UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM N-CSR
CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED
MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES
Investment Company Act File No.: 811-04809
Liberty All-Star Equity Fund
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
1290 Broadway, Suite 1000, Denver, Colorado 80203
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
Sareena Khwaja-Dixon, Esq.
ALPS Fund Services, Inc.
1290 Broadway, Suite 1000
Denver, Colorado 80203
(Name and address of agent for service)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 303-623-2577
Date of fiscal year end: December 31
Date of reporting period: January 1, 2024 – June 30, 2024
Item 1. Report of Shareholders.
(a)
Contents
| 1 | President’s Letter |
| 5 | Table of Distributions, Rights Offerings and Tax Credits |
| 6 | Stock Changes in the Quarter and Distribution Policy |
| 7 | Top 20 Holdings and Economic Sectors |
| 8 | Investment Managers/Portfolio Characteristics |
| 9 | Manager Interview |
| 11 | Schedule of Investments |
| 19 | Statement of Assets and Liabilities |
| 20 | Statement of Operations |
| 21 | Statements of Changes in Net Assets |
| 22 | Financial Highlights |
| 24 | Notes to Financial Statements |
| 33 | Description of Lipper Benchmark and Market Indices |
| Inside Back Cover: Fund Information | |
A SINGLE INVESTMENT...
A DIVERSIFIED CORE PORTFOLIO
A single fund that offers:
| ● | A diversified, multi-managed portfolio of growth and value stocks |
| ● | Exposure to many of the industries that make the U.S. economy one of the world’s most dynamic |
| ● | Access to institutional quality investment managers |
| ● | Objective and ongoing manager evaluation |
| ● | Active portfolio rebalancing |
| ● | A quarterly fixed distribution policy |
| ● | Actively managed, exchange-traded, closed-end fund listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: USA) |
LIBERTY ALL-STAR® EQUITY FUND
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | President’s Letter |
(Unaudited)
| Fellow Shareholders: | July 2024 |
Mega-cap technology stocks rallied around the Artificial Intelligence (AI) themed names that posted exceptional returns in the second quarter and first half of 2024. In their wake they carried the rest of the market higher, but it was the same tale of two markets that over the past 18 months has seen outsized gains concentrated in a handful of names while the rest of the market delivered middling or even negative returns. For the second quarter the group of stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven1” shored up the return of the S&P 500®; NVIDIA led returns with a gain of 36.74 percent for the quarter and 149.50 percent for the first half after rising 239.02 percent in 2023.
Through the first half of 2024 this extreme concentration grew even more pronounced. Information technology and communication services were the only two sectors out of the 11 S&P 500® sectors to outperform the overall index. By itself, information technology accounted for over 50 percent of the first half return for the S&P 500® Index.
The contrast can be illustrated by returns for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the NASDAQ Composite Index, both of which are widely followed and customarily cited in our shareholder letters. As it is composed of just 30 large-cap stocks, the DJIA is not as fully diversified as other indices but to the point here the Dow represents a cross-section of the economy and is considered more value oriented than the NASDAQ Composite, which has a heavier weighting in technology stocks. Second quarter and first half returns for the Dow: -1.27 percent and 4.79 percent, respectively. Similar period returns for the NASDAQ Composite: 8.47 percent and 18.57 percent. Returns for the S&P 500® Index, which is representative of a broad cross-section of large-cap stocks, fell between those two with a second quarter return of 4.28 percent and a first half return of 15.29 percent.
One metric that demonstrates how concentrated even a diversified index like the S&P 500® has become: 74 percent of stocks in the index underperformed the index as a whole in the second quarter. Further, the S&P 500® Equal Weight Index actually lost -2.63 percent in the second quarter. (S&P 500® Index returns are usually reported on a capitalization-weighted basis in which larger stocks are given proportionally more weight; when returns are reported on an equal-weighted basis every company in the index is treated equally regardless of market capitalization.) Finally, of the 11 S&P sectors, six actually posted negative returns for the quarter.
While overall stock market performance was skewed by robust returns from just a few stocks, the overall economic and business backdrop in the second quarter (and first half) was relatively sound. Perhaps of greatest significance, the ongoing battle against inflation showed progress. The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure—the core Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index (PCE), which strips out volatile food and energy items—declined in May, falling to a yearly increase of 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent in December and 4.6 percent in May 2023. A strong employment market showed some cooling in May as well, with recurring applications for U.S. jobless benefits rising to the highest level since the end of 2021, indicating it is beginning to take longer for the unemployed to find work. Hiring in general has slowed significantly from the pandemic era of labor shortages and the unemployment rate rose in May to 4 percent for the first time in over two years. Another indicator of a lessening in inflationary pressure was a meager 0.1 percent increase in retail sales in May, while April sales were revised downward.
| 1 | Those stocks are Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Tesla. |
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 1 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | President’s Letter |
(Unaudited)
These indicators pointed to a slowing economy and thus heightened the possibility of lower interest rates. Economic data also indicated the economy was on an even keel and therefore likely to avoid a “hard landing” that could mean recession. The S&P 500® was lower in April, but a key driver was concerns over geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Spurred by a 629 percent jump in year-over-year profits for NVIDIA, corporate earnings increased in the first quarter (reported in 2Q), led by renewed sentiment favoring technology stocks. This sent the S&P 500® and NASDAQ Composite to multiple record highs leading into the close of the first half.
The performance gap between growth and value stocks widened substantially in the second quarter as the broad market Russell 3000® Growth Index returned 7.80 percent versus -2.25 percent for the corresponding value index. For the first half, the growth index returned 19.90 percent, more than triple the 6.18 percent return for the value index.
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund
After a strong first quarter, Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund lagged in the second quarter. For the period, the Fund was all but unchanged, returning -0.06 percent when shares are valued at net asset value (NAV) with dividends reinvested; returns declined 2.38 percent when shares are valued at market price with dividends reinvested. (Fund returns are net of expenses.) Both returns were lower when compared with that of the Fund’s primary benchmark, the Lipper Large-Cap Core Mutual Fund Average, which returned 3.27 percent. Similarly, Fund returns were lower than the S&P 500® and the NASDAQ Composite but mixed against the DJIA (the NAV return ahead, the market price return modestly behind).
Fund returns lagged the Lipper benchmark for the first half; valued by NAV, the Fund returned 9.50 percent and valued by market price it returned 12.22 percent (both with dividends reinvested). The Lipper benchmark returned 14.38 percent. Fund returns were well ahead of the DJIA but trailed the S&P 500® and the NASDAQ Composite. Fund returns topped the S&P 500® Equal Weight Index for both the quarter and first half.
Two factors were behind lagging Fund returns for the quarter and half: First, value stocks which nominally account for 60 percent of Fund assets, strongly underperformed growth stocks. Second, the Fund’s greater diversity meant it could not keep pace with exceptional returns on the part of information technology stocks, especially the semiconductor stocks in that sector.
Relative to their underling NAV, Fund shares traded during the second quarter in a range from a 0.4 percent premium to a 4.3 percent discount. Shares traded at a 3.1 percent discount at quarter’s end. For the first half, the trading range extended from a 0.4 percent premium to a 5.8 percent discount.
In accordance with the Fund’s distribution policy, the Fund paid a distribution of $0.18 per share in the second quarter. The Fund’s distribution policy has been in place since 1988 and is a major component of the Fund’s total return. The Fund has paid distributions of $30.64 per share for a total of more than $3.7 billion since 1987 (the Fund’s first full calendar year of operations). We continue to emphasize that shareholders should include these distributions when determining the total return on their investment in the Fund.
| 2 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | President’s Letter |
(Unaudited)
Although Fund returns lagged for the second quarter and first half, we believe performance should not be assessed in isolation but in the larger context of long-term market conditions. Currently, we are in an environment of two extremes: the valuation spread between growth and value styles of investing and the performance gap between a small group of mega-cap growth stocks and those representing the entire rest of the economy. This is magnified by investor expectations for AI; while holding immense promise for investors, AI will mature and competitive advantages will even out across the industry. Certainly, individual stocks do outperform—sometimes by a significant margin for a long period of time. It is not often, however, that they completely separate and become a market unto themselves. We believe this will change and that deviating from proven investment management and portfolio construction principles to mirror the present market invites an unacceptable level of risk. We will stay patient and manage in keeping with fundamentals that have proven effective not in the moment, but over the years. Thank you for your support of the Fund.
Sincerely,
Mark T. Haley, CFA
President
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund
The views expressed in the President’s letter and the Manager Interview reflect the views of the President and Manager as of July 2024 and may not reflect their views on the date this report is first published or anytime thereafter. These views are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict so actual outcomes and results may differ significantly from the views expressed. These views are subject to change at any time based upon economic, market or other conditions and the Fund disclaims any responsibility to update such views. These views may not be relied on as investment advice and, because investment decisions for the Fund are based on numerous factors, may not be relied on as an indication of trading intent.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 3 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | President’s Letter |
(Unaudited)
| Fund Statistics (Periods ended June 30, 2024) | ||
| Net Asset Value (NAV) | $7.02 | |
| Market Price | $6.80 | |
| Discount | -3.1% |
| Quarter | Year-to-Date | |
| Distributions* | $0.18 | $0.35 |
| Market Price Trading Range | $6.52 to $7.18 | $6.26 to $7.18 |
| Premium/(Discount) Range | 0.4% to -4.3% | 0.4% to -5.8% |
| Performance (Periods ended June 30, 2024) | ||
| Shares Valued at NAV with Dividends Reinvested | -0.06% | 9.50% |
| Shares Valued at Market Price with Dividends Reinvested | -2.38% | 12.22% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | -1.27% | 4.79% |
| Lipper Large-Cap Core Mutual Fund Average | 3.27% | 14.38% |
| NASDAQ Composite Index | 8.47% | 18.57% |
| S&P 500® Index | 4.28% | 15.29% |
| S&P 500® Equal Weight Index | -2.63% | 5.08% |
| * | Sources of distributions to shareholders may include ordinary dividends, long-term capital gains and return of capital. The final determination of the source of all distributions in 2024 for tax reporting purposes will be made after year end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund’s investment experience during its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. Based on current estimates a portion of the distributions consist of a return of capital. Pursuant to Section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, the taxability of these distributions will be reported on Form 1099-DIV for 2024. |
Performance returns for the Fund are total returns, which include dividends. Returns are net of management fees and other Fund expenses.
