market Capitalization (billions) |
$44 | $83 | $107 | $64 | $59 | $72 | $118 | |||||||
Average Five-Year Earnings Per Share Growth |
7% | 6% | 13% | 16% | 13% | 11% | 10% | |||||||
Dividend Yield |
1.1% | 1.9% | 2.1% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 1.3% | 2.0% | |||||||
Price/Earnings Ratio** |
16x | 13x | 17x | 29x | 34x | 19x | 18x | |||||||
Price/Book Value Ratio |
1.4x | 1.8x | 2.2x | 3.9x | 5.2x | 2.5x | 2.8x |
* | Certain holdings are held by more than one manager. |
** | Excludes negative earnings. |
6 |
www.all-starfunds.com |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund |
Schedule of Investments | |
As of March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
SHARES | MARKET VALUE | |||||||
COMMON STOCKS (96.93%) |
||||||||
CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY (14.87%) |
||||||||
Auto Components (1.18%) |
||||||||
Johnson Controls, Inc. |
141,774 | $ | 6,708,746 | |||||
Magna International, Inc. |
22,264 | 2,144,246 | ||||||
TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.(a) |
61,625 | 5,029,832 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
13,882,824 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Automobiles (0.59%) |
||||||||
General Motors Co. |
157,600 | 5,424,592 | ||||||
Tesla Motors, Inc.(a) |
6,981 | 1,455,189 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
6,879,781 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure (3.57%) |
||||||||
Carnival Corp. |
210,805 | 7,981,077 | ||||||
Marriott International, Inc., Class A |
204,031 | 11,429,817 | ||||||
McDonalds Corp. |
61,500 | 6,028,845 | ||||||
Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., Class A(a) |
8,189 | 118,003 | ||||||
Starbucks Corp. |
223,270 | 16,383,553 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
41,941,295 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Household Durables (2.35%) |
||||||||
Lennar Corp., Class A |
209,340 | 8,294,051 | ||||||
PulteGroup, Inc. |
316,878 | 6,080,889 | ||||||
Taylor Morrison Home Corp., Class A(a) |
71,159 | 1,672,237 | ||||||
Toll Brothers, Inc.(a) |
324,226 | 11,639,713 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
27,686,890 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Internet & Catalog Retail (2.35%) |
||||||||
Amazon.com, Inc.(a) |
51,281 | 17,257,082 | ||||||
priceline.com, Inc.(a) |
7,295 | 8,694,838 | ||||||
Shutterfly, Inc.(a) |
40,253 | 1,717,998 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
27,669,918 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Media (2.12%) |
||||||||
Comcast Corp., Class A |
115,461 | 5,775,359 | ||||||
News Corp., Class A(a) |
305,600 | 5,262,432 | ||||||
News Corp., Class B(a) |
112,445 | 1,877,831 | ||||||
Omnicom Group, Inc. |
93,825 | 6,811,695 | ||||||
The Walt Disney Co. |
65,697 | 5,260,359 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
24,987,676 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Specialty Retail (1.85%) |
||||||||
The Home Depot, Inc. |
96,954 | 7,671,970 | ||||||
Office Depot, Inc.(a) |
129,348 | 534,207 | ||||||
Staples, Inc. |
437,175 | 4,957,565 | ||||||
Tiffany & Co. |
70,915 | 6,109,327 | ||||||
The TJX Cos., Inc. |
41,340 | 2,507,271 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
21,780,340 | ||||||||
|
|
See Notes to Schedule of Investments. |
||
First Quarter Report (Unaudited) | March 31, 2014 |
7 |
Schedule of Investments |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | |
As of March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
SHARES | MARKET VALUE | |||||||
COMMON STOCKS (continued) |
||||||||
Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods (0.86%) |
||||||||
Kate Spade & Co.(a) |
49,068 | $ | 1,819,932 | |||||
Lululemon Athletica, Inc.(a) |
11,650 | 612,674 | ||||||
NIKE, Inc., Class B |
62,128 | 4,588,774 | ||||||
PVH Corp. |
24,930 | 3,110,516 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
10,131,896 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
CONSUMER STAPLES (4.44%) |
||||||||
Beverages (1.21%) |
||||||||
The Coca-Cola Company |
84,000 | 3,247,440 | ||||||
Diageo PLC(b) |
46,460 | 5,788,451 | ||||||
PepsiCo, Inc. |
62,100 | 5,185,350 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
14,221,241 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Food & Staples Retailing (1.58%) |
||||||||
Costco Wholesale Corp. |
65,226 | 7,284,440 | ||||||
CVS Caremark Corp. |
76,500 | 5,726,790 | ||||||
