Villere Equity Fund Launched by Villere & Co.

NEW ORLEANS, May 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- St. Denis J. Villere & Company, LLC, is pleased to announce the launch today of their new Villere Equity Fund (Ticker: VLEQX).

"Many of our current shareholders as well as advisors who recommend our prior fund, the Villere Balanced Fund, urged us to create this new equity fund. So, we designed the Villere Equity Fund to focus on the equity work we do, with a particular emphasis on striving to uncover undiscovered small and mid-size companies we believe have potential. While the fund can invest across all market caps, our experience has shown these smaller companies, when well vetted, may provide investors significant long-term growth potential," said George V. Young, portfolio manager and partner of Villere & Co., the adviser to the funds.

The Villere Equity Fund adheres to the same core equity process found in the Villere Balanced Fund seeking to achieve its objective of long-term growth. The fund managers, Young and his cousin, St. Denis (Sandy) Villere, III, use a disciplined approach to identify companies that, in their opinion, are undervalued and largely undiscovered. They are continually looking for companies they believe have the potential to deliver above-average returns in favorable market conditions while preserving capital during times of market weakness.

"We intend to manage our new Villere Equity Fund with the same portfolio management stability, innovation, research and teamwork that four generations of the Villere family have achieved for more than a century now." The firm has offered separately managed accounts throughout its history.

According to Young, the Villere Equity Fund may be best suited to investors looking for a complementary option for their growth portfolios that stresses long-term capital growth, with an emphasis on opportunities from small and mid-size companies.

Villere & Co. is also the adviser to the award-winning Villere Balanced Fund (Ticker: VILLX). In both 2013 and 2012, Lipper named this fund in Best Mixed-Asset Target Allocation Growth Fund for risk-adjusted consistent returns for both the 3- and 5-year periods as of 11/30/2012 among 151 and 144 funds and as of 11/30/11 among 139 and 134 funds, respectively. In addition to equities, the Villere Balanced Fund includes an allocation to bonds.

About Villere
Founded over 100 years ago, Villere & Co. remains a family-run business. It is headquartered in New Orleans, where it was founded by St. Denis J. Villere in 1911. The advisor has been operated continuously since then by four generations of the Villere family. Its four current principals include two brothers, a son and a cousin. The firm manages approximately $2.2 billion in separately managed accounts and a mutual fund. See www.villere.com for additional information.

About Lipper Fund Awards
A Lipper Fund Award is awarded to one fund in each Lipper classification for achieving the strongest trend of consistent risk-adjusted performance against its classification peers over a three, five or ten-year period.

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Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Mutual fund investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible.

Investments in smaller and medium sized companies involve additional risks such as limited liquidity and greater volatility. Investments in debt securities typically decrease in value when interest rates rise. This risk is usually greater for longer-term debt securities. Investments in lower rated and non-rated securities present a great risk of loss to principal and interest than higher rated securities.  The performance of foreign securities depends on the political and economic environments and other overall economic conditions in the countries where the Fund invests. Emerging country markets involve greater risk and volatility than more developed markets. Some emerging markets countries may have fixed or managed currencies that are not free-floating against the U.S. dollar. Certain of these currencies have experienced, and may experience in the future, substantial fluctuations or a steady devaluation relative to the U.S. dollar.

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SOURCE Villere & Co.