The returns shown for the Lipper Large-Cap Core Mutual Fund Average are based on open-end mutual funds’ total returns, which include dividends, and are net of fund expenses. Returns for the unmanaged Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ Composite Index and the S&P 500® Indices are total returns, including dividends. A description of the Lipper benchmark and the market indices can be found on page 33.
Past performance cannot predict future results. Performance will fluctuate with market conditions. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data shown. Performance information does not reflect the deduction of taxes that shareholders would pay on Fund distributions or the sale of Fund shares. An investment in the Fund involves risk, including loss of principal.
Closed-end funds raise money in an initial public offering and shares are listed and traded on an exchange. Open-end mutual funds continuously issue and redeem shares at net asset value. Shares of closed-end funds frequently trade at a discount to net asset value. The price of the Fund’s shares is determined by a number of factors, several of which are beyond the control of the Fund. Therefore, the Fund cannot predict whether its shares will trade at, below or above net asset value.
| 4 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Table
of Distributions, Rights Offerings and Tax Credits |
(Unaudited)
| Rights Offerings | |||||
| Year | Per
Share Distributions |
Month Completed |
Shares Needed to Purchase One Additional Share |
Subscription Price | Tax Credits1 |
| 1987 | $1.18 | ||||
| 1988 | 0.64 | ||||
| 1989 | 0.95 | ||||
| 1990 | 0.90 | ||||
| 1991 | 1.02 | ||||
| 1992 | 1.07 | April | 10 | $10.05 | |
| 1993 | 1.07 | October | 15 | 10.41 | $0.18 |
| 1994 | 1.00 | September | 15 | 9.14 | |
| 1995 | 1.04 | ||||
| 1996 | 1.18 | 0.13 | |||
| 1997 | 1.33 | 0.36 | |||
| 1998 | 1.40 | April | 20 | 12.83 | |
| 1999 | 1.39 | ||||
| 2000 | 1.42 | ||||
| 2001 | 1.20 | ||||
| 2002 | 0.88 | May | 10 | 8.99 | |
| 2003 | 0.78 | ||||
| 2004 | 0.89 | July | 102 | 8.34 | |
| 2005 | 0.87 | ||||
| 2006 | 0.88 | ||||
| 2007 | 0.90 | December | 10 | 6.51 | |
| 2008 | 0.65 | ||||
| 20093 | 0.31 | ||||
| 2010 | 0.31 | ||||
| 2011 | 0.34 | ||||
| 2012 | 0.32 | ||||
| 2013 | 0.35 | ||||
| 2014 | 0.39 | ||||
| 20154 | 0.51 | ||||
| 2016 | 0.48 | ||||
| 20175 | 0.56 | ||||
| 2018 | 0.68 | ||||
| 2019 | 0.66 | ||||
| 2020 | 0.63 | ||||
| 2021 | 0.81 | November | 102 | 7.78 | |
| 2022 | 0.69 | ||||
| 2023 | 0.61 | ||||
| 2024 | |||||
| 1st Quarter | 0.17 | ||||
| 2nd Quarter | 0.18 | ||||
| Total | $30.64 | ||||
| 1 | The Fund’s net investment income and net realized capital gains exceeded the amount to be distributed under the Fund’s distribution policy. In each case, the Fund elected to pay taxes on the undistributed income and passed through a proportionate tax credit to shareholders. | |
| 2 | The number of shares offered was increased by an additional 25 percent to cover a portion of the over-subscription requests. | |
| 3 | Effective with the second quarter distribution, the annual distribution rate was changed from 10 percent to 6 percent. | |
| 4 | Effective with the second quarter distribution, the annual distribution rate was changed from 6 percent to 8 percent. | |
| 5 | Effective with the fourth quarter distribution, the annual distribution rate was changed from 8 percent to 10 percent. |
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 5 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Stock Changes in the Quarter and Distribution Policy |
(Unaudited)
The following are the major ($6 million or more) stock changes - both purchases and sales - that were made in the Fund’s portfolio during the second quarter of 2024.
| SHARES | ||
| Security Name | Purchases (Sales) | Held as of 6/30/24 |
| Purchases | ||
| American Water Works Co., Inc. | 62,600 | 62,600 |
| Apple, Inc. | 59,333 | 59,333 |
| Aramark | 381,000 | 381,000 |
| Gartner, Inc. | 16,313 | 33,822 |
| Humana, Inc. | 18,203 | 40,267 |
| Magna International, Inc. | 144,094 | 338,513 |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. | 24,639 | 50,586 |
| O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. | 9,998 | 16,391 |
| Shopify, Inc. | 98,880 | 98,880 |
| Synopsys, Inc. | 15,013 | 15,013 |
| Sales | ||
| Alphabet, Inc. | (44,632) | 350,222 |
| American International Group, Inc. | (85,780) | 0 |
| Ball Corp. | (146,405) | 0 |
| Charles Schwab Corp. | (93,913) | 275,217 |
| Eaton Corp. PLC | (21,476) | 0 |
| Equinix, Inc. | (10,958) | 0 |
| IQVIA Holdings, Inc. | (39,883) | 0 |
| NVIDIA Corp. | (59,136) | 566,555 |
| Sherwin-Williams Co. | (30,190) | 0 |
| Sony Group Corp. | (84,607) | 183,723 |
| Walt Disney Co. | (56,586) | 0 |
DISTRIBUTION POLICY
The current policy is to pay distributions on its shares totaling approximately 10 percent of its net asset value per year, payable in four quarterly installments of 2.5 percent of the Fund’s net asset value at the close of the New York Stock Exchange on the Friday prior to each quarterly declaration date. Sources of distributions to shareholders may include ordinary dividends, long-term capital gains and return of capital. The final determination of the source of all distributions in 2024 for tax reporting purposes will be made after year end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund’s investment experience during its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. If a distribution includes anything other than net investment income, the Fund provides a Section 19(a) notice of the best estimate of its distribution sources at that time. These estimates may not match the final tax characterization (for the full year’s distributions) contained in shareholder 1099-DIV forms after the end of the year. If the Fund’s ordinary dividends and long-term capital gains for any year exceed the amount distributed under the distribution policy, the Fund may, in its discretion, retain and not distribute capital gains and pay income tax thereon to the extent of such excess.
| 6 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Top 20 Holdings & Economic Sectors |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| Top 20 Holdings* | Percent of Net Assets |
| Microsoft Corp. | 4.09% |
| NVIDIA Corp. | 3.53 |
| Alphabet, Inc. | 3.23 |
| Amazon.com, Inc. | 2.65 |
| UnitedHealth Group, Inc. | 2.03 |
| ServiceNow, Inc. | 1.78 |
| Visa, Inc. | 1.76 |
| S&P Global, Inc. | 1.35 |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. | 1.29 |
| Capital One Financial Corp. | 1.26 |
| Danaher Corp. | 1.14 |
| Salesforce, Inc. | 1.11 |
| Ecolab, Inc. | 1.11 |
| Adobe, Inc. | 1.09 |
| Dollar General Corp. | 1.04 |
| Charles Schwab Corp. | 1.02 |
| Fresenius Medical Care AG | 1.02 |
| Citigroup, Inc. | 0.99 |
| Ferguson PLC | 0.99 |
| Autodesk, Inc. | 0.98 |
| 33.46% |
| Economic Sectors* | Percent of Net Assets |
| Information Technology | 23.28% |
| Financials | 19.61 |
| Health Care | 14.33 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 11.93 |
| Industrials | 7.35 |
| Communication Services | 6.63 |
| Consumer Staples | 5.10 |
| Materials | 4.56 |
| Energy | 2.09 |
| Utilities | 1.79 |
| Real Estate | 0.63 |
| Other Net Assets | 2.70 |
| 100.00% |
| * | Because the Fund is actively managed, there can be no guarantee that the Fund will continue to hold securities of the indicated issuers and sectors in the future. |
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 7 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Investment
Managers/ Portfolio Characteristics |
(Unaudited)
THE FUND’S ASSETS ARE APPROXIMATELY EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED AMONG THREE
VALUE MANAGERS AND TWO GROWTH MANAGERS:
ALPS Advisors, Inc., the investment advisor to the Fund, has the ultimate authority (subject to oversight by the Board of Trustees) to oversee the investment managers and recommend their hiring, termination and replacement.
