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South Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund

Mutual Funds

South Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund


Fund Managers

Photo of Robert  Millikan

Robert Millikan, CFA®

Photo of Michael  McVicker

Michael McVicker

Overview

C
Shares

BSCCX

Inception
Date

02.01.2012

Investment
Min.

$1,000

Subsequent
Investment Min.1

N/A

Max. Up Front
Sales Charge

N/A

Max. Deferred
Sales Charge

1%

1If subsequent investments are made as part of an AIP, the minimum is $25.

Philosophy & Process

The Fund seeks current income exempt from federal and South Carolina income taxes consistent with preservation of capital.

In managing the Fund, the team specializes in actively building and managing a high credit quality fixed income portfolio focused on the intermediate segment of the yield curve offering. The team employs a top-down investment process that focuses on: duration management, yield curve strategy and finding the best relative value with limited amount of risk in order to maximize the risk-adjusted total return.

Buy Strategy: We buy high quality, liquid issues and seek the best relative sector and security values available. We attempt to maximize total return and current income while reducing price volatility.

Sell Strategy: We will consider selling a security we own in order to reposition the Fund along the yield curve and adjust the Fund's average maturity or duration. In addition, we might replace a security with one that offers greater potential for total return or when its credit fundamentals are deteriorating.

Investment Considerations

The Funds are subject to the same risks as the underlying bonds in the portfolios such as credit, prepayment and interest rate risk. As interest rates rise, the value of bond prices will decline, and an investor may lose money. The Funds are non-diversified and may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a single issuer than funds that are more diversified. Furthermore, the Funds invest primarily in state-specific municipal obligations of issuers and therefore will be affected by economic, political or other events affecting municipal issuers.

Fund Facts

Term Class A Shares Class C Shares Class I Shares
Ticker BASCXBSCCXBSCIX
Inception Date 10.20.199702.01.201210.20.1997
Investment Min. $1,000$1,000$1,000,000
Subsequent Investment Min.2 N/AN/AN/A
Max. Up Front Sales Charge 2%N/AN/A
Max. Deferred Sales Charge N/A1%N/A

2If subsequent investments are made as part of an AIP, the minimum is $25.

South Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund

Management

View professional designations disclosures

Photo of Robert  Millikan

Robert Millikan, CFA®

Co-Portfolio Manager

Photo of Michael  McVicker

Michael McVicker

Co-Portfolio Manager

Performance

Fund Performance as of 12.31.2024

Term QTR YTD 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years Since Inception
A Shares with 2.00% Sales Charge -3.07% -1.73% -1.73% -1.46% -0.03% 1.05% 3.05%
A Shares without Sales Charge -1.06% 0.30% 0.30% -0.80% 0.37% 1.25% 3.12%
Institutional Shares -1.01% 0.63% 0.63% -0.57% 0.61% 1.51% 3.35%
Lipper Other States Intermediate Municipal Median 3.18% 3.15% 10.18% 0.39% 1.24% 2.20% N/A

The total expense ratios for Class A, C and I Shares are 0.90%, 1.65% and 0.65%, respectively.

Past performance does not guarantee future results. The performance data quoted represents past performance and current returns may be lower or higher. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. To obtain performance information current to the most recent month end, please visit the performance summary.

The performance of the Sterling Capital South Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund reflects the deduction of fees for value-added services associated with a mutual fund, such as investment management and fund accounting fees. The inception date for Class A Shares is 10.20.1997. The inception date for Class C Shares is 02.01.2012. The inception date for Class Inst'l Shares is 10.20.1997. The performance shown reflects the reinvestment of all dividend and capital gains distributions. Performance is annualized for periods greater than one year.

Characteristics

Quality Breakdown as of 12.31.2024

Credit quality ratings using Moody's rating symbols reflect the credit quality of the underlying bonds in the fund portfolio and not of the Fund itself. Moody's assigns a range of ratings from AAA being the highest quality to C being the lowest rated class of bonds. Securities not rated by Moody's may be rated by S&P, Fitch or if no agency rating is available, the Fund will assign a rating of not rated. Bond quality ratings are subject to change.

Effective Duration Breakdown as of 12.31.2024

Name Value
0-1 Yr. 8.35
1-2 Yr. 7.87
2-3 Yr. 14.34
3-4 Yr. 6.61
4-5 Yr. 4.09
5-6 Yr. 14.59
6-7 Yr. 7.60
7-8 Yr. 21.34
8-9 Yr. 4.33
9-10 Yr. 10.88
10+ Yr. 0.00

Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to change and risk. Based on Market Value of securities.

Summary Statistics as of 12.31.2024

Name Value
Number of Holdings 30
Average Life 5.83 Years
Effective Duration 4.85 Years
Annual Turnover 32%

Portfolio Composition as of 12.31.2024

Composition Fund Index
General Obligation 33.3% 26.3%
Pre-Refunded 4.2% 2.3%
Revenue 61.3% 71.4%
Cash 1.2% 0.0%

Top Ten Holdings as of 12.31.2024

# Company Name Value
1 Lugoff-elgin Wtr Auth SC Wtrwks Sys Rev 5.0% 01-jul-2030 4.38%
2 Oconee Cnty SC 5.0% 01-apr-2041 4.28%
3 Columbia SC Wtrwks & Swr Sys Rev 5.25% 01-feb-2052 4.27%
4 Spartanburg Cnty SC Sch Dist No 004 5.0% 01-mar-2040 4.26%
5 Charleston SC Wtrwks & Swr Rev 5.0% 01-jan-2038 4.24%
6 Greenwood Cnty SC Hosp Rev 5.0% 01-oct-2032 4.21%
7 Columbia SC Wtrwks & Swr Sys Rev 5.0% 01-feb-2048 4.18%
8 Brookland Cayce SC Sch Dist No 002 5.0% 01-mar-2031 4.06%
9 South Carolina Transn Infrastructure Bk Rev 5.0% 01-oct-2038 4.04%
10 South Carolina Jobs-economic Dev Auth Economic Dev Rev 5.0% 01-apr-2044 4.02%

Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to change and risk. Based on Market Value of securities.

Growth of $10,000 as of 12.31.2024

The Growth of $10,000 is hypothetical based upon the performance of net A Shares at NAV for the period ended 12.31.2024. It includes the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains.

Distribution

Monthly Dividend Distribution as of 02.28.2025

Month Class A Shares Class C Shares Class Inst'l Shares
February 2025 $0.0206 $0.0146 $0.0225
January 2025 $0.0230 $0.0163 $0.0250
December 2024 $0.0227 $0.0160 $0.0248
July 2024 $0.0223 $0.0155 $0.0244
June 2024 $0.0213 $0.0147 $0.0233
May 2024 $0.0222 $0.0155 $0.0242
April 2024 $0.0207 $0.0142 $0.0227
March 2024 $0.0213 $0.0146 $0.0234

30-Day SEC Yield as of 02.28.2025

Share Class Value
Class A 2.56%
Class C 1.87%
Class I 2.86%

Fixed Income Funds

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Sterling Capital is pleased to share this closer look at Andy Richman, Managing Director. In this spotlight, he shares his favorite Sterling tradition, the qualities he thinks are the most important in the investment industry, and the book that really had an impact on him. It’s great to have you on our team, Andy! Thank you for everything you do, and for sharing this with us.

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