Whole Foods Market, Inc. |
110,598 | 5,608,424 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
18,619,654 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Food Products (0.81%) |
||||||||
Kellogg Co. |
30,600 | 1,918,926 | ||||||
Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. |
71,300 | 5,927,882 | ||||||
Whitewave Foods Co.(a) |
60,196 | 1,717,994 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
9,564,802 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Household Products (0.65%) |
||||||||
The Procter & Gamble Co. |
95,000 | 7,657,000 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Personal Products (0.19%) |
||||||||
The Estee Lauder Cos., Inc., Class A |
33,326 | 2,228,843 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
ENERGY (14.06%) |
||||||||
Energy Equipment & Services (4.95%) |
||||||||
Baker Hughes, Inc. |
139,950 | 9,099,549 | ||||||
Dril-Quip, Inc.(a) |
44,320 | 4,968,272 | ||||||
Oceaneering International, Inc. |
71,675 | 5,150,565 | ||||||
Schlumberger Ltd. |
257,772 | 25,132,770 | ||||||
Weatherford International Ltd.(a) |
801,353 | 13,911,488 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
58,262,644 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels (9.11%) |
||||||||
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. |
32,898 | 2,788,434 | ||||||
Arch Coal, Inc. |
1,960,666 | 9,450,410 | ||||||
BP PLC(b) |
223,450 | 10,747,956 | ||||||
Chesapeake Energy Corp. |
453,393 | 11,615,929 | ||||||
Chevron Corp. |
54,000 | 6,421,140 | ||||||
Cobalt International Energy, Inc.(a) |
193,032 | 3,536,346 |
See Notes to Schedule of Investments. |
||
8 |
www.all-starfunds.com |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund |
Schedule of Investments | |
As of March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
SHARES | MARKET VALUE | |||||||
COMMON STOCKS (continued) |
||||||||
Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels (continued) |
||||||||
ConocoPhillips |
92,600 | $ | 6,514,410 | |||||
CONSOL Energy, Inc. |
122,942 | 4,911,533 | ||||||
Devon Energy Corp. |
226,106 | 15,133,275 | ||||||
Exxon Mobil Corp. |
44,775 | 4,373,622 | ||||||
Occidental Petroleum Corp. |
88,000 | 8,385,520 | ||||||
Peabody Energy Corp. |
596,066 | 9,739,718 | ||||||
Royal Dutch Shell PLC(b) |
152,675 | 11,154,436 | ||||||
WPX Energy, Inc.(a) |
136,844 | 2,467,297 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
107,240,026 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
FINANCIALS (27.14%) |
||||||||
Capital Markets (5.38%) |
||||||||
The Charles Schwab Corp. |
324,100 | 8,857,653 | ||||||
Franklin Resources, Inc. |
85,600 | 4,637,808 | ||||||
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. |
37,450 | 6,136,182 | ||||||
Invesco Ltd. |
133,575 | 4,942,275 | ||||||
Morgan Stanley |
405,034 | 12,624,910 | ||||||
State Street Corp. |
205,875 | 14,318,606 | ||||||
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. |
64,682 | 5,326,563 | ||||||
UBS AG |
313,400 | 6,493,648 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
63,337,645 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Commercial Banks (5.49%) |
||||||||
Barclays PLC(b) |
263,601 | 4,138,536 | ||||||
BB&T Corp. |
205,000 | 8,234,850 | ||||||
Comerica, Inc. |
70,225 | 3,637,655 | ||||||
First Republic Bank |
90,032 | 4,860,828 | ||||||
Huntington Bancshares, Inc. |
232,402 | 2,317,048 | ||||||
KeyCorp |
176,125 | 2,508,020 | ||||||
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. |
70,666 | 6,147,942 | ||||||
Regions Financial Corp. |
427,593 | 4,750,558 | ||||||
SunTrust Banks, Inc. |
452,203 | 17,993,157 | ||||||
Wells Fargo & Co. |
202,500 | 10,072,350 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
64,660,944 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Consumer Finance (2.35%) |
||||||||
American Express Co. |
46,500 | 4,186,395 | ||||||
Capital One Financial Corp. |
98,700 | 7,615,692 | ||||||
Visa, Inc., Class A |
73,268 | 15,815,631 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
27,617,718 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Diversified Financial Services (6.43%) |
||||||||
Bank of America Corp. |
1,169,708 | 20,118,978 | ||||||
Citigroup, Inc. |
396,439 | 18,870,496 | ||||||
CME Group, Inc. |
60,544 | 4,480,861 | ||||||
ING US, Inc. |
159,425 | 5,782,345 |
See Notes to Schedule of Investments. |
||
First Quarter Report (Unaudited) | March 31, 2014 |
9 |