MANAGERS’ DIFFERING INVESTMENT STRATEGIES ARE REFLECTED
IN PORTFOLIO CHARACTERISTICS
The portfolio characteristics table below is a regular feature of the Fund’s shareholder reports. It serves as a useful tool for understanding the value of a multi-managed portfolio. The characteristics are different for each of the Fund’s five investment managers. These differences are a reflection of the fact that each pursues a different investment style. The shaded column highlights the characteristics of the Fund as a whole, while the final column shows portfolio characteristics for the S&P 500® Index.
PORTFOLIO CHARACTERISTICS As of June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| Investment Style Spectrum | |||||||
| Value | Growth | ||||||
 |
TOTAL | S&P 500® | |||||
| PZENA | FIDUCIARY | ARISTOTLE | SUSTAINABLE | TCW | FUND | INDEX | |
| Number of Holdings | 34 | 31 | 42 | 29 | 31 | 144* | 503 |
| Percent of Holdings in Top 10 | 40% | 47% | 34% | 47% | 59% | 22% | 36% |
Weighted Average Market Capitalization (billions) |
$79 | $267 | $264 | $866 | $1,175 | $536 | $1,022 |
Average Five-Year Earnings Per Share Growth |
7% | 10% | 12% | 17% | 21% | 13% | 17% |
| Dividend Yield | 2.8% | 1.3% | 1.8% | 0.7% | 0.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% |
| Price/Earnings Ratio** | 15x | 21x | 22x | 36x | 45x | 24x | 27x |
| Price/Book Value Ratio | 1.5x | 3.7x | 3.1x | 7.9x | 7.7x | 3.3x | 4.6x |
| * | Certain holdings are held by more than one manager. |
| ** | Excludes negative earnings |
| 8 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Manager Interview |
(Unaudited)
 |
Brandon D. Bond, CFA
Managing Director and Portfolio Manager
TCW Investment Management Company
|
TCW FOCUSES ON TRENDS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH EVEN IN CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTS
TCW Investment Management Company invests in companies that have superior sales growth, leading and/or rising market shares, and high and/or rising profit margins. TCW’s concentrated growth equity strategy seeks companies with distinct advantages in their business model. We recently spoke with Brandon D. Bond, CFA, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at TCW. The Fund’s Investment Advisor, ALPS Advisors, Inc., conducted the interview.
TCW has identified a set of secular trends that it believes will drive attractive long-term opportunities for investors. What are those trends and the investment thesis behind each?
While not an exhaustive list, four of the secular trends represented in the portfolio that we most often talk about are Generative AI; Data as the New Currency; Cybersecurity; and Electronification of Payments. Generative AI has received plenty of airtime, so we’ll focus on the other three here. As more of the world moves digital, data have become the lifeblood, oil or currency—you can pick your metaphor—of business. The value of unique data sets, technology to store, process and analyze those data sets and businesses that can better translate data insights into real revenue continues to grow as a result. Generative AI only enhances the value already accruing to data-centered businesses and acts as a force multiplier to our next secular trend, Cybersecurity. Cybercrime continues to increase, and new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosure requirements make the damage even more public, more quickly. Although companies have historically used a plethora of programs, each built to solve just a single problem (referred to as point solutions), we are seeing cybersecurity platforms emerge that can outcompete point solutions and innovate fast enough to keep up with an ever-changing landscape. Lastly, the Electronification of Payments has been a multi-decade trend. Yet, trillions of dollars are still exchanged with cash and checks, leaving many more years of digital payments growth ahead.
|
TCW’s largest holding, NVIDIA, which has been owned since 2018, has benefited from the AI/digital transformation trend and is now one of the most valuable companies in the world. Given the stock’s rapid ascent (+239 percent in 2023 and +150 percent this year through June 30) how do you determine when hype has overtaken the reality of NVIDIA’s business? |
“Four secular trends represented in the portfolio are Generative AI; Data as the New Currency; Cybersecurity; and Electronification of Payments.” |
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 9 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Manager Interview |
(Unaudited)
Honestly, it’s impossible to know for sure but we balance three key inputs as we manage our NVIDIA (NVDA) position size: a long-term price target, an intermediate-term price target and our active weight relative to the Russell 1000® Growth Index. Our long-term price target receives the most focus and has helped us stay meaningfully invested in NVIDIA since our initial purchase in April 2018 despite the rapid stock price appreciation. In deriving our long-term price target, we look out five-plus years at potential end market sizes, NVIDIA’s possible market share and likely cost structures at various scales to derive a range of free cash flow forecasts. We then discount those back to inform us how much potential upside remains and what kind of scenarios need to play out to realize further upside. While we anchor to this longer-term valuation methodology, partial adds and trims can be influenced by a view of how full valuation appears over the next 12 to 18 months (i.e. an intermediate-term price target). Lastly, we seek to keep our active weight in a range that aligns with our conviction level and risk tolerances. This combination of inputs has led to consistent trimming of our position over the last 18 months as the stock has continued to appreciate. Our conviction in the long-term potential remains high as does our outlook for the stock’s fundamentals for the remainder of the year. However, a healthy respect and recognition of “hype cycles” leaves us expecting a sharp drawdown at some point between the very near-term and our five-plus year outlook. Hence, we are keeping our active weight at a tolerable level as the absolute weight has continued to increase.
To date, the economy remains strong as inflation has moderated and there has been a catalyst, AI, to spark returns. What fundamental factors are you watching that could move the market higher or lower over the next year?
“The outlook is mixed and the market could go either way; however, our resolute focus remains on identifying resilient companies that we believe can thrive in a variety of economic environments.”
What could go right and what could go wrong is a discussion we have every week. Inflation and employment trends are two key factors that signal a still-constructive macro backdrop. On the micro front, there are quite a few companies with stable or even improving outlooks with undemanding valuations that could take the handoff from mega-cap leadership if the economy avoids a hard landing. On the other hand, causes for concern are the still-inverted yield curve, weak demand at the wholesale level (as represented by the Purchasing Managers’ Index), the general slowdown in consumer spending, tepid GDP growth and stubborn inflation—all accompanied by heightened geopolitical risk. Increasing index concentration and the lack of market breadth also create a less healthy picture than year-to-date market returns may suggest. Overall, we think the outlook is mixed and the market could go either way over the next year. As always, however, our resolute focus remains on identifying resilient companies that we believe can thrive in a variety of economic environments.
Thank you, Brandon. As you have identified beyond AI there are some trends with potential to drive attractive growth rates. We hope to have the opportunity to follow up on them in the future.
| 10 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Schedule of Investments |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| SHARES | VALUE | |||||||
| COMMON STOCKS (97.30%) | ||||||||
| COMMUNICATION SERVICES (6.63%) | ||||||||
| Entertainment (0.60%) | ||||||||
| Netflix, Inc.(a) | 17,648 | $ | 11,910,282 | |||||
| Interactive Media & Services (4.52%) | ||||||||
| Alphabet, Inc., Class A | 130,720 | 23,810,648 | ||||||
| Alphabet, Inc., Class C | 219,502 | 40,261,057 | ||||||
| Meta Platforms, Inc., Class A | 50,586 | 25,506,473 | ||||||
| 89,578,178 | ||||||||
| Media (1.51%) | ||||||||
| Charter Communications, Inc., Class A(a) | 41,416 | 12,381,727 | ||||||
| Omnicom Group, Inc. | 113,075 | 10,142,828 | ||||||
| Trade Desk, Inc., Class A(a) | 77,081 | 7,528,501 | ||||||
| 30,053,056 | ||||||||
| CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY (11.93%) | ||||||||
| Automobile Components (1.75%) | ||||||||
| Cie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA(b) | 414,100 | 7,959,002 | ||||||
| Lear Corp. | 109,726 | 12,531,806 | ||||||
| Magna International, Inc., Class A(c) | 338,513 | 14,183,695 | ||||||
| 34,674,503 | ||||||||
| Broadline Retail (2.65%) | ||||||||
| Amazon.com, Inc.(a) | 272,353 | 52,632,217 | ||||||
| Entertainment (0.79%) | ||||||||
| Sony Group Corp.(b) | 183,723 | 15,607,269 | ||||||
| Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure (2.69%) | ||||||||
| Aramark | 381,000 | 12,961,620 | ||||||
| Booking Holdings, Inc. | 4,548 | 18,016,902 | ||||||
| Starbucks Corp. | 122,436 | 9,531,642 | ||||||
