American Beacon Announces New Equity Funds

FORT WORTH, Texas, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- American Beacon Advisors, an experienced provider of investment advisory services to institutional and retail markets, is pleased to announce the addition of two new mutual funds, American Beacon Zebra Large Cap Equity Fund (Ticker: AZLAX) and American Beacon Zebra Small Cap Equity Fund (Ticker: AZSAX) to its established family of mutual funds.

Both Funds seek to achieve long-term capital appreciation. Their sub-advisor, Zebra Capital Management, LLC ("Zebra Capital"), uses a proprietary strategy to capture a unique source of equity return -- based on the liquidity premium -- that Zebra Capital believes isn't captured by other traditional investment styles.  Founded in 2001, Zebra Capital's co-founders are Roger Ibbotson, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, and Zhiwu Chen, Director of Research.  They are both professors of finance at Yale University.

"At American Beacon, our unique position enables us to partner with leading firms such as Zebra Capital," said Gene L. Needles Jr., President and CEO of American Beacon Advisors. "We're able to bring this investment strategy to the marketplace because of our deep industry experience and relationships, furthering our commitment to introducing new strategies while serving the needs of our investors. We look forward to partnering with Roger and Zhiwu, both distinguished professionals in the world of finance."

Zebra Capital selects securities by analyzing their liquidity metrics (turnover, trading volume, etc.) relative to their fundamentals.  It uses these observable, relative liquidity measures to construct a portfolio that invests more heavily in stocks with strong fundamentals that are traded less often than stocks with comparable fundamentals. The Funds' strategy is designed to generate higher returns over time, driven by three factors: less liquid stocks generally trade at a discount; individual stocks move in and out of favor, reverting toward mean liquidity; and a potential benefit from general worldwide increases in the liquidity of markets.

"For years, academic literature has supported the theory that less liquid assets offer higher return potential than more liquid assets. Zebra Capital is the first to identify the liquidity premium among the public equity markets and establish a liquid investment strategy that captures this premium," said Roger Ibbotson, Ph.D.

"We are very pleased to partner with American Beacon to bring our first-of-a-kind strategy to investors through two accessible mutual funds," said Zhiwu Chen, Ph.D.

Ordinarily, at least 80% of the American Beacon Zebra Large Cap Equity Fund and American Beacon Zebra Small Cap Equity Fund's net assets will be invested in large market capitalization and small market capitalization companies, respectively.  

To request more information, please contact Amiee Watts at 973-784-0025 or [email protected].

About American Beacon Advisors

American Beacon Advisors is an experienced provider of investment advisory services to institutional and retail markets. Since 1986, American Beacon Advisors has offered a variety of products and services including corporate cash management and fixed income separate account management for corporations, institutions as well as state and local government entities.

American Beacon Advisors also manages the American Beacon Funds, a series of mutual funds representing a variety of investment strategies for the equity, fixed income, domestic and international markets. The fund family currently includes several short-term investment options such as equity funds, bond funds and money market funds. American Beacon Advisors serves defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, foundations, endowments, corporations and other institutional investors as well as retail clients.

You should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. The Prospectus and Summary Prospectus contain this and additional information regarding the Fund. To obtain a Prospectus and Summary Prospectus, please contact your Financial Advisor, call 1-800-967-9009 or visit www.americanbeaconfunds.com. The Prospectus and Summary Prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.

American Beacon Funds, American Beacon Zebra Large Cap Equity Fund, and American Beacon Zebra Small Cap Equity Fund are service marks of American Beacon Advisors, Inc.

An investment in the Funds is subject to risk, including the possible loss of principal. Investing in foreign equities entails additional risk not associated with domestic equities, such as currency fluctuations, economic and political instability and differences in accounting standards. At times certain securities may have limited marketability and may be difficult to sell. Investing in the securities of small capitalization companies involves greater risk and the possibility of greater price volatility than investing in larger capitalization and more established companies.

SOURCE American Beacon Advisors