Schedule of Investments |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | |
As of March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
SHARES | MARKET VALUE | |||||||
COMMON STOCKS (continued) |
||||||||
Diversified Financial Services (continued) |
||||||||
JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
434,645 | $ | 26,387,298 | |||||
|
|
|||||||
75,639,978 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Insurance (6.15%) |
||||||||
ACE Ltd. |
86,700 | 8,588,502 | ||||||
The Allstate Corp. |
111,842 | 6,328,020 | ||||||
American International Group, Inc. |
287,216 | 14,363,672 | ||||||
Assured Guaranty Ltd. |
242,789 | 6,147,417 | ||||||
Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. |
156,000 | 7,152,600 | ||||||
The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. |
229,380 | 8,090,233 | ||||||
MetLife, Inc. |
313,725 | 16,564,680 | ||||||
Willis Group Holdings PLC |
115,350 | 5,090,396 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
72,325,520 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Real Estate Investment Trusts (0.92%) |
||||||||
American Tower Corp. |
120,360 | 9,853,873 | ||||||
Columbia Property Trust, Inc. |
35,337 | 962,933 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
10,816,806 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Real Estate Management & Development (0.42%) |
||||||||
Zillow, Inc., Class A(a) |
56,285 | 4,958,709 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
HEALTH CARE (10.50%) |
||||||||
Biotechnology (1.90%) |
||||||||
Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(a) |
6,998 | 1,064,606 | ||||||
BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc.(a) |
80,245 | 5,473,511 | ||||||
Celgene Corp.(a) |
43,715 | 6,102,614 | ||||||
Gilead Sciences, Inc.(a) |
83,823 | 5,939,698 | ||||||
Pharmacyclics, Inc.(a) |
37,530 | 3,761,257 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
22,341,686 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Health Care Equipment & Supplies (2.30%) |
||||||||
Becton, Dickinson & Co. |
43,350 | 5,075,418 | ||||||
Edwards Lifesciences Corp.(a) |
88,872 | 6,591,636 | ||||||
Hologic, Inc.(a) |
344,000 | 7,396,000 | ||||||
Zimmer Holdings, Inc. |
84,500 | 7,992,010 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
27,055,064 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Health Care Providers & Services (1.99%) |
||||||||
Brookdale Senior Living, Inc.(a) |
103,973 | 3,484,135 | ||||||
Catamaran Corp.(a) |
205,607 | 9,202,969 | ||||||
Cigna Corp. |
70,375 | 5,892,499 | ||||||
Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings(a) |
48,350 | 4,748,454 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
23,328,057 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Health Care Technology (1.34%) |
||||||||
athenahealth, Inc.(a) |
38,700 | 6,201,288 |
See Notes to Schedule of Investments. |
||
10 |
www.all-starfunds.com |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund |
Schedule of Investments | |
As of March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
SHARES | MARKET VALUE | |||||||
COMMON STOCKS (continued) |
||||||||
Health Care Technology (continued) |
||||||||
Cerner Corp.(a) |
170,168 | $ | 9,571,950 | |||||
|
|
|||||||
15,773,238 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Life Sciences Tools & Services (0.76%) |
||||||||
Illumina, Inc.(a) |
19,900 | 2,958,334 | ||||||
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. |
50,000 | 6,012,000 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
8,970,334 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Pharmaceuticals (2.21%) |
||||||||
Abbott Laboratories |
107,925 | 4,156,192 | ||||||
Allergan, Inc. |
52,255 | 6,484,845 | ||||||
Johnson & Johnson |
84,500 | 8,300,435 | ||||||
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.(b) |
134,200 | 7,091,128 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
26,032,600 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
INDUSTRIALS (6.48%) |
||||||||
Aerospace & Defense (1.82%) |
||||||||
The Boeing Co. |
15,455 | 1,939,448 | ||||||
Bombardier, Inc., Class B |
834,458 | 3,098,593 | ||||||
Precision Castparts Corp. |
55,812 | 14,107,041 | ||||||
Textron, Inc. |
57,407 | 2,255,521 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
21,400,603 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Building Products (0.41%) |
||||||||
Masco Corp. |
218,425 | 4,851,219 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Construction & Engineering (0.40%) |
