Zacks Investment Management Top Ranked on InvestmentNews

CHICAGO, May 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- InvestmentNews reported this week that Zacks Investment Management was one of the top investment managers in the first quarter of 2013.

Investment News ranked the top U.S. large-cap equity performers, and The Zacks Dividend Strategy was identified as one of the best managers in this category.  The ranking was based on the performance returns for the quarter ending March 31^st, 2013.

InvestmentNews determined this ranking utilizing research from the PrimaGuide research application, a leading provider of investment manager research from Envestnet.   The PrimaGuide SMA universe isn't intended to be all-inclusive but rather represents a diversified group of products that are available to, and suitable for, the affluent retail investor.

Furthermore, out of all of the top managers listed, the Zacks Dividend Strategy had the greatest 5-year Sharpe Ratio.  The Sharpe ratio is a good metric to determine if a Strategy's returns are due to smart investment decisions by the portfolio management team, or the result of taking on additional risk. This measurement can be useful because although a portfolio manager may be able to reap higher returns than its peers, it is really only a good investment if the manager did not take on additional risk to achieve those results. Put simply, a greater Sharpe ratio signifies better risk-adjusted performance.

The Zacks Dividend Strategy is an actively managed, tax efficient investment strategy that utilizes a proprietary multi-factor model to identify stocks with strong and sustainable dividend yields.  Zacks believes that their process of identifying stocks with a sustainable dividend yield is the reason that they have been able to outperform their peers, and accomplish this with lower risk.

"Whether you're an investor looking for yield, looking for total return or want to dampen volatility, dividend paying stocks should have a place in your portfolio," said Mitch Zacks, a Senior Portfolio Managers at Zacks Investment Management.  "While the price of the stock will experience some volatility, as long as the company has strong fundamentals, the dividend payments are likely to remain steady and will usually prove to be a good investment over time."

When asked about investing in dividend stocks today, Mitch Zacks said "The dividend trade should continue to work for the foreseeable future. In this low interest rate environment, stable U.S. multinationals will remain desirable and dividend investors will be rewarded."

About Zacks Investment Management

Zacks Investment Management is a registered investment advisor committed to providing wealth management solutions to their private clients. They are a wholly owned subsidiary of Zacks Investment Research, one of the largest providers of independent research in the U.S.

Established in 1992, Zacks currently serves thousands of individual and institutional investors through the use of their proprietary investment strategies and mutual funds.

For more information please visit www.ZacksWMG.com, or call 800-245-2934.

Disclosure:

Past Performance is no guarantee of future results. Results for the Zacks Dividend Strategy reflect the reinvestment of dividends and other earnings. Individual results may differ. The results submitted to Envestnet and Prima portray the performance history for a representative managed separate account gross of fees.

This press release is distributed for informational purposes only; to notify readers of a recent ranking reported by Investment News.  The results submitted to Envestnet and Prima portray the performance history for a representative managed separate account gross of fees, and do not include the deduction of investment advisory fees. An investor's actual return will be reduced by the advisory fees and any other expenses which may be incurred in the management of an investment advisory account. Upon request, Zacks Investment Management will provide gross and net performance information for the Dividend Strategy.

InvestmentNews, Prima and Envestnet have no affiliation with Zacks, but rather report and evaluate investment managers' performance on an objective basis.  Envestnet is a service provider to Zacks Investment Management and is compensated for services, which may be a conflict for Envestnet in ranking Zacks.

The ranking of separately managed account products are for the highest performance for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. Rankings are based on performance reported to the PrimaGuide research application by May 3. In case of ties, products are listed alphabetically. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results, and investors should rely on additional factors when determining whether to include SMAs in their portfolios. The PrimaGuide SMA universe isn't intended to be all-inclusive but rather represents a diversified group of products that are available to, and suitable for, the affluent retail investor.

The full publication can be seen here: http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20130519/CHART02/130519996

SOURCE Zacks Investment Management