Ariel Investments
Current Price: $35.17 (as of 09/02/10)
Daily Change: +0.61 +1.77%
YTD Return: -0.79%

The Value of a $10,000 Investment as of June 30, 2010

Value of a $10,000 Investment

*Statistics represent past performance which is not indicative of future results. All performance assumes the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. The Russell Midcap® Value Index measures the performance of mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of mid-cap companies. The S&P 500® Index is a broad market-weighted index dominated by blue-chip stocks. All indices are unmanaged and returns include reinvested dividends. An investor cannot invest directly in an index.
Ticker Symbol: CAAPX
Newspaper Symbol: Apprec
CUSIP: 040337206
Ariel Mutual Fund #: 2221
Total Net Assets: $1.3 billion as of 06/30/2010
Expense Ratio: 1.25% as of 9/30/09
Investment Minimum: $1,000 initial; $50 subsequent; waived min. with automatic investment program
Sales Charge: None

Investing in mid-cap stocks is more risky and volatile than investing in large-cap stocks.

Performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All performance assumes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. For standardized performance data and performance data current to the most recent month-end, click here.

Ariel Appreciation Fund received a four-star Overall Morningstar Rating™ as of 07/31/10 out of 363 domestic mid-cap blend funds. Ariel Appreciation Fund was rated three stars among 363, three stars among 304 and four stars among 161 U.S.-domiciled mid-cap blend funds for the three-, five- and ten-year periods ended 07/31/10, respectively.

For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating™ based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. These ratings change monthly. The top 10% of funds in an investment category receive five stars, the next 22.5% receive four stars, the next 35% receive three stars, the next 22.5% receive two stars, and the bottom 10% receive one star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. Morningstar does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

© 2010 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

For definitions of terms used, see Glossary.

Ariel Appreciation Fund Performance as of July 31, 2010

Inception date: December 1, 1989 Annualized
  One
Month
Three Months Year To Date One
Year
Three
Years
Five
Years
Ten
Years
Since Inception
Ariel Appreciation Fund 9.31% -10.56% 0.37% 28.32% -2.83% 1.10% 6.88% 10.03%
Russell Midcap® Value Index 7.45% -7.02% 6.50% 26.14% -5.45% 1.22% 8.08% 10.69%
Russell Midcap® Index 7.19% -6.90% 4.98% 23.21% -4.85% 1.59% 5.08% 10.32%
S&P 500 Index 7.01% -6.69% -0.11% 13.84% -6.78% -0.17% -0.76% 8.05%

Ariel Appreciation Fund Performance as of June 30, 2010

Inception date: December 1, 1989 Annualized
  One
Month
Three Months Year To Date One
Year
Three
Years
Five
Years
Ten
Years
Since Inception
Ariel Appreciation Fund -9.48% -14.34% -8.18% 30.82% -7.35% -0.01% 6.16% 9.59%
Russell Midcap® Value Index -6.14% -9.57% -0.88% 28.91% -9.44% 0.71% 7.55% 10.35%
Russell Midcap® Index -6.25% -9.88% -2.06% 25.13% -8.19% 1.22% 4.24% 9.99%
S&P 500 Index -5.23% -11.43% -6.65% 14.43% -9.81% -0.79% -1.59% 7.73%

Average Annual Total Return does not reflect a maximum 4.75% sales load charged prior to 07/15/94. Assumes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains.

 Expense Ratio:  1.25%  as of 9/30/09 

Investing in mid-cap stocks is more risky and volatile than investing in large-cap stocks.

Performance data quoted represents past performance. All performance assumes the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted.

The Russell Midcap® Value Index measures the performance of mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.

The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of mid-cap companies.

The S&P 500® Index is a broad market-weighted index dominated by blue-chip stocks.

Investors should consider carefully the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses before investing. For a current summary prospectus or full prospectus which contains this and other information about the funds offered by Ariel Investment Trust, call us at 800-292-7435 or click here. Please read the summary prospectus or full prospectus carefully before investing. Distributed by Ariel Distributors, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ariel Investments, LLC.

The Value of a $10,000 Investment as of June 30, 2010


Value of a $10,000 Investment
*Statistics represent past performance which is not indicative of future results. All performance assumes the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. The Russell Midcap® Value Index measures the performance of mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of mid-cap companies. The S&P 500® Index is a broad market-weighted index dominated by blue-chip stocks. All indices are unmanaged and returns include reinvested dividends. An investor cannot invest directly in an index.

