Becker Value Equity Fund (BVEFX) Reaches $100 Million in Assets

PORTLAND, Ore., April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The future looks bright for the Becker Value Equity Fund (BVEFX), managed by Becker Capital Management, Inc. As of March 31st, 2010, the Fund – ranked among 941 Large Cap Value funds – received a Five-Star rating from Morningstar, Inc. The Fund recently exceeded $100 million in assets and is poised for future growth.

The key for Becker's Value Equity Fund has been performance. In a recent write up on Becker Value Equity Fund, Morningstar said, "Its three- and five-year returns beat 90% of its rivals', and it has topped the Russell 1000 Value Index and the broader market. It's also in elite company, having held up better than 90% of peers in 2008's brutal downdraft while also outperforming in 2009's speculative rally."

The Fund utilizes bottom-up fundamental analysis to identify companies trading at attractive valuations. Becker Capital's analysts conduct hundreds of interviews each year with company managements, often face-to-face, to identify high quality, out of favor stocks with stable to improving fundamentals.

By focusing on undervalued stocks and resisting the urge to trade in and out of the market based on short-term fluctuations, the Fund believes it weathered the past three years well ahead of its peers. According to lead portfolio manager Bob Schaeffer, "We look for companies that have strong balance sheets, strong management and a market advantage. We seek value in places the market has overlooked."

Becker Capital is an independent, employee-owned firm that manages over $2.3 billion for individuals and institutions across the country. The firm prides itself on being a career destination for seasoned investment professionals and has seen no turnover on the equity team since its inception in 1976.

www.beckercap.com

The Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses must be considered carefully before investing; The prospectus contains this and other information about the investment company and may be obtained by calling 1-800-551-3998.

The prospectus should be read carefully before investing. The Becker Value Funds are distributed by Unified Financial Securities, Inc., (member, FINRA) 2960 N. Meridian St., Suite 300, Indianapolis, Indiana 46208-4715.

The Total Gross Expense Ratio of the Fund as disclosed in the most recent prospectus is 1.38%, and the net expense ratio after contractual fee waivers is 1.00%. The advisor has contracted with the Fund to cap certain operating expenses at 0.95% plus Fees and Expenses of Acquired Funds of 0.05%. As of 11/01/09 the advisor has agreed to lower its management fee with respect to the Fund from 1.00% to 0.85% of the Fund's average daily net assets.

The Russell 1000 Value measures the performance of those Russell 1000 companies with lower price-to book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The performance of the index does not reflect the deductions for fees, expenses or taxes. Individuals cannot invest directly in the Index, however, and individual can invest in exchange traded funds or other investment vehicles that attempt to track the performance of a benchmark index.

Morningstar Disclosure: For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating™ based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) The Overall Morningstar Rating™ for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its 3-, 5-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The Fund had the following rating for the 3-year period, five star out of 1,100 Large Cap Value Funds and five star for the 5-year period out of 931 Large Cap Value Funds. Based on the fund's inception date there is no 10-year rating. The Funds overall rating is five stars.

SOURCE Becker Capital Management