Pear Tree Columbia Micro Cap Fund (PTFMX/ MICRX)

Portfolio Management
The Fund is subadvised by Columbia Partners, L.L.C. Investment Management and has been managed since its inception in 2011 by Robert von Pentz, CFA and Daniel Goldstein, CFA. Mr. von Pentz has spent most of his 28 year career designing and implementing strategies which he has integrated into the investment process for the Fund. As Chief Investment Officer, Bob has the responsibility for all of Columbia Partner’s publicly traded investment activities. Mr. Goldstein is a member of the equity management team and serves as an equity portfolio manager and analyst.

Investment Philosophy
Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80 percent of its net assets in stocks of micro-cap companies.  The Fund considers a micro-cap company usually as having (at time of purchase) a market capitalization not to exceed the market capitalization of the largest company in the Russell Microcap Index (currently, $745 million).

Portfolio Construction
The Fund employs a specifically quantitative investment approach to selecting investments.  A quantitative investment approach relies on financial models and data bases to assist in the stock selection process, with little or no subjectivity in the selection of individual portfolio securities.  The financial model used by the Fund’s subadviser is proprietary and relies on traditional factors applied in financial analysis, such as cash flow, earnings growth, price-to-earnings ratios, as well as certain non-traditional factors. The model periodically ranks a large universe of micro-cap companies, identifies approximately 100 companies as being the best investments that will vary depending on market conditions.

Disclosure
- Micro-cap companies. Micro-cap companies are more likely than larger companies to have limited product lines, markets or financial resources, or to depend on a small inexperienced management group. Micro-cap companies’ earnings and revenue tend to be less predictable than larger companies. Stocks of these companies may trade less frequently, in limited volume and on smaller markets, and their prices may fluctuate more than stocks of other companies. Stocks of these companies may therefore be more vulnerable to adverse developments than those of larger companies. Such stocks may be harder to sell at the times and prices the Fund’s investment adviser thinks appropriate, and at times, there may not be any market for such stocks.