Morningstar Fund Ratings as of July 31, 2010


Ariel Appreciation Fund
Overall Rating
Four-Star Overall Morningstar Rating

Ariel Appreciation Fund received a four-star Overall Morningstar Rating™ as of 07/31/10 out of 363 domestic mid-cap blend funds. Ariel Appreciation Fund was rated three stars among 363, three stars among 304 and four stars among 161 U.S.-domiciled mid-cap blend funds for the three-, five- and ten-year periods ended 07/31/10, respectively.

For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating™ based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. These ratings change monthly. The top 10% of funds in an investment category receive five stars, the next 22.5% receive four stars, the next 35% receive three stars, the next 22.5% receive two stars, and the bottom 10% receive one star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. Morningstar does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

© 2010 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. 

Top Ten Equity Holdings as of June 30, 2010


  SECURITY DESCRIPTION % of Net Assets
1.  Hewitt Associates, Inc., Class A 4.2
2.  Accenture plc, Class A 4.0
3.  Gannett Co., Inc. 3.9
4.  Viacom, Inc. 3.9
5.  Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. 3.9
6.  Northern Trust Corp. 3.7
7.  CBS Corp., Class B 3.7
8.  Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 3.2
9.  AFLAC Inc. 3.2
10.  Mohawk Industries, Inc. 3.0
    Grand Total 36.7%

Portfolio Composition (%) as of June 30, 2010

  Ariel Appreciation Fund Russell Midcap Value Russell Midcap S&P 500
Consumer Discretionary 36.41% 10.61% 15.68% 12.02%
Financial Services 28.23 30.80 20.54 17.14
Health Care 15.33 5.37 9.26 12.02
Producer Durables 10.05 10.37 13.46 10.64
Consumer Staples 7.05 7.32 5.97 10.01
Technology 2.93 4.65 11.74 17.16
Utilities 0.00 15.06 8.58 6.51
Materials and Processing 0.00 5.93 6.70 3.71
Energy 0.00 9.88 8.07 10.80
* Represents percentage of total equity holdings in the portfolio

The Russell Midcap® Value Index measures the performance of mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of mid-cap companies. The S&P 500® Index is a broad market-weighted index dominated by blue-chip stocks.

Equity: 99.7%
Cash, Assets & Other Liabilities: 0.3%

Portfolio Characteristics (%) as of June 30, 2010

  Ariel Appreciation Fund Russell Midcap Value Russell Midcap S&P 500
Average Market Capitalization $7.18 $5.11 $5.20 $40.66
Median Market Capitalization 7.2 3.1 3.3 8.9
Number of Holdings 39 542 792 500
Wall Street Analysts Per Stock 16 12 14 21
Turnover (%) 40.7 n/a n/a n/a
P/E (forward) 12.6 12.4 13.8 12.3
Beta (vs. Russell 3000 Index) 1.25 1.19 1.18 0.94
Price/Book 2.2 1.3 1.8 1.9
Dividend Yield (%) 1.3 2.3 1.7 2.2
Return on Equity (5 year) (%) 18.1 11.3 14.8 20.6
EPS Growth (forward) (%) 11.4 8.7 11.3 10.8
The Russell Midcap® Value Index measures the performance of mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of mid-cap companies. The S&P 500® Index is a broad market-weighted index dominated by blue-chip stocks.

