Memorandum

TO: Clients and Friends of Ariel Investments, LLC.
FROM: John W. Rogers, Jr., Co-CEO and Chief Investment Officer and Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO and President
DATE: August 16, 2023
RE: Company Update

Rupal Bhansali recently informed us of her intention to leave Ariel to start her own firm. While her last official day will be August 31st, she will serve as a consultant through February 28, 2024. In this capacity, she will be available to our investment and client teams as needed. We are grateful for all Rupal has contributed to the management of our International and Global strategies and wish her well as she pursues entrepreneurship.

Henry Mallari-D’Auria, CFA will become our Chief Investment Officer of Global and Emerging Markets Equities. Both the International and Global (I/G) as well as the Emerging Markets (EM) teams will report to him. Prior to Ariel, Henry worked at AllianceBernstein (AB) for 31 years. In addition to having spent two decades as the Chief Investment Officer of Emerging Markets Value Equities, Henry was one of the key architects of AB’s global value research department. During his long tenure at AB, this now $676 billion firm grew substantially. Over that time, Henry developed deep expertise training and retaining analysts and portfolio managers, researching companies around the world, and directly overseeing portfolios—including managing international portfolios in his role as Co-CIO of International Value Equities. Given his multifaceted knowledge and significant experience, Henry is exceptionally well qualified to lead the day-to-day management of our International and Global portfolios as well as its dedicated research department.

Although Henry will serve as the lead portfolio manager of the I/G and EM strategies, he will be strongly backed in both efforts in parallel and symmetric structures. Ariel veteran Micky Jagirdar will support him in the management of our I/G strategies, just as his long-time collaborators, Vlad Byalik and Christine Phillpotts, CFA assist in the management of the EM portfolios. As you may recall, Vlad and Christine joined Henry from AB. Micky began as an analyst when the International and Global portfolios were incepted in 2011 before being promoted to Head of Investments and later co-portfolio manager of the Ariel Global Concentrated strategy when it was launched in 2020. As previously announced, Micky will serve as the lead portfolio manager of our long/short strategy when it goes live.

With 40 years in business, Ariel has thrived under the guiding principle that portfolio changes should be evolutionary, not revolutionary; carefully considered and opportunistic. We are certain Henry will continue to manage the International and Global portfolios in the long-standing tradition of our actively patient approach to investing. And in keeping with his team orientations, Henry intends to only invest in companies he and the analysts agree are attractive.

While we know any change at the portfolio manager level can feel disruptive, we have great confidence in Henry’s ability to run the strategies while leading the talented I/G and EM research groups. He is a proven team builder and team player. Expect a high degree of collaboration between the groups with Henry as the linchpin. To that end, he is planning to hold weekly joint research meetings with his I/G and EM colleagues—which will be additive to their separate departmental meetings. Moreover, beyond participating in the Domestic Investment Committee meetings, Henry has asked for one senior member of the Chicago research team to attend his joint IG/EM meeting on a rotational basis—thereby providing an excellent opportunity for investment knowledge and experience to be leveraged throughout the firm. Additionally, starting September 1st, the EM team will begin working out of our existing I/G office until both groups move to a connecting floor directly below Ariel Alternatives next year—enabling all Ariel New Yorkers to be together in one location.

As we look to the future, we are confident we have the people, processes and passion needed to drive strong, long-term returns. When humility allows for continued learning, and confidence is combined with curiosity—patience wins.

We are grateful for the opportunity to serve you. Should you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to call.