Certain statements in this report, and other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of Artisan Partners, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements regarding future events and our future performance, as well as management's current expectations, beliefs, plans, estimates or projections relating to the future, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of these laws. These forward-looking statements are only predictions based on current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause actual results, level of activity, performance, actions or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance, actions or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These factors include: the loss of key investment professionals or senior management, adverse market or economic conditions, poor performance of our investment strategies, change in the legislative and regulatory environment in which we operate, operational or technical errors or other damage to our reputation and other factors disclosed in Artisan Partners' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those factors listed under the caption entitled "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the SEC on February 18, 2020. Artisan Partners undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.
We measure the results of our "composites", which represent the aggregate performance of all discretionary client accounts, including pooled funds, invested in the same strategy except those accounts with respect to which we believe client imposed restrictions may have a material impact on portfolio construction and those accounts managed in a currency other than US dollars (the results of these accounts, which represented approximately 11% of our assets under management at December 31, 2019, are maintained in separate composites, which are not presented in these materials). Certain composites may also only reflect data of a single account managed by Artisan.
Results for any investment strategy described herein, and for different investment products managed to a strategy, are affected by numerous factors, including different material market or economic conditions; different investment management fee rates, brokerage commissions and other expenses; and the reinvestment of dividends or other earnings. Artisan High Income Strategy may hold loans and other security types that may not be included in the ICE BofA US High Yield Master II Index. At times, this causes material differences in relative performance. The Thematic Strategy's investments in initial public offerings (IPOs) made a material contribution to performance. IPO investments may contribute significantly to a small portfolio's return, an effect that will generally decrease as assets grow. IPO investments may be unavailable in the future. The current performance for each Artisan strategy may be positive or negative, and past performance does not guarantee future results.
Composite returns are net of trade commissions and transaction costs, and have been presented net of management fees and performance-based fees, as applicable and unless otherwise stated. For the purpose of calculating net composite returns, fees relate to the highest model investment advisory fees applied to client accounts within the composite. Fees may be higher for certain pooled vehicles and the composite may include accounts with performance-based fees.
In these materials, we present "Value-Added", which is the amount in basis points by which the average annual net composite return of each of our strategies has outperformed or underperformed the broad-based market index most commonly used by our clients to compare the performance of the relevant strategy. The broad-based market indexes used to compare performance for each of our strategies are as follows: Non-U.S. Growth Strategy / International Value Strategy-MSCI EAFE Index; Global Equity Strategy / Global Opportunities Strategy / Global Value Strategy / Global Discovery Strategy-MSCI ACWI Index; Global Small-Cap Growth Strategy (Jul 1, 2013-Dec 31, 2016)-MSCI ACWI Small Cap Index; Non-U.S. Small-Cap Growth Strategy (Jan 1, 2002-Nov 30, 2018)-MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index; Non-U.S. Small-Mid Growth-MSCI ACWI ex-USA SMID Index; U.S. Mid-Cap Growth Strategy / U.S. Mid-Cap Value Strategy-Russell Midcap® Index; U.S. Small-Cap Growth Strategy / U.S. Small-Cap Value Strategy (Jun 1, 1997-Apr 30, 2016)-Russell 2000® Index; Value Equity Strategy-Russell 1000® Index; Developing World Strategy / Emerging Markets Strategy-MSCI Emerging Markets Index; High Income Strategy / Credit Opportunities Strategy-BofA Merrill Lynch High Yield Master II Index; Thematic Strategy / Thematic Long/Short Strategy-S&P® 500 Index. Index returns do not reflect the payment of fees and expenses and are not available for direct investment.
"Excess returns" referred to in Mr. Colson's and Mr. Daley's letters are an estimate of the amount in dollars by which Artisan's investment strategies outperformed or underperformed their broad-based benchmarks for the period indicated. Excess returns are calculated by (i) multiplying a strategy's beginning-of-month AUM by the difference between the returns (in basis points) of the strategy (gross of fees) and the broad-based benchmark for the ensuing month and (ii) summing the monthly excess returns.
None of the information in these materials constitutes either an offer or a solicitation to buy or sell any fund securities, nor is any such information a recommendation for any fund security or investment service. The funds and strategies may not be available to all investors in all jurisdictions.
Throughout these materials, we present historical information about our assets under management, average assets under management and client cash flows for certain periods. We use our information management systems to track our assets under management and we believe the information in these materials regarding our assets under management is accurate in all material respects.
The MSCI EAFE Index, the MSCI EAFE Growth Index, the MSCI ACWI ex USA SMID Index, the MSCI EAFE Value Index, the MSCI ACWI Index, and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index are trademarks of MSCI Inc. MSCI Inc. is the owner of all copyrights relating to these indices and is the source of the performance statistics of these indices that are referred to in these materials. MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein. The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used to create indices or financial products. This report is not approved or produced by MSCI.
The Russell 2000® Index, the Russell 2000® Value Index, the Russell Midcap® Index, the Russell Midcap® Value Index, the Russell 1000® Index, the Russell 1000® Value Index, the Russell Midcap® Growth Index, the Russell 1000® Growth Index and the Russell 2000® Growth Index are trademarks of Russell Investment Group. Russell Investment Group is the source and owner of the Russell Index data contained or reflected in this material and all trademarks and copyrights related thereto. The presentation may contain confidential information and unauthorized use, disclosure, copying, dissemination or redistribution is strictly prohibited. This is a presentation of Artisan Partners. Russell Investment Group is not responsible for the formatting or configuration of this material or for any inaccuracy in Artisan Partners' presentation thereof.
The ICE BofA US High Yield Master II Total Return Index is owned by ICE Data Indices, LLC, used with permission. ICE Data Indices, LLC permits use of the ICE BofA indices and related data on an "as is" basis, makes no warranties regarding same, does not guarantee the suitability, quality, accuracy, timeliness, and/or completeness of the ICE BofA indices or any data included in, related to, or derived therefrom, assumes no liability in connection with the use of the foregoing, and does not sponsor, endorse, or recommend Artisan Partners or any of its products or services.
The S&P 500 Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (S&P DJI) and/or its affiliates and has been licensed for use. Copyright© 2020 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global, Inc. All rights reserved. Redistribution or reproduction in whole or in part are prohibited without written permission of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. S&P® is a registered trademark of S&P Global and Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (Dow Jones). None of S&P DJI, Dow Jones, their affiliates or third party licensors makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the ability of any index to accurately represent the asset class or market sector that it purports to represent and none shall have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of any index or the data included therein.