Schedule of Holdings as of June 30, 2010

Shares Security Description CUSIP Ticker Original Cost Current Value % of Net Assets
1,536,000 Hewitt Associates, Inc., Class A 42822Q100 HEW 43,447,659 52,930,560 4.2
1,292,100 Accenture plc, Class A G1151C101 ACN 23,390,777 49,939,665 4.0
3,687,200 Gannett Co., Inc. 364730101 GCI 9,279,315 49,629,712 3.9
1,569,500 Viacom, Inc. 92553P201 VIA.B 38,574,299 49,235,215 3.9
741,800 Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. 48020Q107 JLL 43,520,254 48,691,752 3.9
1,011,300 Northern Trust Corp. 665859104 NTRS 40,006,302 47,227,710 3.7
3,651,000 CBS Corp., Class B 124857202 CBS 25,466,019 47,207,430 3.7
825,854 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 883556102 TMO 15,745,707 40,508,139 3.2
942,200 AFLAC Inc. 001055102 AFL 19,344,678 40,203,674 3.2
838,975 Mohawk Industries, Inc. 608190104 MHK 38,084,790 38,391,496 3.0
2,811,450 CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. 12497T101 CBG 10,100,976 38,263,834 3.0
5,316,175 Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc. 460690100 IPG 30,231,071 37,904,328 3.0
700,000 Zimmer Holdings, Inc. 98956P102 ZMH 31,338,082 37,835,000 3.0
1,101,600 Omnicom Group Inc. 681919106 OMC 32,640,308 37,784,880 3.0
4,069,675 Janus Capital Group Inc. 47102X105 JNS 33,519,999 36,138,714 2.9
678,499 Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. 854502101 SWK 14,909,652 34,277,769 2.7
943,500 St. Jude Medical, Inc. 790849103 STJ 35,286,558 34,050,915 2.7
498,722 Dun & Bradstreet Corp. 26483E100 DNB 26,954,212 33,474,221 2.6
808,750 Baxter Intl Inc. 071813109 BAX 28,246,090 32,867,600 2.6
374,000 Franklin Resources, Inc. 354613101 BEN 14,683,022 32,235,060 2.6
1,062,550 Carnival Corp. & plc 143658300 CCL 29,217,755 32,131,512 2.5
532,675 J.M. Smucker Co. 832696405 SJM 27,256,513 32,077,689 2.5
1,145,200 Lazard Ltd, Class A G54050102 LAZ 41,344,292 30,588,292 2.4
1,921,700 International Game Technology 459902102 IGT 25,218,992 30,170,690 2.4
733,900 Tiffany & Co. 886547108 TIF 23,880,986 27,822,149 2.2
579,900 T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. 74144T108 TROW 12,554,880 25,741,761 2.0
280,525 Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Class A 090572207 BIO 19,179,774 24,262,607 1.9
576,150 Illinois Tool Works Inc. 452308109 ITW 27,545,335 23,783,472 1.9
315,500 Laboratory Corp. of America 50540R409 LH 21,059,274 23,772,925 1.9
1,954,900 Dell Inc. 24702R101 DELL 20,551,375 23,576,094 1.9
454,300 City National Corp. 178566105 CYN 23,865,075 23,273,789 1.8
1,063,900 Mattel, Inc. 577081102 MAT 24,078,294 22,512,124 1.8
667,500 Nordstrom, Inc. 655664100 JWN 8,374,245 21,486,825 1.7
532,825 McCormick & Co., Inc. 579780206 MKC 18,718,892 20,226,037 1.6
363,800 DeVry Inc. 251893103 DV 21,841,994 19,095,862 1.5
375,900 Energizer Holdings, Inc. 29266R108 ENR 17,333,701 18,900,252 1.5
284,347 Clorox Co. 189054109 CLX 11,767,422 17,675,009 1.4
313,000 Anixter Intl Inc. 035290105 AXE 18,444,399 13,333,800 1.1
494,800 Sotheby's 835898107 BID 9,412,000 11,316,076 0.9
4,988,685 Fixed Income Clearing Corporation 85748R009 4,988,685 4,988,685 0.4
Other Assets and Liabilities -1,631,187 -0.1
Grand Total   $961,403,653 $1,263,902,137 100.0%  

Investment Objective

Our mutual funds pursue long-term capital appreciation. The Funds invest for appreciation, not income and seek common stocks whose underlying value should increase over time. Any dividend and interest income the Funds earn is incidental to their fundamental objective. The Funds’ Adviser cannot guarantee any Fund will achieve capital appreciation in every circumstance, but we are dedicated to that objective.

Investment Strategy and Approach

Ariel Appreciation Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in common stocks of companies with market capitalizations between $2.5 billion and $15 billion measured at the time of purchase. The Fund invests in undervalued companies that show strong potential for growth. To capture anticipated growth, the Fund holds investments for a relatively long period of time – generally five years.

Our Approach to Investing
Our investment philosophy depends upon three interrelated tenets:  patience, focus, and independent thinking, which drive our contrarian approach.  Our divergence from conventional wisdom allows us to add value by taking advantage of the market’s few and small pockets of inefficiency.

A Patient View
“Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre.” — Warren Buffett

  • Compels us to wait for the perfect pitch—differentiated companies with strong cash flows, low debt, high quality products or services, significant barriers to entry and low reinvestment requirements.
  • Permits us to use the market’s short-term thinking to our advantage since our longer term approach allows us to be opportunistic as price dislocations arise.
  • Enables us to take our time to research a name and wait as long as necessary for it to possess the margin of safety we require.
  • Leads us to build extensive third party networks that inform our stock picking.