| Yum! Brands, Inc. | 96,347 | 12,762,124 | ||||||
| 53,272,288 | ||||||||
| Household Durables (0.92%) | ||||||||
| Lennar Corp., Class A | 89,000 | 13,338,430 | ||||||
| Newell Brands, Inc. | 783,352 | 5,021,286 | ||||||
| 18,359,716 | ||||||||
| Specialty Retail (2.83%) | ||||||||
| CarMax, Inc.(a) | 183,783 | 13,478,645 | ||||||
| Home Depot, Inc. | 22,382 | 7,704,780 | ||||||
| Lowe's Cos., Inc. | 35,328 | 7,788,411 | ||||||
| O'Reilly Automotive, Inc.(a) | 16,391 | 17,309,879 | ||||||
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 11 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Schedule of Investments |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| SHARES | VALUE | |||||||
| COMMON STOCKS (continued) | ||||||||
| Specialty Retail (continued) | ||||||||
| TJX Cos., Inc. | 48,411 | $ | 5,330,051 | |||||
| Ulta Beauty, Inc.(a) | 11,581 | 4,468,761 | ||||||
| 56,080,527 | ||||||||
| Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods (0.30%) | ||||||||
| PVH Corp. | 56,548 | 5,986,737 | ||||||
| CONSUMER STAPLES (5.10%) | ||||||||
| Beverages (0.78%) | ||||||||
| Coca-Cola Co. | 135,100 | 8,599,115 | ||||||
| Constellation Brands, Inc., Class A | 26,700 | 6,869,376 | ||||||
| 15,468,491 | ||||||||
| Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail (1.69%) | ||||||||
| Costco Wholesale Corp. | 15,095 | 12,830,599 | ||||||
| Dollar Tree, Inc.(a) | 95,685 | 10,216,287 | ||||||
| SYSCO Corp. | 146,171 | 10,435,148 | ||||||
| 33,482,034 | ||||||||
| Food Products (0.50%) | ||||||||
| Tyson Foods, Inc., Class A | 172,180 | 9,838,365 | ||||||
| Household Products (0.41%) | ||||||||
| Procter & Gamble Co. | 49,400 | 8,147,048 | ||||||
| Multiline Retail (1.04%) | ||||||||
| Dollar General Corp. | 156,637 | 20,712,111 | ||||||
| Personal Care Products (0.68%) | ||||||||
| Unilever PLC(b) | 244,004 | 13,417,780 | ||||||
| ENERGY (2.09%) | ||||||||
| Energy Equipment & Services (0.69%) | ||||||||
| NOV, Inc. | 441,864 | 8,399,835 | ||||||
| Schlumberger NV | 113,865 | 5,372,151 | ||||||
| 13,771,986 | ||||||||
| Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels (1.40%) | ||||||||
| Coterra Energy, Inc. | 320,800 | 8,555,736 | ||||||
| Shell PLC(b) | 145,792 | 10,523,266 | ||||||
| TotalEnergies SE(b)(c) | 129,992 | 8,667,867 | ||||||
| 27,746,869 | ||||||||
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| 12 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Schedule of Investments |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| SHARES | VALUE | |||||||
| COMMON STOCKS (continued) | ||||||||
| FINANCIALS (19.61%) | ||||||||
| Banks (4.53%) | ||||||||
| Bank of America Corp. | 343,426 | $ | 13,658,052 | |||||
| Citigroup, Inc. | 310,120 | 19,680,215 | ||||||
| Commerce Bancshares, Inc. | 74,800 | 4,172,344 | ||||||
| Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. | 54,900 | 5,579,487 | ||||||
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 41,039 | 8,300,548 | ||||||
| Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.(b)(c) | 641,000 | 6,922,800 | ||||||
| PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. | 45,800 | 7,120,984 | ||||||
| U.S. Bancorp | 204,301 | 8,110,750 | ||||||
| Wells Fargo & Co. | 273,001 | 16,213,530 | ||||||
| 89,758,710 | ||||||||
| Capital Markets (5.53%) | ||||||||
| Ameriprise Financial, Inc. | 28,600 | 12,217,634 | ||||||
| BlackRock, Inc. | 9,356 | 7,366,166 | ||||||
| Blackstone Group LP | 70,600 | 8,740,280 | ||||||
| Charles Schwab Corp. | 275,217 | 20,280,741 | ||||||
| Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | 17,767 | 8,036,369 | ||||||
| MSCI, Inc. | 23,530 | 11,335,577 | ||||||
| Northern Trust Corp. | 94,000 | 7,894,120 | ||||||
| S&P Global, Inc. | 59,879 | 26,706,034 | ||||||
| UBS Group AG | 242,844 | 7,173,612 | ||||||
| 109,750,533 | ||||||||
| Consumer Finance (1.76%) | ||||||||
| American Express Co. | 42,884 | 9,929,790 | ||||||
| Capital One Financial Corp. | 179,916 | 24,909,370 | ||||||
| 34,839,160 | ||||||||
| Financial Services (5.44%) | ||||||||
| Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., Class B(a) | 46,089 | 18,749,005 | ||||||
| Corpay, Inc.(a) | 33,067 | 8,809,380 | ||||||
| Equitable Holdings, Inc. | 329,928 | 13,480,858 | ||||||
| Global Payments, Inc. | 127,936 | 12,371,411 | ||||||
| Mastercard, Inc., Class A | 26,820 | 11,831,911 | ||||||
| Visa, Inc., Class A | 132,911 | 34,885,150 | ||||||
| Voya Financial, Inc. | 110,585 | 7,868,123 | ||||||
| 107,995,838 | ||||||||
| Insurance (2.35%) | ||||||||
| Aon PLC, Class A | 42,427 | 12,455,719 | ||||||
| Arch Capital Group, Ltd.(a) | 95,624 | 9,647,505 | ||||||
| MetLife, Inc. | 172,133 | 12,082,015 | ||||||
| Progressive Corp. | 59,987 | 12,459,900 | ||||||
| 46,645,139 | ||||||||
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 13 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Schedule of Investments |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| SHARES | VALUE | |||||||
| COMMON STOCKS (continued) | ||||||||
| HEALTH CARE (14.33%) | ||||||||
| Biotechnology (0.53%) | ||||||||
| Amgen, Inc. | 33,500 | $ | 10,467,075 | |||||
| Health Care Equipment & Supplies (4.24%) | ||||||||
| Alcon, Inc. | 96,500 | 8,596,220 | ||||||
| Baxter International, Inc. | 486,104 | 16,260,179 | ||||||
| Boston Scientific Corp.(a) | 125,919 | 9,697,022 | ||||||
| Dexcom, Inc.(a) | 59,165 | 6,708,128 | ||||||
| Intuitive Surgical, Inc.(a) | 21,986 | 9,780,472 | ||||||
| Koninklijke Philips NV(c) | 411,144 | 10,360,829 | ||||||
| Medtronic PLC | 203,286 | 16,000,641 | ||||||
| Smith & Nephew PLC(b)(c) | 268,538 | 6,654,371 | ||||||
| 84,057,862 | ||||||||
| Health Care Providers & Services (5.09%) | ||||||||
| CVS Health Corp. | 229,600 | 13,560,176 | ||||||
| Fresenius Medical Care AG(b) | 1,058,408 | 20,205,009 | ||||||
| Humana, Inc. | 40,267 | 15,045,764 | ||||||
| Quest Diagnostics, Inc. | 87,699 | 12,004,239 | ||||||
| UnitedHealth Group, Inc. | 78,903 | 40,182,142 | ||||||
| 100,997,330 | ||||||||
| Life Sciences Tools & Services (1.71%) | ||||||||
| Danaher Corp. | 90,594 | 22,634,911 | ||||||
| Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. | 20,253 | 11,199,909 | ||||||
| 33,834,820 | ||||||||
| Pharmaceuticals (2.76%) | ||||||||
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. | 246,566 | 10,239,886 | ||||||
| Merck & Co., Inc. | 78,500 | 9,718,300 | ||||||
| Novo Nordisk A/S(b) | 114,323 | 16,318,465 | ||||||
| Pfizer, Inc. | 367,153 | 10,272,941 | ||||||
| Zoetis, Inc. | 47,544 | 8,242,228 | ||||||
| 54,791,820 | ||||||||
| INDUSTRIALS (7.35%) | ||||||||
| Aerospace & Defense (0.42%) | ||||||||
| General Dynamics Corp. | 28,900 | 8,385,046 | ||||||
| Building Products (2.24%) | ||||||||
| Carlisle Cos., Inc. | 39,984 | 16,201,917 | ||||||
| Carrier Global Corp. | 216,498 | 13,656,694 | ||||||
| Masco Corp. | 218,229 | 14,549,327 | ||||||
| 44,407,938 | ||||||||
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| 14 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Schedule of Investments |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| SHARES | VALUE | |||||||
| COMMON STOCKS (continued) | ||||||||
| Commercial Services & Supplies (0.81%) | ||||||||
| Waste Connections, Inc. | 41,955 | $ | 7,357,229 | |||||
| Waste Management, Inc. | 40,784 | 8,700,858 | ||||||
| 16,058,087 | ||||||||
| Ground Transportation (0.72%) | ||||||||
| Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Ltd.(c) | 182,579 | 14,374,445 | ||||||
| Industrial Conglomerates (0.56%) | ||||||||
| General Electric Co. | 17,730 | 2,818,538 | ||||||
| Honeywell International, Inc. | 39,000 | 8,328,060 | ||||||
| 11,146,598 | ||||||||
| Machinery (1.61%) | ||||||||
| Oshkosh Corp. | 53,600 | 5,799,520 | ||||||
| Parker-Hannifin Corp. | 28,900 | 14,617,909 | ||||||
| Wabtec Corp. | 8,861 | 1,400,481 | ||||||
| Xylem, Inc. | 74,100 | 10,050,183 | ||||||
| 31,868,093 | ||||||||
| Trading Companies & Distributors (0.99%) | ||||||||
| Ferguson PLC | 101,190 | 19,595,444 | ||||||
| INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (23.28%) | ||||||||
| Electronic Equipment & Instruments (0.39%) | ||||||||
| TE Connectivity Ltd. | 51,086 | 7,684,867 | ||||||
| Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components (0.63%) | ||||||||
| CDW Corp. | 24,835 | 5,559,066 | ||||||
| Teledyne Technologies, Inc.(a) | 18,026 | 6,993,728 | ||||||
| 12,552,794 | ||||||||
| IT Services (2.37%) | ||||||||
| Amdocs, Ltd. | 132,504 | 10,457,216 | ||||||
| Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., Class A | 180,764 | 12,291,952 | ||||||
| Gartner, Inc. | 33,822 | 15,188,107 | ||||||
| Shopify, Inc., Class A(a) | 98,880 | 6,531,024 | ||||||
| Snowflake, Inc., Class A(a) | 18,558 | 2,507,000 | ||||||
| 46,975,299 | ||||||||
| Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment (6.48%) | ||||||||
| ASML Holding N.V. | 11,227 | 11,482,190 | ||||||
| Microchip Technology, Inc. | 123,800 | 11,327,700 | ||||||
| Micron Technology, Inc. | 95,209 | 12,522,840 | ||||||
| NVIDIA Corp. | 566,555 | 69,992,205 | ||||||
| QUALCOMM, Inc. | 63,800 | 12,707,684 | ||||||
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 15 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Schedule of Investments |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| SHARES | VALUE | |||||||
| COMMON STOCKS (continued) | ||||||||
| Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment (continued) | ||||||||
