In selecting securities for the Fund, Rubicon performs a detailed analysis of company financials using a proprietary Price/Performance Model. The Price/Performance Model focuses on two main valuation components: estimates of a company's return on equity versus the forward price-to-earnings ratio as a measure of a current value and on a company's earnings growth versus the forward price-to-earnings ratio. The objective of these strategies is to outperform the appropriate benchmark over the long term and track the growth companies we believe represent the best opportunities in the market. Conversely, by identifying companies with weakened fundamentals that have faltered either through execution of strategy, management, product mix or external factors, the company is now over valued and may be shorted to create positive absolute returns for the portfolio. By shorting these overvalued companies relative to their fundamentals and peer group, attractive returns may be achieved while minimizing risk to the overall portfolio. Our philosophy takes advantage of the market inefficiencies that exist within the US equity markets. These inefficiencies include the fact that few institutions have the portfolio structure which allows them to dynamically hedge their portfolio to this extent and take advantage of rising and falling values of companies. We have the ability to capitalize on that lack of versatility, because of the rigorous fundamental research we do to uncover that information and take the actions necessary to capture the alpha generated by the specific movements in select stocks. Though Rubicon does not incorporate top-down analysis in its stock-specific investment process, it does incorporate knowledge of broad economic themes and overall market trends to provide a backdrop for its bottom-up research.