||||||||
Fluor Corp. |
60,709 | 4,718,911 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Electrical Equipment (0.35%) |
||||||||
Eaton Corp. PLC |
55,500 | 4,169,160 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Machinery (1.27%) |
||||||||
Caterpillar, Inc. |
68,000 | 6,757,160 | ||||||
Navistar International Corp.(a) |
97,762 | 3,311,199 | ||||||
Parker Hannifin Corp. |
41,150 | 4,926,066 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
14,994,425 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Professional Services (0.49%) |
||||||||
Verisk Analytics, Inc., Class A(a) |
96,200 | 5,768,152 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
Trading Companies & Distributors (1.50%) |
||||||||
Fastenal Co. |
242,255 | 11,948,017 | ||||||
United Rentals, Inc.(a) |
59,400 | 5,639,436 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
17,587,453 | ||||||||
|
|
See Notes to Schedule of Investments. |
||
First Quarter Report (Unaudited) | March 31, 2014 |
11 |
Schedule of Investments |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | |
As of March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
SHARES | MARKET VALUE | |||||||
COMMON STOCKS (continued) |
||||||||
Transportation Infrastructure (0.24%) |
||||||||
Aegean Marine Petroleum Network, Inc. |
281,245 | $ | 2,773,076 | |||||
|
|
|||||||
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (17.35%) |
||||||||
Communications Equipment (1.99%) |
||||||||
Cisco Systems, Inc. |
321,000 | 7,193,610 | ||||||
QUALCOMM, Inc. |
206,000 | 16,245,160 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
23,438,770 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Computers & Peripherals (1.89%) |
||||||||
Hewlett-Packard Co. |
592,500 | 19,173,300 | ||||||
Stratasys Ltd.(a) |
28,501 | 3,023,671 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
22,196,971 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Electronic Equipment & Instruments (1.71%) |
||||||||
Corning, Inc. |
316,500 | 6,589,530 | ||||||
LG Display Co. Ltd.(a)(b) |
18,097 | 226,213 | ||||||
TE Connectivity Ltd. |
220,325 | 13,265,768 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
20,081,511 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Internet Software & Services (4.62%) |
||||||||
Equinix, Inc.(a) |
37,345 | 6,902,850 | ||||||
Facebook, Inc.(a) |
80,761 | 4,865,043 | ||||||
Google, Inc., Class A(a) |
24,046 | 26,799,507 | ||||||
LinkedIn Corp., Class A(a) |
48,522 | 8,973,659 | ||||||
Rackspace Hosting, Inc.(a) |
208,341 | 6,837,751 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
54,378,810 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment (1.77%) |
||||||||
Altera Corp. |
69,541 | 2,520,166 | ||||||
ARM Holdings PLC(b) |
139,420 | 7,106,237 | ||||||
Intel Corp. |
236,125 | 6,094,386 | ||||||
Micron Technology, Inc.(a) |
217,545 | 5,147,115 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
20,867,904 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Software (5.37%) |
||||||||
Microsoft Corp. |
345,775 | 14,173,318 | ||||||
Oracle Corp. |
191,025 | 7,814,833 | ||||||
Salesforce.com, Inc.(a) |
394,258 | 22,508,189 | ||||||
ServiceNow, Inc.(a) |
61,900 | 3,709,048 | ||||||
Splunk, Inc.(a) |
84,700 | 6,055,203 | ||||||
Symantec Corp. |
134,732 | 2,690,598 | ||||||
VMware, Inc., Class A(a) |
57,600 | 6,221,952 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
63,173,141 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
MATERIALS (1.55%) |
||||||||
Chemicals (0.99%) |
||||||||
EI du Pont de Nemours & Co. |
95,000 | 6,374,500 |
See Notes to Schedule of Investments. |
||
12 |
www.all-starfunds.com |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund |
Schedule of Investments | |
As of March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
SHARES | MARKET VALUE | |||||||
COMMON STOCKS (continued) |
||||||||
Chemicals (continued) |
||||||||
The Sherwin-Williams Co. |
26,793 | $ | 5,281,704 | |||||
|
|
|||||||
11,656,204 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
Metals & Mining (0.56%) |
||||||||
Alcoa, Inc. |
127,565 | 1,641,762 | ||||||
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc. |
75,660 | 2,502,076 | ||||||
Silver Wheaton Corp. |
109,820 | 2,492,914 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
6,636,752 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
UTILITIES (0.54%) |
||||||||
Electric Utilities (0.54%) |
||||||||