| Skyworks Solutions, Inc. | 99,204 | $ | 10,573,162 | |||||
| 128,605,781 | ||||||||
| Software (12.78%) | ||||||||
| Adobe, Inc.(a) | 38,913 | 21,617,728 | ||||||
| ANSYS, Inc.(a) | 31,000 | 9,966,500 | ||||||
| Autodesk, Inc.(a) | 78,259 | 19,365,190 | ||||||
| Cadence Design Systems, Inc.(a) | 20,110 | 6,188,852 | ||||||
| Crowdstrike Holdings, Inc., Class A(a) | 34,527 | 13,230,401 | ||||||
| Intuit, Inc. | 18,415 | 12,102,522 | ||||||
| Microsoft Corp. | 181,373 | 81,064,661 | ||||||
| Palo Alto Networks, Inc.(a) | 27,588 | 9,352,608 | ||||||
| Salesforce, Inc. | 85,730 | 22,041,183 | ||||||
| ServiceNow, Inc.(a) | 44,868 | 35,296,310 | ||||||
| Synopsys, Inc.(a) | 15,013 | 8,933,636 | ||||||
| Workday, Inc., Class A(a) | 63,961 | 14,299,121 | ||||||
| 253,458,712 | ||||||||
| Technology Hardware, Storage & Equipment (0.63%) | ||||||||
| Apple, Inc. | 59,333 | 12,496,716 | ||||||
| MATERIALS (4.56%) | ||||||||
| Chemicals (3.06%) | ||||||||
| Corteva, Inc. | 213,500 | 11,516,190 | ||||||
| Dow, Inc. | 355,607 | 18,864,951 | ||||||
| Ecolab, Inc. | 92,185 | 21,940,030 | ||||||
| RPM International, Inc. | 77,800 | 8,377,504 | ||||||
| 60,698,675 | ||||||||
| Construction Materials (0.66%) | ||||||||
| Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. | 24,000 | 13,003,200 | ||||||
| Containers & Packaging (0.84%) | ||||||||
| Avery Dennison Corp. | 76,369 | 16,698,082 | ||||||
| REAL ESTATE (0.63%) | ||||||||
| Residential REITs (0.32%) | ||||||||
| Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. | 95,600 | 6,226,428 | ||||||
| Specialized REITs (0.31%) | ||||||||
| American Tower Corp. | 31,844 | 6,189,837 | ||||||
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| 16 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Schedule of Investments |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| SHARES | VALUE | |||||||
| COMMON STOCKS (continued) | ||||||||
| UTILITIES (1.79%) | ||||||||
| Electric Utilities (0.94%) | ||||||||
| Edison International | 170,628 | $ | 12,252,797 | |||||
| Xcel Energy, Inc. | 118,000 | 6,302,380 | ||||||
| 18,555,177 | ||||||||
| Gas Utilities (0.44%) | ||||||||
| Atmos Energy Corp. | 75,000 | 8,748,750 | ||||||
| Water Utilities (0.41%) | ||||||||
| American Water Works Co., Inc. | 62,600 | 8,085,416 | ||||||
| TOTAL COMMON STOCKS | ||||||||
| (COST OF $1,494,874,131) | 1,929,693,129 | |||||||
| SHORT TERM INVESTMENTS (3.85%) | ||||||||
| MONEY MARKET FUND (2.82%) | ||||||||
| State Street Institutional US Government Money Market Fund, Premier Class, 5.27%(d) | ||||||||
| (COST OF $55,954,800) | 55,954,800 | 55,954,800 | ||||||
| INVESTMENTS PURCHASED WITH COLLATERAL FROM SECURITIES LOANED (1.03%) | ||||||||
| State Street Navigator Securities Lending Government Money Market Portfolio, 5.33% | ||||||||
| (COST OF $20,383,092) | 20,383,092 | 20,383,092 | ||||||
| TOTAL SHORT TERM INVESTMENTS | ||||||||
| (COST OF $76,337,892) | 76,337,892 | |||||||
| TOTAL INVESTMENTS (101.15%) | ||||||||
| (COST OF $1,571,212,023) | 2,006,031,021 | |||||||
| LIABILITIES IN EXCESS OF OTHER ASSETS (-1.15%) | (22,723,098 | ) | ||||||
| NET ASSETS (100.00%) | $ | 1,983,307,923 | ||||||
| NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE | ||||||||
| (282,594,292 SHARES OUTSTANDING) | $ | 7.02 | ||||||
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 17 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Schedule of Investments |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| (a) | Non-income producing security. | |
| (b) | American Depositary Receipt. | |
| (c) | Security, or a portion of the security position, is currently on loan. The total market value of securities on loan is $26,483,749. | |
| (d) | Rate reflects seven-day effective yield on June 30, 2024. |
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| 18 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Statement of Assets and Liabilities |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| ASSETS: | ||||
| Investments at value (Cost $1,571,212,023)(a) | $ | 2,006,031,021 | ||
| Receivable for investment securities sold | 401,857 | |||
| Dividends and interest receivable | 1,490,269 | |||
| Tax reclaim receivable | 304,893 | |||
| Prepaid and other assets | 206,944 | |||
| TOTAL ASSETS | 2,008,434,984 | |||
| LIABILITIES: | ||||
| Payable for investments purchased | 2,834,403 | |||
| Investment advisory fee payable | 1,078,175 | |||
| Payable for administration, pricing and bookkeeping fees | 530,282 | |||
| Payable for collateral upon return of securities loaned | 20,383,092 | |||
| Accrued Trustees' fees payable | 17,984 | |||
| Accrued expenses | 283,125 | |||
| TOTAL LIABILITIES | 25,127,061 | |||
| NET ASSETS | $ | 1,983,307,923 | ||
| NET ASSETS REPRESENTED BY: | ||||
| Paid-in capital | $ | 1,578,515,950 | ||
| Total distributable earnings | 404,791,973 | |||
| NET ASSETS | $ | 1,983,307,923 | ||
| Shares of common stock outstanding | ||||
| (unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest without par value authorized) | 282,594,292 | |||
| NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE | $ | 7.02 | ||
| (a) | Includes securities on loan of $26,483,749. |
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 19 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Statement of Operations |
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
| INVESTMENT INCOME: | ||||
| Dividends (Net of foreign taxes withheld at source which amounted to $273,711) | $ | 14,462,956 | ||
| Securities lending income | 42,167 | |||
| TOTAL INVESTMENT INCOME | 14,505,123 | |||
| EXPENSES: | ||||
| Investment advisory fee | 6,422,629 | |||
| Administration, pricing and bookkeeping fees | 1,560,034 | |||
| Audit fee | 11,106 | |||
| Custodian fee | 42,081 | |||
| Insurance expense | 43,541 | |||
| Legal fees | 93,589 | |||
| NYSE fee | 152,006 | |||
| Proxy fees | 61,481 | |||
| Shareholder communication expenses | 47,517 | |||
| Transfer agent fees | 67,600 | |||
| Trustees' fees and expenses | 256,186 | |||
| Miscellaneous expenses | 9,849 | |||
| TOTAL EXPENSES | 8,767,619 | |||
| NET INVESTMENT INCOME | 5,737,504 | |||
| REALIZED AND UNREALIZED GAIN/(LOSS) ON INVESTMENTS: | ||||
| Net realized gain on investment transactions | 102,626,687 | |||
| Net realized gain on foreign currency transactions | 616 | |||
| Net change in unrealized appreciation on investments | 65,091,518 | |||
| Net change in unrealized depreciation on foreign currency transactions | (291 | ) | ||
| NET REALIZED AND UNREALIZED GAIN/(LOSS) ON INVESTMENTS | 167,718,530 | |||
| NET INCREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | 173,456,034 | ||
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| 20 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Statements of Changes in Net Assets |
| For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2024 (Unaudited) | For the Year Ended December 31, 2023 | |||||||
| FROM OPERATIONS: | ||||||||
| Net investment income | $ | 5,737,504 | $ | 10,073,845 | ||||
| Net realized gain on investment transactions | 102,627,303 | 154,967,788 | ||||||
| Net change in unrealized appreciation on investments | 65,091,227 | 231,535,001 | ||||||
| Net Increase in Net Assets From Operations | 173,456,034 | 396,576,634 | ||||||
| DISTRIBUTIONS TO SHAREHOLDERS: | ||||||||
| From distributable earnings | (97,340,349 | ) | (164,440,891 | ) | ||||
| Total Distributions | (97,340,349 | ) | (164,440,891 | ) | ||||
| CAPITAL SHARE TRANSACTIONS: | ||||||||
| Dividend reinvestments | 40,277,647 | 68,779,843 | ||||||
| Net increase resulting from Capital Share Transactions | 40,277,647 | 68,779,843 | ||||||
| Total Increase in Net Assets | 116,393,332 | 300,915,586 | ||||||
| NET ASSETS: | ||||||||
| Beginning of period | 1,866,914,591 | 1,565,999,005 | ||||||
| End of period | $ | 1,983,307,923 | $ | 1,866,914,591 | ||||
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 21 |
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund
Financial Highlights
| PER SHARE OPERATING PERFORMANCE: |
| Net asset value at beginning of period |
| INCOME FROM INVESTMENT OPERATIONS: |
| Net investment income(a) |
| Net realized and unrealized gain/(loss) on investments |
| Total from Investment Operations |
| LESS DISTRIBUTIONS TO SHAREHOLDERS: |
| Net investment income |
| Net realized gain on investments |
| Return of capital |
| Total Distributions |
| Change due to rights offering(b) |
| Net asset value at end of period |
| Market price at end of period |
| TOTAL INVESTMENT RETURN FOR SHAREHOLDERS:(c) |
| Based on net asset value |
| Based on market price |
| RATIOS AND SUPPLEMENTAL DATA: |
| Net assets at end of period (millions) |
| Ratio of expenses to average net assets |
| Ratio of net investment income to average net assets |
| Portfolio turnover rate |
| (a) | Calculated using average shares outstanding during the period. | |
| (b) | Effect of Fund's rights offering for shares at a price below net asset value, net of costs. | |
| (c) | Calculated assuming all distributions are reinvested at actual reinvestment prices and all primary rights in the Fund's rights offering were exercised. The net asset value and market price returns will differ depending upon the level of any discount from or premium to net asset value at which the Fund's shares traded during the period. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. | |
| (d) | Not annualized. | |
| (e) | Annualized. |
See Notes to Financial Statements.
