Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Biotech vs. Shorts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LLCF who wrote (30)	7/26/1999 8:01:00 PM
From: scaram(o)uche	Respond to of 427

April 21, 1999 Dear Fellow Shareholder: Overall, it was a tumultuous time for both U.S. and international stock markets since last year's annual report. Market performance tends to be cyclical, and in various cycles, certain investment styles may fall in and out of favor. The investment climate for the past year has been difficult for small cap and value strategies. Though it has been a trying year, we did not change our investment strategy. We believe that the current market environment is not sustainable and does not signal the kind of fundamental change in the long-term drivers of equity returns that would lead us to change our investment strategy which focuses on fundamental values. The fiscal year was an unusual one. Although historically, on average, the stocks of smaller companies tend to outperform those of large companies, and low price-to-earnings stocks tend to outperform high price-to-earnings stocks(1), this past year was the exact opposite. The larger and more expensive (in terms of price relative to earnings) a company was, the better it fared. Investment performance for the Funds for the year ended March 31, 1999, depended significantly on a few factors such as capitalization, trading activity and growth versus value. Our exposure to small cap domestic and international stocks, low turnover stocks and our value bias hurt the Funds' performance. The one-year returns for the International Small Capitalization and Japan Funds were slightly better than the Funds' benchmarks(2). Please see the Financial Highlights for performance information. In light of the current volatility in the equity markets, we think it important for our shareholders to understand certain aspects of the risk of investing in the Barr Rosenberg Market Neutral Fund(3). The risks can be divided into two broad categories: the risk that arises from investing with a particular manager (manager risk) and the risk associated with certain investment styles (investment risk). Manager risk is simply the risk, to the investor, of placing assets with an individual investment manager. By investing with a manager, you are placing your trust in the firm's investment process, trading ability and a host of other manager-specific attributes. Investment risk refers to the portfolio investments. The stock selection models used by AXA Rosenberg Investment Management LLC, the Funds' manager, result in portfolios with particular style characteristics. The most notable characteristic of the Barr Rosenberg Market Neutral Fund portfolio is the net bias toward stocks with traditional value characteristics (lower price-to-earnings or price-to-book ratios, for example) and away from high trading activity stocks. These investment style biases have had a negative impact on the Fund returns over the most recent quarters. Market risk, which is related to investment risk, usually refers to the relationship between a fund's portfolio and the market as a whole. The traditional expression of that relationship is beta, which measures changes in a fund's portfolio return in relation to changes in the return of a broad portfolio of investments or the "market". A goal of the Barr Rosenberg Market Neutral Fund is to build a portfolio which has a beta close to zero. This is not to say that the portfolio isn't risky, but rather that the return variances simply do not follow the same pattern of the "market" as a whole. 1 <PAGE> 2 A market neutral type fund is often viewed as an asset class of its own and may be a compliment to bond, stock and real estate investing. Because market neutral funds hold short positions, it is recommended that investors develop a solid understanding of the risks inherent in shorting a stock. Many market neutral managers have witnessed increased volatility in the daily value of their portfolios over the last year. Market neutral does not mean risk neutral. Market neutral investment strategies can lose a significant amount of principal. During the past year, we were pleased to welcome Dwight M. Jaffee as a Trustee to the Barr Rosenberg Series Trust. Dr. Jaffee is the Willis H. Booth Professor of Banking and Finance at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. You can obtain more information about the Funds by calling (800) 447-3332 and following the voice prompts or visiting our new web site www.brmf.com which we expect to be operational by June 30, 1999. We appreciate the confidence and trust you have demonstrated with your investments in the Barr Rosenberg Mutual Funds. Sincerely, /s/ Richard L. Saalfeld Richard L. Saalfeld President & CEO Barr Rosenberg Mutual Funds

To: LLCF who wrote (30)	7/26/1999 8:10:00 PM
From: scaram(o)uche	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 427

from Barr Rosenberg N-30D (whatever that is), U.S. SMALL CAPITALIZATION SERIES, filed 6/3/99. 100 shares of GLIA??....... DRUGS -- 2.6% 200 Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc......................... 11,313 36,000 Aquila Biopharmaceuticals, Inc......................... 74,250 9,300 Bentley Pharmaceuticals, Inc......................... 14,531 71,600 Biosite Diagnostics, Inc...... 716,000 142,000 Cambrex Corp................... 3,141,750 74,700 Copley Pharmaceutical, Inc.... 634,950 61,500 Diagnostic Products Corp....... 1,491,375 100 Gliatech, Inc................. 2,313 27,100 Medicis Pharmaceutical........ 813,000 20,300 Medimmune, Inc................ 1,201,506 23,600 Millenium Pharmaceuticals, Inc......................... 737,500 22,902 New Brunswick Scientific, Inc......................... 106,637 20,500 PDK Labs, Inc................. 92,250 20,100 Quidel Corp................... 40,200 149,200 Roberts Pharmaceutical Corp........................ 3,095,900 29,500 Schein Pharmaceutical, Inc.... 383,500 Peter..... is that how you found these guys, playing with the 10-K wizard and entering Gliatech?