Entergy Corp. |
80,975 | 5,413,179 | ||||||
FirstEnergy Corp. |
28,355 | 964,920 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
6,378,099 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||||
TOTAL COMMON STOCKS |
1,140,684,290 | |||||||
|
|
|||||||
EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (0.10%) |
||||||||
Exchange Traded Fund (0.10%) |
||||||||
iShares® Russell 1000 Value |
11,845 | 1,143,042 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
TOTAL EXCHANGE TRADED FUND |
1,143,042 | |||||||
|
|
|||||||
PAR VALUE | MARKET VALUE | |||||||
SHORT TERM INVESTMENT (2.52%) |
||||||||
REPURCHASE AGREEMENT (2.52%) |
||||||||
Repurchase agreement with State Street Bank & Trust Co., dated 3/31/14, due 04/01/14 at 0.01%, collateralized by Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., 3.00%, 03/15/43, market value of $30,200,406 and par value of $33,380,000. (Repurchase proceeds of $29,597,008). (COST OF $29,597,000) |
$ | 29,597,000 | $ | 29,597,000 | ||||
|
|
|||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS (99.55%) |
1,171,424,332 | |||||||
OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF LIABILITIES (0.45%) |
5,342,631 | |||||||
|
|
|||||||
NET ASSETS (100.00%) |
$ | 1,176,766,963 | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE |
$ | 6.67 | ||||||
|
|
See Notes to Schedule of Investments. |
||
First Quarter Report (Unaudited) | March 31, 2014 |
13 |
Schedule of Investments |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | |
As of March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
(a) | Non-income producing security. |
(b) | American Depositary Receipt. |
(c) | Cost of investments for federal income tax purposes is $961,172,501. |
Gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation at March 31, 2014 based on cost of investments for federal income tax purposes is as follows:
Gross unrealized appreciation |
$ | 272,702,584 | ||
Gross unrealized depreciation |
(62,450,753) | |||
|
||||
Net unrealized appreciation |
$ | 210,251,831 | ||
|
For Fund compliance purposes, the Funds industry classifications refer to any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or ratings group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. This definition may not apply for purposes of this report, which may combine industry sub-classifications for reporting ease. Industries are shown as a percent of net assets.
See Notes to Schedule of Investments. |
||
14 |
www.all-starfunds.com |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund |
Notes to Schedule of Investments | |
March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
Security Valuation
Equity securities including common stocks and exchange traded funds are valued at the last sale price at the close of the principal exchange on which they trade, except for securities listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (NASDAQ), which are valued at the NASDAQ official closing price. Unlisted securities or listed securities for which there were no sales during the day are valued at the closing bid price on such exchanges or over-the-counter markets.
Short-term debt obligations maturing in more than 60 days for which market quotations are readily available are valued at current market value. Short-term debt obligations maturing within 60 days are valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value.
Repurchase agreements are valued at cost, which approximates fair value. Investments for which market quotations are not readily available are valued at fair value as determined in good faith under consistently applied procedures approved by and under the general supervision of the Funds Board of Trustees.
Foreign Securities
The Fund may directly purchase securities of foreign issuers. Investing in securities of foreign issuers involves special risks not typically associated with investing in securities of U.S. issuers. The risks include possible devaluation of currencies, the inability to repatriate foreign currency, less complete financial information about companies and possible future adverse political and economic developments. Moreover, securities of many foreign issuers and their markets may be less liquid and their prices more volatile than those of securities of comparable U.S. issuers. For the period ended March 31, 2014, the Fund only held American Depositary Receipts and did not hold any securities denominated in foreign currencies.