| 22 | www.all-starfunds.com |
Financial Highlights
For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2024 |
| For the Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||
| (Unaudited) | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| \ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 6.75 | $ | 5.90 | $ | 8.20 | $ | 7.37 | $ | 6.90 | $ | 5.89 | |||||||||||
| 0.02 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.05 | |||||||||||||||||
| 0.60 | 1.42 | (1.64 | ) | 1.67 | 1.07 | 1.62 | ||||||||||||||||
| 0.62 | 1.46 | (1.61 | ) | 1.69 | 1.10 | 1.67 | ||||||||||||||||
| (0.35 | ) | (0.07 | ) | (0.03 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (0.03 | ) | (0.05 | ) | |||||||||||
| – | (0.54 | ) | (0.37 | ) | (0.74 | ) | (0.60 | ) | (0.59 | ) | ||||||||||||
| – | – | (0.29 | ) | (0.05 | ) | – | (0.02 | ) | ||||||||||||||
| (0.35 | ) | (0.61 | ) | (0.69 | ) | (0.81 | ) | (0.63 | ) | (0.66 | ) | |||||||||||
| – | – | – | (0.05 | ) | – | – | ||||||||||||||||
| $ | 7.02 | $ | 6.75 | $ | 5.90 | $ | 8.20 | $ | 7.37 | $ | 6.90 | |||||||||||
| $ | 6.80 | $ | 6.38 | $ | 5.70 | $ | 8.38 | $ | 6.90 | $ | 6.77 | |||||||||||
| 9.5 | %(d) | 26.1 | % | (20.1 | %) | 24.0 | % | 18.0 | % | 30.1 | % | |||||||||||
| 12.2 | %(d) | 23.4 | % | (24.5 | %) | 35.3 | % | 12.6 | % | 39.7 | % | |||||||||||
| $ | 1,983 | $ | 1,867 | $ | 1,566 | $ | 2,084 | $ | 1,599 | $ | 1,440 | |||||||||||
| 0.91 | %(e) | 0.93 | % | 0.93 | % | 0.93 | % | 1.02 | % | 0.99 | % | |||||||||||
| 0.60 | %(e) | 0.60 | % | 0.52 | % | 0.23 | % | 0.44 | % | 0.73 | % | |||||||||||
| 14 | %(d) | 23 | % | 23 | % | 22 | % | 45 | % | 23 | % | |||||||||||
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 23 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Notes to Financial Statements |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
NOTE 1. ORGANIZATION
Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund (the “Fund”) is a Massachusetts business trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), as amended, as a diversified, closed-end management investment company.
Investment Goal
The Fund seeks total investment return comprised of long-term capital appreciation and current income through investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity securities.
Fund Shares
The Fund may issue an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest.
NOTE 2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The following is a summary of significant accounting policies consistently followed by the Fund in the preparation of its financial statements. The Fund is considered an investment company under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and follows the accounting and reporting guidance applicable to investment companies in the Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services - Investment Companies.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from these estimates.
Security Valuation
Equity securities are valued at the last sale price at the close of the principal exchange on which they trade, except for securities listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (“NASDAQ”), which are valued at the NASDAQ official closing price. Unlisted securities or listed securities for which there were no sales during the day are valued at the closing bid price on such exchanges or over-the-counter markets.
Cash collateral from securities lending activity is reinvested in the State Street Navigator Securities Lending Government Money Market Portfolio (“State Street Navigator”), a registered investment company under the 1940 Act, which operates as a money market fund in compliance with Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act. Shares of registered investment companies are valued daily at that investment company’s net asset value ("NAV") per share.
The Fund’s investments are valued at market value or, in the absence of market value with respect to any portfolio securities, at fair value according to procedures adopted by the Fund's Board of Trustees (the "Board"). The Board has designated ALPS Advisors, Inc. (the "Advisor") as the Fund's Valuation Designee (as defined in Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act). The Valuation Designee is responsible for determining fair value in good faith for all Fund investments, subject to oversight by the Board. When market quotations are not readily available, or in management’s judgment they do not accurately reflect fair value of a security, or an event occurs after the market close but before the Fund is priced that materially affects the value of a security, the security will be valued by the Advisor’s Valuation Committee using fair valuation procedures established by the Valuation Designee. Examples of potentially significant events that could materially impact a Fund’s net asset value include, but are not limited to: single issuer events such as corporate actions, reorganizations, mergers, spin-offs, liquidations, acquisitions and buyouts; corporate announcements on earnings or product offerings; regulatory news; and litigation and multiple issuer events such as governmental actions; natural disasters or armed conflicts that affect a country or a region; or significant market fluctuations. Potential significant events are monitored by the Advisor, Sub-Advisers and/or the Valuation Committee through independent reviews of market indicators, general news sources and communications from the Fund’s custodian.
| 24 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Notes to Financial Statements |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
Security Transactions
Security transactions are recorded on trade date. Cost is determined and gains/(losses) are based upon the specific identification method for both financial statement and federal income tax purposes.
Income Recognition
Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. Corporate actions are recorded on the ex-date.
Dividend income is recognized on the ex-dividend date, or for certain foreign securities, as soon as information is available to the Fund. Withholding taxes on foreign dividends are paid (a portion of which may be reclaimable) or provided for in accordance with the applicable country’s tax rules and rates and are disclosed in the Statement of Operations.
The Fund estimates components of distributions from real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). Distributions received in excess of income are recorded as a reduction of the cost of the related investments. Once the REIT reports annually the tax character of its distributions, the Fund revises its estimates. If the Fund no longer owns the applicable securities, any distributions received in excess of income are recorded as realized gains.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend its portfolio securities only to borrowers that are approved by the Fund’s securities lending agent, State Street Bank & Trust Co. (“SSB”). The Fund will limit such lending to not more than 30% of the value of its total assets. The borrower pledges and maintains with the Fund collateral consisting of cash (U.S. Dollar only), securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities, or by irrevocable bank letters of credit issued by a person other than the borrower or an affiliate of the borrower. The initial collateral received by the Fund is required to have a value of no less than 102% of the market value of the loaned securities for securities traded on U.S. exchanges and a value of no less than 105% of the market value for all other securities. The collateral is maintained thereafter, at a market value equal to no less than 100% of the current value of the securities on loan. The market value of the loaned securities is determined at the close of each business day and any additional required collateral is delivered to the Fund on the next business day. During the term of the loan, the Fund is entitled to all distributions made on or in respect of the loaned securities. Loans of securities are terminable at any time and the borrower, after notice, is required to return borrowed securities within the standard time period for settlement of securities transactions.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 25 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Notes to Financial Statements |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
Any cash collateral received is reinvested in State Street Navigator. Non-cash collateral, in the form of securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities, is not disclosed in the Fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities or the contractual maturity table below as it is held by the lending agent on behalf of the Fund and the Fund does not have the ability to re-hypothecate these securities. Income earned by the Fund from securities lending activity is disclosed in the Statement of Operations.
The following is a summary of the Fund's securities lending positions and related cash and non-cash collateral received as of June 30, 2024:
Market Value of Securities on Loan | Cash Collateral Received | Non-Cash Collateral Received | Total Collateral Received | |||||||||||
| $ | 26,483,749 | $ | 20,383,092 | $ | 6,572,683 | $ | 26,955,775 | |||||||
The risks of securities lending include the risk that the borrower may not provide additional collateral when required or may not return the securities when due. To mitigate these risks, the Fund benefits from a borrower default indemnity provided by SSB. SSB’s indemnity allows for full replacement of securities lent wherein SSB will purchase the unreturned loaned securities on the open market by applying the proceeds of the collateral, or to the extent such proceeds are insufficient or the collateral is unavailable, SSB will purchase the unreturned loan securities at SSB’s expense. However, the Fund could suffer a loss if the value of the investments purchased with cash collateral falls below the value of the cash collateral received.