A Focused Approach
“Invest within your circle of competence.” — Warren Buffett

  • Allows us to build expertise and accumulate deep knowledge.
  • Augments our conviction, especially during crunch time when it matters most.
  • Enables us to learn from our mistakes and make fewer of them.
  • Leads us to isolate the key issues of importance to a company in the midst of the market noise.
  • Results in our portfolio concentration in a limited number of names and a limited number of industries.
  • Allows us to build and cultivate our third–party sources more effectively.
  • We don’t own a little bit of everything because we can’t know everything—we choose to go deep instead of broad.

A Team of Independent Thinkers
“If you buy the same stocks as everyone else, you get the same results.” — Sir John Templeton

  • Encourages us to buy out of favor, misunderstood and ignored stocks.
  • Compels us to buy when others are selling and to sell when others are buying.
  • Leads us to perform our own original, proprietary research.
  • Persuades us to be benchmark agnostic with very different industry weightings.
  • Permits us to take advantage of market psychology.

The Investment Process: A Focus On Independent Research

Uncovering Value
Ariel’s proprietary research process begins with the usual Wall Street sources – financial analysts’ reports, press releases and company financials. Digging deeper, we review more than 150 newspapers, trade periodicals and technical journals. In this way, we believe we can uncover outstanding opportunities that others may have missed.

We apply the same intensive research once we have identified a candidate for investment. We comb through the company’s financial history and analyze its prospects. We develop independent long-range financial projections and detail the risks.

A network of independent, third-party contacts reveals the invaluable insights of customers, suppliers, competitors and industry insiders, as well as other investment managers.

We also independently assess key executives. We believe the character and quality of a company’s management weighs at least as heavily as any other factor in determining its success. We believe the skill of the management team will help the company overcome unforeseen obstacles. In addition, the team’s contacts and experience may alert the company to emerging opportunities.

A portfolio consisting exclusively of stocks in these companies is highly select: Ariel Fund and Ariel Appreciation Fund generally contain no more than 50 stocks each; Ariel Focus Fund will generally own 20 stocks.

A Long-term View
Ariel believes the market will ultimately reward the companies in which we invest, and we give them the time such recognition requires, generally five years and sometimes even longer. This long-term approach means that the Funds typically have low rates of turnover*.

Each time a fund turns over a holding (e.g., sells one stock to buy another), it incurs transaction charges that negatively impact investment returns – the higher the turnover rate, the more negative the impact of the transaction costs. High turnover rates can reduce investment performance while low turnover rates can enhance it. A low rate of turnover can offer yet another advantage because it may defer a fund’s taxable capital gains.

We sell stocks when we believe they are fully valued or when our reasons for purchase no longer apply. We define fully valued to be our assessment of full valuation relative to potential earnings, which includes a price-to-earnings ratio of more than 20 times next year’s earnings and full valuation relative to intrinsic worth (i.e., a 0% discount to our private market value). We also may sell a stock when there is a major change in the competitive landscape, a substantial shift in company fundamentals or a loss of faith in management’s abilities.

Foreign Securities
Ariel Appreciation Fund may invest up to 10% of its net assets in foreign securities, as classified by the Adviser. Investments in foreign securities may be made through the purchase of individual securities on recognized exchanges and developed over-the-counter markets, or through American Depository Receipts (“ADRs”) or Global Depository Receipts (“GDRs”) covering such securities. The Funds expect to invest in foreign securities mainly through ADRs or GDRs.

The value of foreign securities may be affected by changes in exchange rates, as well as other factors that affect securities prices. There generally is less information publicly available about foreign securities and foreign securities markets, and there may be less government regulation and supervision of foreign issuers and foreign securities markets. Foreign securities and markets also may be affected by political and economic instabilities and may be more volatile and less liquid than domestic securities and markets. The Funds have not invested in, and do not currently expect to invest in, “emerging” foreign market securities.

Cash Positions
At times we may maintain larger than normal cash positions in a Fund. However, cash positions in a Fund are generally not held for defensive purposes, but are maintained while we search for compelling investments.


