Our overarching philosophy is investing in growth opportunities within the U. S. capital markets. Unlike most managers today who tend to focus on specific size or sector niches of the markets, in our view, neither sector nor size alone is a reason to exclude a superior and unique opportunity.

Our starting point is a universe of over 3000 companies that are run through our proprietary quantitative screening system utilizing a multifactor model to monitor and weigh over one hundred data characteristics. Primary emphasis is placed on growth, strong cash flows, and economic margin, where profits are assessed based on returns on cash flow over their cost of capital. This allows us to compare companies in many industries with different accounting policies in regard to asset life, mix and age, inventory methods, and capital structures. The series of screens narrows the workable universe to approximately 150 companies from the original base of 3000.

We then take these 150 companies and narrow the selection to 30 to 40 names through a detailed qualitative review, which starts with the management and people of the company. This usually involves a meeting with the management, especially small and mid-cap companies. Most important are the businesses and strategy and the competitive advantages of the company which will allow them to maintain their pricing power and profit margins. In the final analysis we look for trust: would we become partners with this management if this company was a partnership?

The end result is a portfolio designed from this list of eligible companies to meet one of five investment strategies provided at CMC.

• All-Cap Growth- investment in 30-40 companies

• All-Cap Growth and Income- investment in 30-40 companies

• Dividend Appreciation Growth- investment in 25-35 companies

• Small and Mid-Cap SMID Growth- investment in 15-25 companies

• All-Cap Alpha Growth- investment in 12 companies