Security Transactions
Security transactions are recorded on trade date. Cost is determined and gains/(losses) are based upon the specific identification method for both financial statement and federal income tax purposes.
Repurchase Agreements
The Fund engages in repurchase agreement transactions with institutions that the Funds investment advisor has determined are creditworthy. The Fund, through its custodian, receives delivery of underlying securities collateralizing a repurchase agreement. Collateral is at least equal, at all times, to the value of the repurchase obligation, including interest. A repurchase agreement transaction involves certain risks in the event of default or insolvency of the counterparty. These risks include possible delays or restrictions upon a Funds ability to dispose of the underlying securities and a possible decline in the value of the underlying securities during the period while the Fund seeks to assert its rights. These collateral agreements mitigate the counterparty credit risk by providing for a single net settlement with a counterparty of all financial transactions covered by the agreement in an event of default as defined under such agreement.
Repurchase agreements are entered into by the Fund under a Master Repurchase Agreement (MRA) which permits the Fund, under certain circumstances, including an event of default (such as bankruptcy or insolvency), to offset payables and/or receivables under the MRA with collateral held and/or posted to the counterparty and create one single net payment due or from the Fund.
First Quarter Report (Unaudited) | March 31, 2014 |
15 |
Notes to Schedule of Investments |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | |
March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
Income Recognition
Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. Premiums and discounts are amortized and accreted, respectively, on all debt securities. Corporate actions and dividend income are recorded on the ex-date.
The Fund estimates components of distributions from real estate investment trusts (REITs). Distributions received in excess of income are recorded as a reduction of the cost of the related investments. Once the REIT reports annually the tax character of its distributions, the Fund revises its estimates. If the Fund no longer owns the applicable securities, any distributions received in excess of income are recorded as realized gains.
Fair Value Measurements
The Fund discloses the classification of its fair value measurements following a three-tier hierarchy based on the inputs used to measure fair value. Inputs refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, including assumptions about risk. Inputs may be observable or unobservable. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability that are developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity. Unobservable inputs reflect the reporting entitys own assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability that are developed based on the best information available.
Valuation techniques used to value the Funds investments by major category are as follows:
Equity securities and exchange-traded funds, for which market quotations are readily available, are valued at the last reported sale price or official closing price as reported by a third party pricing vendor on the primary market or exchange on which they are traded and are categorized as Level 1 in the hierarchy. In the event there were no sales during the day or closing prices are not available, securities are valued at the mean of the most recent quoted bid and ask prices on such day and are generally categorized as Level 2 in the hierarchy. Repurchase agreements are valued at cost, which approximates fair value, and are categorized as Level 2 in the hierarchy.
Various inputs are used in determining the value of the Funds investments as of the end of the reporting period. When inputs used fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy, the level in the hierarchy within which the fair value measurement falls is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. The designated input levels are not necessarily an indication of the risk or liquidity associated with these investments.
These inputs are categorized in the following hierarchy under applicable financial accounting standards:
Level 1 |
Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical investments, unrestricted assets or liabilities that a Fund has the ability to access at the measurement date; | |
Level 2 |
Quoted prices which are not active, quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets or inputs other than quoted prices that are observable (either directly or indirectly) for substantially the full term of the asset or liability; and |
16 |
www.all-starfunds.com |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund |
Notes to Schedule of Investments | |
March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
Level 3 |
Significant unobservable prices or inputs (including the Funds own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments) where there is little or no market activity for the asset or liability at the measurement date. |
The following is a summary of the inputs used to value the Funds investments as of March 31, 2014. The Fund recognizes transfers between the levels as of the beginning of the annual period in which the transfer occurred.
Valuation Inputs | ||||||||||||||||
Investments in Securities at Value* |
Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | ||||||||||||
Common Stocks |
$ | 1,140,684,290 | $ | | $ | | $ | 1,140,684,290 | ||||||||
Exchange Traded Fund |
1,143,042 | | | 1,143,042 | ||||||||||||
Short Term Investment |
| 29,597,000 | | 29,597,000 | ||||||||||||
Total |
$ | 1,141,827,332 | $ | 29,597,000 | $ | | $ | 1,171,424,332 |
* | See Schedule of Investments for industry classifications. |
For the period ended March 31, 2014, the Fund did not have any transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 securities. The Fund did not have any securities which used significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) in determining fair value during the period.