Definitions

Undervalued
Institutional investors consider a stock undervalued when it trades at a price below what they think the business is worth. The concept is relative. Investors might judge a stock undervalued on the basis of price to earnings ratio: they pay less for a dollar of corporate earnings when they buy a particular stock than they would if they bought another stock. Or they might judge a stock undervalued on the basis of the ratio of the value of its assets to the value of its market capitalization: they pay less for a dollar of assets by buying one stock than they would if they bought another stock.

Turnover
Turnover is an indication of how long a fund typically holds the stocks it purchases. A turnover rate of 100% implies that a fund changes its entire investment portfolio every year. As a product of our long-term investment strategy, turnover rates for the Ariel Fund and Ariel Appreciation Fund have been historically low (i.e., less than 50%).

Portfolio Snapshot

Portfolio Snapshots offer monthly and quarterly commentary on the performance of our Funds.

Open the latest Ariel Appreciation Fund Snapshot

Quarterly Portfolio Manager Commentary

This quarterly letter offers a performance update as well as our thoughts on the economy and our perspectives on investing.

Open the latest Ariel Appreciation Fund Quarterly Letter

Additional Commentary

For commentary on all of our mutual funds, including Fund Updates, the quarterly letters from our Portfolio Managers and a selection of spotlights on typical Fund holdings, visit our main Commentary area.

Ariel Appreciation Fund Historical Sector Diversification as of December 31

Sector Diversification(%) 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009  
Technology 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.16 3.16 5.00  
Health Care 14.21 14.13 9.49 11.32 13.56 14.73  
Consumer Discretionary 38.04 46.90 53.41 31.22 39.13 32.66  
Consumer Staples 2.58 2.50 2.21 6.33 4.20 9.19  
Energy 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.12 0.00  
Materials and Processing 0.00 0.00 1.23 5.46 3.41 0.00  
Producer Durables 3.95 4.47 4.97 5.67 3.01 9.29  
Financial Services 39.04 32.00 28.69 37.84 31.41 29.13  
Utilities 2.18 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00  

Ariel Appreciation Fund Historical Portfolio Characteristics as of December 31

Market Capitalization ($ weighted avg. nlog — millions) 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009  
Ariel Appreciation Fund 9650 8770 9990 8900 4700 7050  
Russell Midcap Value 6340 6400 7070 7000 4100 5100  
Russell Midcap 6030 6410 7050 7600 4300 5300  
S&P 500 47530 47510 53920 56600 38500 43770  
   
Price/Earnings (Forward)              
Ariel Appreciation Fund 17.4 15.9 17.1 14.7 9.8 15.6  
Russell Midcap Value 15.4 14.7 15.2 14.3 10.0 14.4  
Russell Midcap 17.5 16.7 17.2 16.4 10.6 15.7  
S&P 500 17.1 15.4 15.4 15.2 11.1 15.1  
   
Beta (Correlated to the Russell 3000 Index)              
Ariel Appreciation Fund 0.80 0.79 0.87 1.04 1.16 1.26  
Russell Midcap Value 0.77 0.89 0.95 0.99 0.93 1.25  
Russell Midcap 0.98 1.06 1.09 1.11 1.02 1.16  
S&P 500 0.94 0.94 0.95 0.90 0.81 0.94  
   
Number of Issues              
Ariel Appreciation Fund 35 34 31 35 32 39  
Russell Midcap Value 562 519 481 485 537 553  
Russell Midcap 792 783 784 794 798 773  
S&P 500 500 500 500 500 500 500  
   
Portfolio Turnover              
Ariel Appreciation Fund 17.4 30.4 21.6 32.3 29.7 48.2  
All indexes are unmanaged and returns include reinvested dividends. An investor cannot invest directly in an index.

The Russell Midcap® Value Index measures the performance of mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.

The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of mid-cap companies.

The S&P 500® Index is a broad market-weighted index dominated by blue-chip stocks.

