Janus Reopens Perkins Small Cap Value Fund

Janus Capital Group Inc.

today announced the reopening of the Perkins Small Cap Value Fund, a defensive small-cap value fund which seeks to provide attractive returns over a full market cycle by mitigating losses in down markets while participating in up markets. The fund, which reopened on Jan. 1, 2015, is managed by Perkins Investment Management and distributed by Janus. "If, as we expect, a rotation to higher-quality securities is underway within the small-cap value segment, then investors should be well served by Perkins' emphasis on defensive quality stocks," said Robert Perkins, portfolio manager of the Perkins Small Cap Value Fund. "By focusing on attributes such as strong balance sheets and solid, recurring free cash flows, our research process has historically helped mitigate losses or minimize losses in periods of greater volatility while capturing attractive long-term performance over full market cycles," said Justin Tugman, portfolio manager of the Perkins Small Cap Value Fund. "A recent increase in volatility in small cap stocks has provided new buying opportunities," said Tom Reynolds, portfolio manager of the Perkins Small Cap Value Fund. The fund has been closed since May of 2010, however the Board of Trustees and the portfolio managers responsible for the strategy cite the available investment opportunities as the reasoning the fund has the ability to prudently take on additional assets. Perkins measures stock quality based on strict evaluation criteria around balance sheet strength, earning stability and operating efficiency. These types of metrics may indicate stocks' performance potential in different market cycles, with higher-quality securities – what the firm calls "defensive quality" – providing potential for stronger long-term returns with notably less downside exposure than lower-quality stocks. "Product capacity is a subject we take very seriously. We are in the business of generating superior returns for our clients and, as such, we work diligently to establish controls that prevent any factors or circumstances that would compromise our ability to execute our strategy," said Drew Elder, SVP, head of U.S. intermediary distribution at Janus. "We're excited to reopen Perkins Small Cap Value Fund to our clients and aim to deliver superior returns over a full market cycle." Current assets under management of the Perkins Small Cap Value Fund are approximately $1.9 billion as of Dec. 31, 2014. The managers responsible for the strategy are Robert Perkins, Tom Reynolds, and Justin Tugman.