Indemnification
In the normal course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of representations and warranties and which provide general indemnities. The Funds maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims against the Fund. Also, under the Funds organizational documents and by contract, the Trustees and Officers of the Fund are indemnified against certain liabilities that may arise out of their duties to the Fund. However, based on experience, the Fund expects the risk of loss due to these warranties and indemnities to be minimal.
First Quarter Report (Unaudited) | March 31, 2014 |
17 |
Description of Lipper Benchmark And Market Indicies |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | |
March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) |
Dow Jones Industrial Average
A price-weighted measure of 30 U.S. blue-chip companies.
Lipper Large-Cap Core Mutual Fund Average
The average of funds that, by portfolio practice, invest at least 75% of their equity assets in companies with market capitalizations (on a three-year weighted basis) above Lippers U.S. domestic equity large-cap floor. These funds typically have an average price-to-earnings ratio, price-to-book ratio, and three-year sales-per-share growth value, compared to the S&P 500® Index.
NASDAQ Composite Index
Measures all NASDAQ domestic and international based common type stocks listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market.
Russell 1000® Growth Index
Measures the performance of those Russell 1000® companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. The Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of the 1,000 largest companies in the Russell 3000® Index.
Russell 1000® Value Index
Measures the performance of those Russell 1000® companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of the 1,000 largest companies in the Russell 3000® Index.
Russell 3000® Index
Measures the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies based on total market capitalization, which represents approximately 98% of the investable U.S. equity market.
S&P 500® Index
A large cap U.S. equities index that includes 500 leading companies and captures approximately 80% coverage of available market capitalization.
An investor cannot invest directly in an index.
First Quarter Report (Unaudited) | March 31, 2014 |
18 |
|
INVESTMENT ADVISOR | LEGAL COUNSEL | |||
ALPS Advisors, Inc. |
K&L Gates LLP |
|||
1290 Broadway, Suite 1100 |
1601 K Street, NW |
|||
Denver, Colorado 80203 |
Washington, DC 20006 |
|||
303-623-2577 www.all-starfunds.com |
TRUSTEES | |||
John A. Benning* |
||||
Thomas W. Brock* |
||||
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED | Edmund J. Burke |
|||
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM | George R. Gaspari* |
|||
Deloitte & Touche LLP |
Richard W. Lowry*, Chairman |
|||
555 Seventeenth Street, Suite 3600 |
Dr. John J. Neuhauser* |
|||
Denver, Colorado 80202 |
Richard C. Rantzow* |
|||
CUSTODIAN | OFFICERS | |||
State Street Bank & Trust Company |
William R. Parmentier, Jr., President | |||
One Lincoln Street |
Mark T. Haley, CFA, Senior Vice President | |||
Boston, Massachusetts 02111 |
Edmund J. Burke, Vice President | |||
Kimberly R. Storms, Treasurer | ||||
Erin D. Nelson, Secretary | ||||
INVESTOR ASSISTANCE, | Alex J. Marks, Assistant Secretary | |||
TRANSFER & DIVIDEND | Melanie H. Zimdars, Chief Compliance Officer | |||
DISBURSING AGENT & REGISTRAR | ||||
Computershare Trust Company, N.A. |
* Member of the Audit Committee |
|||
P.O. Box 30170 |
||||
College Station, Texas 77842-3170 |
||||
1-800-LIB-FUND (1-800-542-3863) www.computershare.com |
A description of the Funds proxy voting policies and procedures is available (i) on the Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) website at www.sec.gov, and (ii) without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-542-3863. Information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the 12-month period ended June 30th is available from the SECs website at www.sec.gov.
The Fund files a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Funds Form N-Qs are available on the SECs website at www.sec.gov and may be reviewed and copied at the SECs Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.
Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 23(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 that the Fund may purchase at market prices from time to time shares of its own common stock in the open market.
This report is transmitted to shareholders of Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund for their information. It is not a prospectus or other document intended for use in the purchase of Fund shares.
LAS000592 11/30/14