undefined China’s manufacturing activity stalled in May as weakening external demand offset gains in high-tech industries, underscoring persistent divergence in the world’s second-largest economy. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipped to 50 last month from 50.3 in April , according to the National Bureau of Statistics, ending two months of expansion. The reading sits ...
undefined China’s manufacturing activity stalled in May as weakening external demand offset gains in high-tech industries, underscoring persistent divergence in the world’s second-largest economy. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipped to 50 last month from 50.3 in April , according to the National Bureau of Statistics, ending two months of expansion. The reading sits at the threshold between expansion and contraction. Weak demand was the main drag. The subindex for total new orders fell to 49.9, while the gauge for new export orders dropped to 48.6, suggesting that external demand was the key source of pressure.
ismagilov/iStock via Getty Images Dear Baron SMID Cap ETF ® Shareholder, Introduction As this represents the first full quarter of results for Baron SMID Cap ETF ® [BCSM], we thought it would be helpful to introduce ourselves and outline BCSM's investment philosophy. The ETF is managed by Laird Bieger and Randy Gwartzman. Laird and Randy have co-managed the Baron Discovery Fund ( BDFIX ) ® togethe...
ismagilov/iStock via Getty Images Dear Baron SMID Cap ETF ® Shareholder, Introduction As this represents the first full quarter of results for Baron SMID Cap ETF ® [BCSM], we thought it would be helpful to introduce ourselves and outline BCSM's investment philosophy. The ETF is managed by Laird Bieger and Randy Gwartzman. Laird and Randy have co-managed the Baron Discovery Fund ( BDFIX ) ® together since 2013, and have known each other since meeting in 1997 as classmates at Columbia Business School. Both joined Baron in the early 2000s, where they worked alongside Baron's current COO, Cliff Greenberg, as analysts on the Baron Small Cap Fund ( BSCIX ) ® . We believe our long-standing partnership and complementary skill sets have been key drivers of Baron Discovery Fund's ® * long-term outperformance, and we are excited to bring this proven investment approach to the SMID-cap growth space. ETF Overview BCSM is a natural extension of what we have been doing for the past 12-plus years managing the Baron Discovery Fund ® . The key distinction is that BCSM makes its initial investments across both small-cap and mid-cap growth companies ((i. e. SMID)), whereas Baron Discovery Fund ® focuses exclusively on initial investments in small-cap businesses. This expanded mandate gives us the flexibility to initiate positions in slightly more mature companies at the outset. Therefore, the overall size of the companies in BCSM (in terms of the weighted average market capitalization of the companies) is about three times that of Baron Discovery Fund ® . The Compelling Opportunity in SMID-Cap Growth Stocks Many SMID-cap companies are under-researched and remain off Wall Street's radar. By identifying these businesses early, we can invest at the beginning of their growth phase and often at valuations that are discounted relative to larger-cap companies with comparable growth prospects. In addition, SMID-cap stocks tend to be driven more by idiosyncratic, company-specific factors rather...