The following table reflects a breakdown of transactions accounted for as secured borrowings, the gross obligation by the type of collateral pledged or securities loaned, and the remaining contractual maturity of those transactions as of June 30, 2024:
| Remaining contractual maturity of the agreements | ||||||||||||||||||||
Securities Lending Transactions | Overnight & Continuous | Up to 30 days | 30-90 days | Greater than 90 days | Total | |||||||||||||||
| State Street Navigator | $ | 20,383,092 | $ | – | $ | – | $ | – | $ | 20,383,092 | ||||||||||
| Total Borrowings | $ | 20,383,092 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gross amount of recognized liabilities for securities lending (collateral received) | $ | 20,383,092 | ||||||||||||||||||
Fair Value Measurements
The Fund discloses the classification of its fair value measurements following a three-tier hierarchy based on the inputs used to measure fair value. Inputs refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, including assumptions about risk. Inputs may be observable or unobservable. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability that are developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity. Unobservable inputs reflect the reporting entity’s own assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability that are developed based on the best information available.
| 26 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Notes to Financial Statements |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
Valuation techniques used to value the Fund’s investments by major category are as follows:
Equity securities that are valued based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets are categorized as Level 1 in the hierarchy. In the event there were no sales during the day or closing prices are not available, securities are valued at the mean of the most recent quoted bid and ask prices on such day and are generally categorized as Level 2 in the hierarchy. Investments in open-end mutual funds are valued at their closing NAV each business day and are categorized as Level 1 in the hierarchy.
Various inputs are used in determining the value of the Fund’s investments as of the end of the reporting period. When inputs used fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy, the level in the hierarchy within which the fair value measurement falls is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. The designated input levels are not necessarily an indication of the risk or liquidity associated with these investments.
These inputs are categorized in the following hierarchy under applicable financial accounting standards:
| Level 1 | – | Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical investments, unrestricted assets or liabilities that a Fund has the ability to access at the measurement date; |
| Level 2 | – | Quoted prices which are not active, quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets or inputs other than quoted prices that are observable (either directly or indirectly) for substantially the full term of the asset or liability; and |
| Level 3 | – | Significant unobservable prices or inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments) where there is little or no market activity for the asset or liability at the measurement date. |
The following is a summary of the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of June 30, 2024:
| Valuation Inputs | ||||||||||||||||
| Investments in Securities at Value | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | ||||||||||||
| Common Stocks* | $ | 1,929,693,129 | $ | – | $ | – | $ | 1,929,693,129 | ||||||||
| Short Term Investments | 76,337,892 | – | – | 76,337,892 | ||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 2,006,031,021 | $ | – | $ | – | $ | 2,006,031,021 | ||||||||
| * | See Schedule of Investments for industry classifications. |
The Fund did not have any securities that used significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) in determining fair value during the period. There were no transfers into or out of Level 3 during the six months ended June 30, 2024.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 27 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Notes to Financial Statements |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
Distributions to Shareholders
The Fund currently has a policy of paying distributions on its shares of beneficial interest totaling approximately 10% of its net asset value per year. The distributions are payable in four quarterly distributions of 2.5% of the Fund’s net asset value at the close of the New York Stock Exchange on the Friday prior to each quarterly declaration date. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on ex-date.
NOTE 3. RISKS
Investment and Market Risk
An investment in shares is subject to investment risk, including the possible loss of the entire amount invested. An investment in shares represents an indirect investment in the securities owned by the Fund, most of which are anticipated to be traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter markets. The value of these securities, like other market investments, may move up or down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably. Shares at any point in time may be worth less than their original cost, even after taking into account the reinvestment of dividends and other distributions.
Common Stock Risk
The Fund is not limited in the percentage of its assets that may be invested in common stocks and other equity securities, and therefore a risk of investing in the Fund is common stock or equity risk. Equity risk is the risk that the market value of securities held by the Fund will fall due to general market or economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, and the particular circumstances and performance of particular companies whose securities the Fund holds. In addition, common stock of an issuer in the Fund’s portfolio may decline in price if the issuer fails to make anticipated dividend payments because, among other reasons, the issuer of the security experiences a decline in its financial condition. Common equity securities in which the Fund will invest are structurally subordinated to preferred stocks, bonds and other debt instruments in a company’s capital structure, in terms of priority to corporate income, and therefore will be subject to greater payment risk than preferred stocks or debt instruments of such issuers. In addition, while broad market measures of common stocks have historically generated higher average returns than fixed income securities, common stocks have also experienced significantly more volatility in their returns.
Growth stocks are stocks of companies believed to have above-average potential for growth in revenue and earnings. In certain market conditions, prices of growth stocks may be more sensitive to changes in current or expected earnings than the prices of other stocks. Growth stocks may not perform as well as the stock market in general.
Foreign Currency Risk
Investment securities and other assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollar amounts at the date of valuation. Purchases and sales of investment securities and income and expense items denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollar amounts on the respective dates of such transactions. The Portfolios do not isolate that portion of the results of operations resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates on investments from the fluctuations arising from changes in market prices of securities held. Such fluctuations are included with the net realized and unrealized gain or loss from investments. Reported net realized foreign exchange gains or losses arise from sales of foreign currencies, currency gains or losses realized between the trade and settlement dates on securities transactions, and the difference between the amounts of dividends, interest, and foreign withholding taxes recorded on the Portfolios books and the U.S. dollar equivalent of the amounts actually received or paid. Net unrealized foreign exchange gains and losses arise from changes in the fair values of assets and liabilities, other than investments insecurities at fiscal period end, resulting from changes in exchange rates.
| 28 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Notes to Financial Statements |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
Market Disruption and Geopolitical Risk
Social, political, and economic events, such as natural disasters and health emergencies (e.g., epidemics and pandemics, such as the recent COVID-19 outbreak), ongoing U.S military activities and political developments, as well as the threat of terrorist attacks, could have significant adverse effects on the U.S. economy, the stock market, world economies and markets generally, and may lead to volatility in the value of the Fund’s investments. These types of events may develop quickly and unexpectedly and could significantly impact issuers, industries, governments and other systems, including financial markets. Global systems are increasingly interconnected, and an event in one area of the world may have adverse effects in other economies and financial markets. It is difficult to predict the timing or duration of an event, or its impact on the Fund and its shareholders.
NOTE 4. FEDERAL TAX INFORMATION AND TAX BASIS INFORMATION
The timing and character of income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from GAAP. Reclassifications are made to the Fund’s capital accounts for permanent tax differences to reflect income and gains available for distribution (or available capital loss carryforwards) under income tax regulations. If, for any calendar year, the total distributions made under the distribution policy exceed the Fund’s net investment income and net realized capital gains, the excess will generally be treated as a non-taxable return of capital, reducing the shareholder’s adjusted basis in his or her shares. If the Fund’s net investment income and net realized capital gains for any year exceed the amount distributed under the distribution policy, the Fund may, in its discretion, retain and not distribute net realized capital gains and pay income tax thereon to the extent of such excess. The Fund recognizes interest and penalties, if any, related to tax liabilities as income tax expense in the Statement of Operations.
Classification of Distributions to Shareholders
Net investment income/(loss) and net realized gain/(loss) may differ for financial statement and tax purposes. The character of distributions made during the year from net investment income or net realized gains may differ from its ultimate characterization for federal income tax purposes. Due to the timing of dividend distributions, the fiscal year in which amounts are distributed may differ from the fiscal year in which the income or realized gain was recorded by the Fund. The amounts and characteristics of tax basis distributions and composition of distributable earnings/(accumulated losses) are determined at the time in which distributions are paid, which may occur after the fiscal year end. Accordingly, tax basis balances have not been determined as of June 30, 2024.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 29 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Notes to Financial Statements |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
The tax character of distributions paid during the year ended December 31, 2023 were as follows:
| Distributions Paid From: | December 31, 2023 | |||
| Ordinary Income | $ | 19,488,843 | ||
| Long-term capital gains | 143,292,574 | |||
| Total | $ | 162,781,417 | ||
The Fund declared a distribution of $41,063,648 with an ex-date in 2023 that was paid in 2024. Such amount is not included above, and the tax character of such distributions will be determined at the end of 2024.
As of June 30, 2024, the cost of investments for federal income tax purposes and accumulated net unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) on investments was as follows:
| Cost of Investments | Gross unrealized Appreciation (excess of value over tax cost) |
Gross unrealized Depreciation (excess of tax cost over value) | Net Unrealized Appreciation | ||||||||||
| $ | 1,571,280,587 | $ | 525,522,992 | $ | (90,772,558) | $ | 434,750,434 | ||||||
The differences between book-basis and tax-basis are primarily due to deferral of losses from wash sales. In addition, certain tax cost basis adjustments are finalized at fiscal year-end and therefore have not been determined as of June 30, 2024.
Federal Income Tax Status
For federal income tax purposes, the Fund currently qualifies, and intends to remain qualified, as a regulated investment company under the provisions of Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, by distributing substantially all of its investment company taxable net income including realized gain, not offset by capital loss carryforwards, if any, to its shareholders. Accordingly, no provision for federal income or excise taxes has been made.
