Hancock Horizon Burkenroad Small Cap Fund Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary With Five-Star Rating From Morningstar

GULFPORT, Miss., Jan. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Hancock Holding Company (Nasdaq: HBHC) announced today that the Hancock Horizon Burkenroad Small Cap Fund, celebrating its tenth anniversary, has received a five-star overall rating from Morningstar. The Fund also ranked in the top one percent amongst small cap core funds for the 10 year period ending December 31, 2011, according to Lipper Analytical - the Fund was the second best performer of 303 funds in this category.

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Launched in 2001 with less than $1 million in assets, the Burkenroad Small Cap Fund has grown to more than $90 million. The fund focuses on stocks with market caps of less than $2 billion for companies located or doing business in the Gulf South – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

"Since its inception, the Burkenroad Small Cap Fund has experienced a 10.59 percent return as compared to its benchmark, the Russell 2000's return of 5.62 percent for the same time period (since 12/31/2001). We believe this long-term success can be tied directly to our consistent investment approach which centers on quality and value," said Hancock Horizon Fund Manager David Lundgren, CFA. 

This fund is unique not only because of its regional focus; it also is the only known mutual fund for which the fund's investment managers use the BURKENROAD REPORTS to supplement their own research. The BURKENROAD REPORTS is an investment research program sponsored by Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business designed to teach students how to produce objective investment research by studying publicly held companies located in the Deep South and not heavily followed by other investment analysts. They often refer to these companies as "stocks under rocks".

"We use our own quantitative process and research to narrow down prospective investment choices. We also believe the BURKENROAD REPORTS focus on 'stocks under rocks' has helped us to identify small companies with little Wall Street awareness that have strong growth potential, investor appeal, and can produce great value," Lundgren said. According to the BURKENROAD REPORTS, at least 25 of the companies followed since 1993 have been acquired at a discount relative to their current market value, producing great investor return.

The Burkenroad Small Cap Fund is just one of several Hancock Horizon Funds to earn the distinguished overall five-star Morningstar rating. The Hancock Horizon Diversified International Fund also received the top Morningstar rating and the Hancock Horizon Value Fund received a five-star rating for its 10-year period. Morningstar ratings are objective and based entirely on mathematical evaluation of past performance – both risk and return. 

Founded with three funds worth $240 million at its inception in 2000, the Hancock Horizon Funds family has grown to include nine funds with $1.3 billion in assets today. It is one of the largest mutual fund families in the Gulf South region.

The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more of less than their original cost and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted.

About Hancock Holding Company

With assets of approximately $20 billion, Hancock Holding Company is the parent company of Hancock Bank and Whitney Bank.  The company operates almost 300 full-service bank branches and nearly 400 ATMs across a Gulf South corridor spanning south Mississippi; southern Alabama; south central Louisiana; the northern, central, and Panhandle regions of Florida; and metropolitan Houston, Texas. Additional information is available at www.hancockbank.com and www.whitneybank.com.

About Morningstar

© 2011 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is not guarantee of future results.

For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating™ metric each month by subtracting the return on a 90-day U.S. Treasury Bill from the fund's load adjusted return for the same period, and then adjusting this excess return for risk. The top 10 percent of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5 percent receive 4 stars, the next 35 percent receive 3 stars, the next 22.5 percent receive 2 stars and the bottom 10 percent receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three, five and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. As of 12/31/2011, the Hancock Horizon Burkenroad Small Cap Fund and the Diversified International Fund received an overall Morningstar Rating of 5 stars. The Hancock Horizon Burkenroad Fund was rated against 580 Small Blend Funds over a three year period, 485 over a five-year period, and 296 over a 10 year period and received 4, 5, and 5 stars respectively. The Hancock Horizon Diversified International Fund was rated against 737 Foreign Large Blend Funds over a three-year period and received 5 stars. The Hancock Horizon Value Trust Class received an overall Morningstar rating of 4 stars. The Fund was rated against 1,127 Large Value Funds over a three-year period, 996 over a five-year period and 571 over a ten-year period and received 3, 4, and 5 stars respectively.

Mutual fund investing involves risk including the loss of principal. Investments in smaller companies typically have higher volatility. International investments may involve risk of capital loss from unfavorable fluctuation in currency values, from differences in generally accepted accounting principles, or from social, economic, or political instability in other nations.

To determine if this Fund is an appropriate investment for you, carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risk factors, and charges and expenses before investing.  This and other information can be found in the Fund's prospectus, which may be obtained by calling 1-800-990-2434 or visiting www.hancockhorizonfunds.com. Please read it carefully before investing.

Hancock Horizon Funds are distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co., which is not affiliated with Hancock Holding Company or any of its affiliates.

Not  insured.         No  guarantee.         May lose value.

SOURCE Hancock Holding Company