Cooke & Bieler, L.P. (the Firm) is an independent investment management firm and is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

Cooke & Bieler, L.P. claims compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) and has prepared and presented this report in compliance with the GIPS standards. The Firm has been independently verified for the period January 1, 1993 through December 31, 2017. Verification assesses whether (1) the Firm has complied with all the composite construction requirements of the GIPS standards on a firm-wide basis and (2) the Firm’s policies and procedures are designed to calculate and present performance in compliance with the GIPS standards. Verification does not ensure the accuracy of any specific composite presentation. 

The Large Cap Value Equity Composite has been examined for the period from January 1, 1993 through December 31, 2017. The verification and examination reports are available upon request.

The Cooke & Bieler Large Cap Value Equity Composite (Composite) whose inception date is January 1,1977 includes all fully discretionary, fee paying, large cap value equity tax-exempt portfolios managed for more than one quarter. Prior to 2013, the minimum market value was $1 million. Prior to July 1, 2010, the Composite included only employee benefit tax-exempt portfolios. For investment purposes, we generally define large cap equity securities as those of companies whose market capitalization is greater than $3.5 billion and within the range of the Russell 1000® Index at initial time of purchase. Securities are selected using the firm’s fundamental, bottom-up approach. Portfolios are more concentrated, typically holding approximately 40-50 securities. The Composite was created in January 1997.

The standard fee agreement is 0.65 of 1% per annum on the first $25 million of principal, 0.45 of 1% per annum on the next $25 million of principal, and 0.38 of 1% per annum on the balance, however fees are negotiable. As an example, the "cost" of the investment advisory fee of a $25 million portfolio is .65% on an annualized basis. In a ten-year period, the effect of the investment advisory fee will reduce a 5% annual return by as much as 10.3% on a cumulative basis. Net of fee returns are calculated quarterly by deducting one quarter of the maximum fee rate of 0.65% from the gross of fee Composite return and are net of any performance-based fees. From 1/1/2007 through 12/31/2010, net of fee returns reflected the deduction of actual management fees and are net of any performance-based fees.

For comparison purposes, the Composite is measured against the Russell 1000® Value Index and the S&P 500® Index. Prior to 1/1/15, the S&P 500 Index was shown as the primary benchmark and the Russell 1000® Value was the secondary benchmark. The change was made to better reflect how the strategy is managed. The Russell 1000® Value Index measures companies from the Russell 1000® Index that exhibit lower price to book and price to earnings ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The S&P 500® is a broad measure of U.S. domestic large cap stocks. The 500 stocks in this capitalization-weighted index are chosen based on industry representation, liquidity, and stability. The indices returns are provided to represent the environment existing during the periods shown and are not covered by the report of independent verifiers. Russell Investment Group is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes. Russell® is a trademark of Russell Investment Group. The S&P 500® Index is a trademark of McGraw-Hill, Inc.

The dispersion is measured using an asset weighted standard deviation of portfolio returns represented within the Composite for the full year. A list of composite descriptions is available upon request.  Policies for valuing portfolios, calculating performance, and preparing compliant presentations are also available upon request.

The three-year annualized ex-post standard deviation measures the variability of the composite (using gross returns) and the benchmark for the preceding 36-month period. The three-year annualized ex-post standard deviation is not required to be presented for periods prior to 2011 or when 36 monthly composite returns are not available.

Past performance is not indicative of future results.