Investment Returns

Compound Returns

ZAM Global Appreciation with Income

Taxable Composite after Fees through March 31, 2013

(please read the footnotes following the graph)

1. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.  Investments in common stocks and in fixed income securities are always subject to the possibility of meaningful losses.
2. Performance results for the most recent quarter are preliminary until six weeks after the quarter has ended.
3. Performance shown for all composites and all comparison indices includes dividend and interest payments reinvested.
4. All composite performance calculations are shown net of our fees, transaction costs and all of any wrap or bundled fees that include transaction costs.  Since inception the fees paid on all accounts in these composites have ranged between ½% and 1% per annum of the value of assets under management, with the exception of a small number of small accounts that have sometimes been charged no fee for a limited period of time or pending increases to a specified minimum value.  Comparison index performance is always calculated as if there were no fees and no transaction costs.
5. All composite results are weighted by the market values of the included portfolios. Results computed as equal weighted averages of all the included portfolios are available on request as well as the range of outcomes compared to these two averages.
6. Composite performance for periods longer than one calendar quarter is the compound average of the quarterly results included in the period.  Summary results for periods longer than one year are the annual average equivalent return of the compounded total return.
7. Each composite contains all discretionary portfolios that were over $100,000 at the beginning of a calendar quarter, that were managed by us for the entire quarter and that satisfied the following inclusion criteria for the entire quarter:
• Global Appreciation - Taxable:  portfolios that are subject to taxation on investment income and capital gains and have been compared to an all common stock benchmark, usually one of those shown for comparison in the tables and charts.
• Global Appreciation - Nontaxable:  portfolios that are not subject to taxation that varies with investment income received or with realized gains or losses and have been compared to an all common stock benchmark, usually one of those shown for comparison in the tables and charts.
• Global Appreciation with Income – Taxable: portfolios that are subject to taxation on investment income and capital gains and have been compared to a balanced benchmark consisting of a combination of at least one equity index and one bond index, usually among those shown in the charts.
• Global Appreciation with Income- Nontaxable: portfolios that are not subject to taxation that varies with investment income received or with realized gains or losses and have been compared to a balanced benchmark consisting of a combination of at least one equity index and one bond index, usually among those shown in the charts.
• Homogeneity of Composite Portfolios: Composites of tax-exempt portfolios are more homogeneous than taxable portfolios because one important class of constraints against taking the same action for different portfolios, minimizing taxes, is removed.  Portfolios in both  taxable and non-taxable composites differ as well, because of different investment goals, spending and withdrawal patterns, social screens and other factors.  Still, results in both taxable and non-taxable composites are broadly similar most of the time.
8. Benchmark Indices:  Most of our Global Appreciation portfolios have been compared to either the S&P 500, the Russell 1000 Growth Index and the Russell 3000 Growth Index.  We believe the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) is a more accurate portrayal of the universe from which we select our stocks. Most Global Appreciation with Income portfolios have been compared to the S&P 500, the Russell 1000 Growth Index, the Russell 3000 Growth Index, or the MSCI ACWI Index. as well as the Barclays Intermediate Government/Credit Index. When conditions warrant we may purchase stocks that are not included in or representative of our benchmarks.  In addition we sometimes deliberately hold cash or bonds in Global Appreciation portfolios.  For these reasons, returns in our Global Appreciation accounts are less highly correlated with their equity benchmarks than is the case for many other professional investors.  We advise our clients that we think the benchmark is most useful for understanding short-term fluctuations in results but not necessarily for judging results over many years.  Our expectation is to do better than our benchmark when it is falling and to do somewhat worse when it is rising.
9. Computation:  From our inception in 1998 until September 30, 2006, performance numbers for a significant number of our portfolios with a bank custodian were calculated on the banks SEI Incorporated performance measurement system. The SEI system compounded performance from one closing weekly valuation to the next, plus the end of each month or any date when deposits or withdrawals were ten percent or more of portfolio value. For the rest of our portfolios we calculated performance on spreadsheets, using the custodians’ valuations and compounding by months except for dates when deposits or withdrawals were ten percent or more of portfolio value. Starting September 30, 2006, we have used the Advent portfolio management and performance systems to calculate performance in all of our portfolios.