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West Virginia Intermediate Tax-Free Fund

Mutual Funds

West Virginia Intermediate Tax-Free Fund

Overall Morningstar Rating™
Morningstar Category: Muni Single State Interm

4 Star Overall Rating

Based on risk-adjusted OWVAX returns among 110 funds as of 09.30.2024.

Overview

I
Shares

OWVAX

Inception
Date

02.01.1993

Investment
Min.

$1,000,000

Subsequent
Investment Min.1

N/A

Max. Up Front
Sales Charge

N/A

Max. Deferred
Sales Charge

N/A

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 West Virginia 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 BWVAXBWVCXOWVAX
Inception Date 07.23.200102.01.201202.01.1993
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.

West Virginia 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 09.30.2024

Term QTR YTD 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years Since Inception
A Shares with 2.00% Sales Charge 0.23% -0.37% 5.32% -0.75% 0.41% 1.38% 3.32%
A Shares without Sales Charge 2.25% 1.71% 7.51% -0.07% 0.82% 1.59% 3.39%
Institutional Shares 2.31% 1.90% 7.66% 0.18% 1.08% 1.84% 3.68%
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 0.86%, 1.61% and 0.61%, 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 West Virginia 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 07.23.2001. The inception date for Class C Shares is 02.01.2012. The inception date for Class Inst'l Shares is 02.01.1993. 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 09.30.2024

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 09.30.2024

Name Value
0-1 Yr. 14.46
1-2 Yr. 5.97
2-3 Yr. 7.58
3-4 Yr. 6.94
4-5 Yr. 13.26
5-6 Yr. 4.21
6-7 Yr. 4.17
7-8 Yr. 11.23
8-9 Yr. 29.68
9-10 Yr. 2.50
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 09.30.2024

Name Value
Number of Holdings 42
Average Life 6.19 Years
Effective Duration 4.94 Years
Annual Turnover 40%

Portfolio Composition as of 09.30.2024

Composition Fund Index
General Obligation 34.7% 26.8%
Pre-Refunded 2.1% 2.7%
Revenue 60.6% 70.5%
Cash 2.6% 0.0%

Top Ten Holdings as of 09.30.2024

# Company Name Value
1 West Virginia Univ Revs 5.0% 01-Oct-2044 4.00%
2 West Va Pkwys Auth Tpk Toll Rev 5.0% 01-Jun-2047 3.88%
3 Marshall Univ W Va Univ Revs 5.0% 01-May-2030 3.78%
4 West Virginia Univ Revs 5.0% 01-Oct-2043 3.38%
5 Berkeley Cnty W Va Brd Ed 4.0% 01-Jun-2036 3.35%
6 Wyoming Cnty W Va Brd Ed 5.0% 01-Jun-2035 3.23%
7 West Virginia Economic Dev Auth Lease Rev 5.0% 01-Jun-2026 3.09%
8 West Va Economic Dev Auth Univ Facs Rev 5.0% 01-Jul-2037 3.00%
9 Wood Cnty W Va Brd Ed 4.5% 01-Jun-2034 3.00%
10 West Virginia St 5.0% 01-Jun-2045 2.99%

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

Growth of $10,000 as of 09.30.2024

The Growth of $10,000 is hypothetical based upon the performance of net A Shares at NAV for the period ended 09.30.2024. It includes the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains.

Distribution

Monthly Dividend Distribution as of 07.31.2024

Month Class A Shares Class C Shares Class Inst'l Shares
July 2024 $0.0214 $0.0169 $0.0234
June 2024 $0.0186 $0.0146 $0.0206
May 2024 $0.0204 $0.0162 $0.0225
April 2024 $0.0200 $0.0157 $0.0219
March 2024 $0.0207 $0.0161 $0.0227
February 2024 $0.0193 $0.0151 $0.0212
January 2024 $0.0203 $0.0159 $0.0224
December 2023 $0.0201 $0.0155 $0.0221
November 2023 $0.0192 $0.0149 $0.0212
October 2023 $0.0191 $0.0146 $0.0211

30-Day SEC Yield as of 09.30.2024

Share Class Value
Class A 2.52%
Class C 1.80%
Class I 2.82%

Fixed Income Funds

Insights

10.01.2024 • Charles Wittmann, CFA®

The Lead - Margin of Upside

- One of the most common mental shortcuts is regression to the mean, or the idea that outcomes far from average will revert to average over time.
- Where did the idea come from, is it true in every case, and can it create a greater understanding and yield profitable insights?
- Finally, if there are advantaged companies that challenge this assumption as the economy has evolved, what valuations will the market typically award them?

09.30.2024

Sterling Capital Equity Portfolio Management Updates

Sterling Capital announces the creation of the Insight Equity Group, combining the firm's Fundamental Equity and Relative Value teams, along with the April 2025 retirement of Patrick Rau, CFA®/.

09.18.2024 • Brandon Carl, CFA®

U.S. Equity Market Performance Following the First Fed Funds Rate Cut

After two and a half years of battling elevated inflation with aggressive monetary policy tightening measures, the Federal Reserve (Fed) finally reduced the federal funds target rate range (fed funds rate) by 50 basis points during its September 2024 meeting. With recent inflation indicators seemingly within the Fed’s comfort zone, coupled with an increasing emphasis on supporting the labor market, we believe it’s highly likely that additional rate cuts are forthcoming.

09.12.2024 • Will Smith, CFA®

Down but Not Out: Why Mid-Cap Value Appears Increasingly Attractive

For almost a decade, large-cap growth has been a dominant factor driving market returns. However, we see mounting evidence mid-cap value stocks are due for a comeback. We have long argued mid caps are a potential “sweet spot” for investors. We believe they boast better liquidity, stronger balance sheets, and more durable competitive advantages than small-cap peers and are often more nimble, focused, and less well covered by the sell side than large caps.

09.04.2024 • Charles Wittmann, CFA®

The Lead - Dividend Opportunities

- As we enter September, it appears the Federal Reserve is prepared to lower the federal funds rate at their September 18, 2024 meeting.
- Historically, dividend payers have outperformed non-dividend payers after the first cut.
- One may question if historically it has been better to own high yielders versus dividend growers, and if it has been better to own slower or faster dividend growers. We address these topics in this month’s piece.

08.29.2024

Guardian Capital buys Sterling Capital Management from Truist

(pionline.com) Guardian Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of Guardian Capital Group, will acquire investment manager Sterling Capital Management from Truist Financial.

Contact

Learn more about Sterling Capital solutions and services.

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