Ronald P. Stephens

Provides brokerage services

MLAM's worldwide approach to equity investing uses a philosophy of identifying relative value among individual stocks and stock markets by focusing primarily on two variables: reinvestment rate and the price-to-book value ratio. There are seven additional screens employed to further refine the process. The factors used to identify value include price-to-cash flow, price-to-earnings ratios, past and future earnings growth and dividend payouts. For asset allocation, a country whose market valuation measurements seem consistently above or below world averages or its own historical averages are over or under-weighted accordingly. The degrees of over or under-weighting are determined by relative economic prospects as measured by the outlook for GNP, inflation and interest rates of each country and their impact on currency movements. By combining a value approach to individual stock selection with asset allocation by country, the firm seeks to achieve consistent performance relative to international equity indexes. MLAM combines top-down and bottom-up analysis and uses proprietary models as part of their research process. Their funds are team-managed.