As of and during the six months ended June 30, 2024, the Fund did not have a liability for any unrecognized tax benefits. The Fund files U.S. federal, state, and local tax returns as required. The Fund’s tax returns are subject to examination by the relevant tax authorities until expiration of the applicable statute of limitations, which is generally three years after the filing of the tax return. Tax returns for open years have incorporated no uncertain tax positions that require a provision for income taxes.
| 30 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Notes to Financial Statements |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
NOTE 5. FEES AND COMPENSATION PAID TO AFFILIATES
Investment Advisory Fee
AAI serves as the investment advisor to the Fund. AAI receives a monthly investment advisory fee based on the Fund’s average daily net assets at the following annual rates:
| Average Daily Net Assets | Annual Fee Rate |
| First $400 million | 0.800% |
| Next $400 million | 0.720% |
| Next $400 million | 0.648% |
| Over $1.2 billion | 0.584% |
Investment Advisory Fees for the six months ended June 30, 2024 are reported on the Statement of Operations.
AAI retains multiple Portfolio Managers to manage the Fund’s investments in various asset classes. AAI pays each Portfolio Manager a portfolio management fee based on the assets of the investment portfolio that they manage. The portfolio management fee is paid from the investment advisory fees collected by AAI and is based on the Fund’s average daily net assets at the following annual rates:
| Average Daily Net Assets | Annual Fee Rate |
| First $400 million | 0.400% |
| Next $400 million | 0.360% |
| Next $400 million | 0.324% |
| Over $1.2 billion | 0.292% |
Administration, Bookkeeping and Pricing Services
ALPS Fund Services, Inc. (“ALPS”), an affiliate of AAI, serves as the administrator to the Fund and the Fund has agreed to pay expenses incurred in connection with this service. Pursuant to an Administrative, Bookkeeping and Pricing Services Agreement, ALPS provides operational services to the Fund including, but not limited to, fund accounting and fund administration and generally assists in the Fund’s operations. The Fund’s administration fee is accrued on a daily basis and paid monthly. Administration, Pricing and Bookkeeping fees paid by the Fund for the six months ended June 30, 2024 are disclosed in the Statement of Operations.
The Fund also reimburses ALPS for out-of-pocket expenses and charges, including fees payable to third parties for pricing the Fund’s portfolio securities and direct internal costs incurred by ALPS in connection with providing fund accounting oversight and monitoring and certain other services.
Fees Paid to Officers
All officers of the Fund, including the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer, are employees of AAI or its affiliates, and receive no compensation from the Fund. The Board of Trustees has appointed a Chief Compliance Officer to the Fund in accordance with federal securities regulations.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 31 |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Notes to Financial Statements |
June 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
NOTE 6. PORTFOLIO INFORMATION
Purchases and Sales of Securities
For the six months ended June 30, 2024, the cost of purchases and proceeds from sales of securities, excluding short-term obligations, were $267,873,733 and $310,381,498 respectively.
NOTE 7. CAPITAL TRANSACTIONS
During the six months ended June 30, 2024 and the year ended December 31, 2023, distributions in the amounts of $40,277,647 and $68,779,843, respectively, were paid in newly issued shares valued at market value or net asset value, but not less than 95% of market value. Such distributions resulted in the issuance of 6,006,153 and of 11,118,511 shares, respectively.
Under the Fund’s Automatic Dividend Reinvestment and Direct Purchase Plan (the “Plan”), shareholders automatically participate and have all their Fund dividends and distributions reinvested. Under the Plan, all dividends and distributions will be reinvested in additional shares of the Fund. Distributions declared payable in cash will be reinvested for the accounts of participants in the Plan in additional shares purchased by the Plan Agent on the open market at prevailing market prices, subject to certain limitations as described more fully in the Plan. Distributions declared payable in shares are paid to participants in the Plan entirely in newly issued full and fractional shares valued at the lower of market value or net asset value per share on the valuation date for the distribution (but not at a discount of more than 5 percent from market price). Dividends and distributions are subject to taxation, whether received in cash or in shares.
NOTE 8. INDEMNIFICATION
In the normal course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of representations and warranties and which provide general indemnities. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims against the Fund. Also, under the Fund’s organizational documents and by contract, the Trustees and Officers of the Fund are indemnified against certain liabilities that may arise out of their duties to the Fund. However, based on experience, the Fund expects the risk of loss due to these warranties and indemnities to be minimal.
NOTE 9. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events, if any, after the date of the Statement of Assets and Liabilities have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. Management has determined that there were no subsequent events to report through the issuance of these financial statements.
| 32 | www.all-starfunds.com |
| Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund | Description of Lipper Benchmark and Market Indices |
(Unaudited)
Dow Jones Industrial Average
A price-weighted measure of 30 U.S. blue-chip companies.
Lipper Large-Cap Core Mutual Fund Average
The average of funds that, by portfolio practice, invest at least 75% of their equity assets in companies with market capitalizations (on a three-year weighted basis) above Lipper’s U.S. domestic equity large-cap floor. These funds typically have average characteristics compared to the S&P 500® Index.
NASDAQ Composite Index
Measures all NASDAQ domestic and international based common type stocks listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market.
Russell 3000® Growth Index
Measures the performance of those Russell 3000® companies with lower book-to-price ratios and higher growth values. The Russell 3000® Index measures the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies based on total market capitalization, which represents approximately 96% of the investable U.S. equity market.
Russell 3000® Value Index
Measures the performance of those Russell 3000® companies with higher book-to-price ratios and lower growth values.
Russell 1000® Growth Index (Largecap)
Measures the performance of those Russell 1000® companies with lower book-to-price ratios and higher growth values. The Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of the 1,000 largest companies in the Russell 3000® Index.
S&P 500® Index
A large-cap U.S. equities index that includes 500 leading companies and represents approximately 80% of the total domestic U.S. equity market capitalization.
S&P 500® Equal Weight Index
The equal-weight version of the S&P 500®.
An investor cannot invest directly in an index.
| Semi-Annual Report (Unaudited) | June 30, 2024 | 33 |
Intentionally Left Blank
(b) Not Applicable.
Item 2. Code of Ethics.
Not applicable to this report.
Item 3. Audit Committee Financial Expert.
Not applicable to this report.
Item 4. Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
Not applicable to this report.
Item 5. Audit Committee of Listed Registrants.
Not applicable to this report.
Item 6. Investments.
| (a) | The registrant’s “Schedule I – Investments in securities of unaffiliated issuers” (as set forth in 17 CFR 210.12-12) is included as part of the report of shareholders filed under Item 1 of this Form N-CSR. |
| (b) | Not applicable. |
Item 7. Financial Statements and Financial Highlights for Open-End Management Investment Companies.
Not applicable.
Item 8. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants for Open-End Management Investment Companies.
Not applicable.
Item 9. Proxy Disclosures for Open-End Management Investment Companies.
Not applicable.
Item 10. Remuneration Paid to Directors, Officers, and Others of Open-End Management Investment Companies.
Not applicable.
Item 11. Statement Regarding Basis for Approval of Investment Advisory Contract.
Not applicable.
Item 12. Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures for Closed-End Management Investment Companies.
Not applicable to this report.
Item 13. Portfolio Managers of Closed-End Management Investment Companies.
| (a) | Not applicable to the semi-annual report. |
| (b) | As of the date of this filing, there have been no changes in any of the portfolio managers identified in the most recent annual report on Form N-CSR. |
Item 14. Purchases of Equity Securities by Closed-End Management Investment Company and Affiliated Purchasers.
During the six months ended June 30, 2024, there were no purchases made by or on behalf of the registrant or any “affiliated purchaser”, as defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”), of shares or other units of any class of the registrant’s equity securities that are registered by the registrant pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act.
Item 15. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.
There have not been any material changes to the procedures by which shareholders may recommend nominees to the registrant’s board of directors, since those procedures were last disclosed in response to the requirements of Item 407(c)(2)(iv) of Regulation S-K or this Item.
Item 16. Controls and Procedures.
| (a) | The Registrant’s Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer have concluded that the Registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended) are effective based on their evaluation of these controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days of the filing date of this document. |
| (b) | There was no change in the Registrant's internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended) during the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Registrant's internal control over financial reporting. |
Item 17. Disclosure of Securities Lending Activities for Closed-End Management Investment Companies.
Not applicable to the semi-annual report.
Item 18. Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation.
| (a) | Not applicable. |
| (b) | Not applicable. |
Item 19. Exhibits.
| (a)(1) | Not applicable to this report. |
| (a)(2) | Not applicable to this report. |
| (a)(3) | Certifications pursuant to Rule 30a-2(a) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (17 CFR 270.30a-2(a)) attached hereto as Exhibit 99.CERT. |
| (a)(4) | Not applicable. |
| (a)(5) | Not applicable. |
| (b) | Certifications pursuant to Rule 30a-2(b) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (17 CFR 270.30a-2(b)) attached hereto as Exhibit 99.906CERT. |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
LIBERTY ALL-STAR EQUITY FUND
| By: | /s/ Mark Haley | |
| Mark Haley (Principal Executive Officer) | ||
| President | ||
| Date: | August 30, 2024 |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
LIBERTY ALL-STAR EQUITY FUND
| By: | /s/ Mark Haley | |
| Mark Haley (Principal Executive Officer) | ||
| President | ||
| Date: | August 30, 2024 | |
| By: | /s/ Erich Rettinger | |
| Erich Rettinger (Principal Financial Officer) | ||
| Treasurer | ||
| Date: | August 30, 2024 |