Driehaus Capital Management to Offer Its Micro Cap Growth Strategy as a Mutual Fund

CHICAGO, Nov. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Driehaus Capital Management announces the launch of the Driehaus Micro Cap Growth Fund (Ticker: DMCRX) as of November 18, 2013. The fund is the successor to the Driehaus Micro Cap Fund, L.P. and the Driehaus Institutional Micro Cap Fund, L.P.

The fund's investment team is led by Portfolio Manager Jeff James, who joined Driehaus Capital Management in 1997. Mr. James has managed the Driehaus Micro Cap Growth strategy for the past 16 years. According to Mr. James, "The micro-cap equity universe is a dynamic and underappreciated segment of the equity market. It includes many of the most innovative U.S. companies that have the potential and characteristics for rapid price appreciation. It is also an inefficient market segment as the vast majority of institutional investors and Wall Street sell-side analysts are focused on larger companies."

Since the Driehaus Micro Cap Growth Fund's January 1, 2003 performance inception date, it has outperformed its benchmark, the Russell Microcap^® Growth Index, across all standard time periods. On a cumulative return basis since its performance inception date, the fund has returned 587% versus 197% for the index and 138% for the S&P 500 Index. Performance returns are as of September 30, 2013.

For many investors, the inclusion of a micro-cap fund in their portfolios is a means to maintain a true small cap equity allocation. During the past five years, the U.S. equity market, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, has rallied from a March 2009 closing low of 677 to current near-record highs of almost 1,800. The strong advance has been matched by a similar dramatic increase in companies' market capitalizations. This has elevated many investors' small cap exposure to a weighted average market cap more commonly associated with a small-mid cap portfolio. "Many of our clients invest in a micro-cap strategy to lower the overall average market cap to a level more consistent with small caps. They often find this also improves diversification while adding exposure to a segment of the U.S. equity market with historically strong performance," said Rob Gordon, President and CEO of Driehaus.

As a limited partnership, the strategy was previously offered only to institutional and accredited investors. "What we have heard from our investors is that a mutual fund is the vehicle of choice relative to a limited partnership," said Mr. Gordon. "Our client base appreciates the liquidity and transparency of a fund, and the strategy will be more accessible to a broader range of investors." 

The Driehaus growth equity investment philosophy was pioneered more than 30 years ago by the firm's founder, Richard H. Driehaus. Since then, it has served as the foundation for all of the firm's equity investment strategies. Driehaus has managed micro-cap growth mandates for institutional investors since 1996. As of October 31, 2013, Driehaus had more than $300 million micro-cap strategy assets under management.

Please visit www.driehaus.com/DMCRX.php for complete fund details and investment information. For information about investing in Driehaus funds, please contact (800) 560-6111.

About Driehaus Capital Management
Driehaus Capital Management is a privately-held, independent investment adviser with $11.6 billion in assets under management as of October 31, 2013. The firm manages global, emerging markets, and U.S. growth equity, hedged equity, and alternative investment strategies. Founded in 1982 by Richard H. Driehaus, the firm serves a diverse institutional client base comprised of corporate and public pensions, endowments, foundations, sub-advisory, financial advisors and family offices, globally.

For more information, please visit www.driehaus.com.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses²
Management fee: 1.25%
Other expenses: 0.34%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses: 1.59%

Important Risk Information
The performance data shown represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Principal value and investment returns will fluctuate so that investors' shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance data represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost), during the given month, on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). Average annual total return reflects annualized change. Since Fund performance is subject to change after the month-end, please call (800) 560-6111 or visit www.driehaus.com for more current performance information.

¹The average annual total returns of the Driehaus Micro Cap Growth Fund include the performance of one of the Fund's predecessor limited partnerships, which is calculated from January 1, 2003, before the Fund commenced operations and succeeded to the assets of its predecessors on November 18, 2013. The Fund's predecessors are the Driehaus Micro Cap Fund, L.P. (1996 inception) and the Driehaus Institutional Micro Cap Fund, L.P. (2011 inception). The performance of the Driehaus Micro Cap Fund, L.P., which was selected because it has the longer track record of the two predecessor partnerships, has been restated to reflect estimated expenses of the Fund. The predecessor limited partnerships were not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended ("1940 Act") and thus were not subject to certain investment and operational restrictions that are imposed by the 1940 Act. If the predecessors had been registered under the 1940 Act, their performance may have been adversely affected. After-tax performance returns are not included for the Driehaus Micro Cap Fund, L.P. The predecessors were not regulated investment companies and therefore did not distribute current or accumulated earnings.

Benchmark: The Russell Microcap® Growth Index is constructed to provide a comprehensive and unbiased barometer of the microcap growth market. Based on ongoing empirical research of investment manager behavior, the methodology used to determine growth probability approximates the aggregate microcap growth manager's opportunity set. The index has an inception date of July 2000. The Standard & Poor's ("S&P") 500 Index consists of 500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group. It is a market-weighted index (stock price times number of shares outstanding), with each stock's weight in the index proportionate to its market value. Data as of 9/30/13.

²Represents the estimated Annual Fund Operating Expenses as disclosed in the current prospectus dated November 5, 2013. It is important to understand that a decline in the Fund's average net assets due to unprecedented market volatility or other factors could cause the Fund's expense ratio for the current fiscal year to be higher than the expense information presented. "Other Expenses" are estimated for the current fiscal year.

At times, a significant portion of the Fund's return may be attributable to investments in initial public offerings (IPOs) or concentrations in certain strong performing sectors, such as technology. Returns from IPOs or sector concentrations may not be repeated or consistently achieved in the future. In addition, participating in IPOs and other investments during favorable market conditions may enhance the performance of a Fund with a smaller asset base, and this Fund may not experience similar performance results as its assets grow.

The securities of micro-cap companies may be more volatile in price, have wider spreads between their bid and ask prices, and have significantly lower trading volumes than the securities of larger capitalization companies.  As a result, the purchase or sale of more than a limited number of shares of the securities of a smaller company may affect its market price. The Fund may need a considerable amount of time to purchase or sell its positions in these securities.  Some U.S. micro-cap companies are followed by few, if any, securities analysts, and there tends to be less publicly available information about such companies. Their securities generally have even more limited trading volumes and are subject to even more abrupt or erratic market price movements than are small-cap and mid-cap securities, and the Fund may be able to deal with only a few market-makers when purchasing and selling micro-cap securities. Such companies also may have limited markets, financial resources or product lines, may lack management depth, and may be more vulnerable to adverse business or market developments. These conditions, which create greater opportunities to find securities trading well below the investment adviser's estimate of the company's current worth, also involve increased risk.

It is anticipated that the Fund will experience high rates of portfolio turnover, which may result in payment by the Fund of above-average transaction costs. This is a nondiversified fund compared to other funds, which means the Fund may invest a greater percentage of assets in a particular issuer or a small number of issuers. As a consequence, the Fund may be subject to greater risks and larger losses than diversified funds.

Driehaus Securities LLC, Distributor

Bradley Dawson, Vice President, Marketing and Product Development
[email protected]

Media Contact:

Bradley Dawson
Vice President, Marketing and Product Development
312.587.3844
[email protected]

SOURCE Driehaus Capital Management