Zacks Small Cap Core Mutual Fund Receives Five Star 3-year Morningstar Rating™

CHICAGO, July 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Investment Management, a leading investment firm with $3 billion in assets under management, announced today that the Zacks Small Cap Core Fund (ZSCCX) received a 5-star Morningstar Rating^TM. The Fund was rated against 595 Small Cap Blend Funds for its overall risk-adjusted performance over the 3-year period ending June 30, 2014.

The Fund which invests in small capitalization stocks, seeks to build a portfolio that may perform well in diverse market conditions while balancing investment risk. The Fund seeks to out-perform the Russell 2000 Index by employing a disciplined investment approach based on the extensive research of its parent company Zacks Investment Research.

"The recent announcement of our 5-star rating is an achievement for both our fund and firm. We launched the Fund because we knew small cap companies offer the potential for significant gains and fortunately our investors were rewarded by our approach," said Mitch Zacks, Portfolio Manager of The Zacks Small Cap Core Fund. "When investors hold small cap companies through full market cycles, we are confident they will be rewarded".

The Fund was launched in June 2011, and has approximately $52 million in assets under management. The fund also has an Institutional share class and class C share available.

The funds primary investment objective is capital appreciation. The Funds strategy attempts to generate excess returns over the market by implementing a quantitative investment process to select small-cap stocks with strong potential for capital appreciation.

For more information about Zacks Investment Management or to speak with someone about the Fund, please contact Greg Murphy at 888-775-8351 or [email protected] 

About Zacks Investment Management

Zacks Investment Management is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zacks Investment Research, one of the largest providers of independent equity research in the U.S. Zacks manages several Mutual Funds, each of which implement an active management approach and follow methodical processes. Zacks core philosophy is based on the belief that each individual company's stock price is driven by earnings expectations. By tracking analysts' earnings estimate revisions, Zacks seeks to profit from future stock price movement, creating the potential for strong returns for their shareholders. Visit www.zacksfunds.com for more information.

Disclosure

© 2014 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.

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 three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The Zacks Small Cap Core Fund was rated against the 595 U.S.-domiciled Small Cap Blend funds over the 3-year period ending June 30, 2014. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Morningstar Ratings shown are for No Load share class only; other classes may have different performance characteristics.

Disclosure: Investors should consider the investment objectives and policies, risk considerations, charges and ongoing expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. The prospectus and/or summary prospectus contains this and other information relevant to an investment in the Fund. The prospectus and/or summary prospectus can be obtained by calling 1-888-453-4003 or by visiting www.zacksfunds.com. Please read the prospectus and/or summary prospectus carefully before you invest.

Small Cap Equity Disclosure:

The value of the securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market and economic conditions. The securities of small-cap companies may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements and may have lower trading volumes than securities of larger-sized companies. Although the Fund will limit its investment in securities of foreign issuers to ADRs and Canadian issuers, the Fund's investments in non-U.S. issuers may involve unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the Fund's investments or prevent the Fund from realizing the full value of its investments. Dividend payments the Fund receives in respect of its portfolio securities can vary widely over the short and long term

The Zacks Funds are distributed by IMST Distributors, LLC.

SOURCE Zacks Investment Management