Distribution History

Reinvest Date Reinvest Price
Per Share
Long Term Capital Gain
Per Share
Short Term Capital Gain
Per Share
Income Dividend
Per Share
Total Distribution
Per Share
Dec. 28, 1990 $14.47 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.242360 $0.242360
Dec. 27, 1991 $18.66 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.191240 $0.191240
Nov. 25, 1992 $21.03 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.064470 $0.064470
Dec. 24, 1992 $21.25 $0.018900 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.018900
Nov. 24, 1993 $21.58 $0.347700 $0.000000 $0.048000 $0.395700
Dec. 30, 1993 $22.73 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.004360 $0.004360
Dec. 30, 1994 $19.51 $1.267900 $0.128650 $0.062470 $1.459020
Dec. 28, 1995 $22.03 $1.766040 $0.000000 $0.199800 $1.965840
Dec. 30, 1996 $26.04 $1.323230 $0.045636 $0.074360 $1.443226
Dec. 30, 1997 $32.72 $1.518030 $1.547280 $0.067560 $3.132870
Dec. 30, 1998 $35.16 $3.376820 $0.080320 $0.035970 $3.493110
Dec. 15, 1999 $29.36 $2.652890 $0.497700 $0.042090 $3.192680
Dec. 4, 2000 $31.02 $3.423490 $0.531280 $0.116760 $4.071530
Dec. 10, 2001 $36.11 $0.587190 $0.118650 $0.064820 $0.770660
Dec. 27, 2002 $32.73 $0.123720 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.123720
Dec. 29, 2003 $43.10 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000
Nov. 17, 2004 $45.51 $1.047980 $0.152410 $0.000000 $1.200390
Dec. 29, 2004 $47.66 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.045710 $0.045710
Nov. 17, 2005 $46.62 $1.762070 $0.437950 $0.000000 $2.200020
Dec. 29, 2005 $46.87 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.132540 $0.132540
Nov. 16, 2006 $48.08 $3.309600 $0.152320 $0.000000 $3.461920
Dec. 28, 2006 $48.60 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.021500 $0.021500
Nov. 15, 2007 $44.19 $4.430140 $0.025760 $0.000000 $4.455900
Dec. 27, 2007 $43.14 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.229590 $0.229590
Nov. 24, 2008 $19.29 $3.089250 $0.019700 $0.000000 $3.108950
Dec. 29, 2008 $20.38 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.183820 $0.183820
Nov. 23, 2009 $33.60 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000
Dec. 29, 2009 $35.87 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.042167 $0.042167

Performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All performance assumes the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investors shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Click here to view performance data current to the most recent month-end.


Historical Performance

Period Ariel Appreciation Fund Russell Midcap Value Index Russell Midcap Index S&P 500 Index
1Q 1990 4.07% -4.15% -3.87% -3.01%
2Q 1990 6.21% 0.02% 3.70% 6.29%
3Q 1990 -22.44% -19.54% -19.83% -13.74%
4Q 1990 14.88% 8.79% 10.74% 8.96%
Year Ended 1990 -1.51% -16.09% -11.50% -3.10%
1Q 1991 22.57% 18.56% 20.48% 14.52%
2Q 1991 -0.22% 2.11% 0.52% -0.23%
3Q 1991 3.43% 6.89% 7.41% 5.35%
4Q 1991 5.26% 6.58% 8.79% 8.39%
Year Ended 1991 33.15% 37.92% 41.51% 30.46%
1Q 1992 2.04% 4.79% 1.56% -2.53%
2Q 1992 -3.43% 2.70% -0.21% 1.90%
3Q 1992 2.91% 2.99% 3.89% 3.15%
4Q 1992 11.67% 9.78% 10.50% 5.04%
Year Ended 1992 13.24% 21.68% 16.34% 7.62%
1Q 1993 -2.55% 8.38% 5.44% 4.37%
2Q 1993 -1.85% 2.55% 1.58% 0.49%
3Q 1993 4.89% 4.27% 5.35% 2.58%
4Q 1993 7.59% -0.23% 1.30% 2.32%
Year Ended 1993 7.94% 15.62% 14.30% 10.08%
1Q 1994 -4.85% -2.83% -2.96% -3.79%
2Q 1994 -0.37% -0.26% -2.16% 0.42%
3Q 1994 0.55% 4.48% 5.69% 4.89%
4Q 1994 -3.90% -3.35% -2.43% -0.02%
Year Ended 1994 -8.39% -2.13% -2.09% 1.32%
1Q 1995 7.07% 10.04% 10.41% 9.74%
2Q 1995 2.06% 8.67% 8.37% 9.55%
3Q 1995 6.75% 7.93% 8.87% 7.95%
4Q 1995 6.43% 4.54% 3.22% 6.02%
Year Ended 1995 24.16% 34.93% 34.46% 37.58%
1Q 1996 3.01% 5.59% 6.02% 5.37%
2Q 1996 4.71% 1.92% 2.82% 4.49%
3Q 1996 4.17% 2.88% 3.13% 3.09%
4Q 1996 10.10% 8.62% 5.85% 8.34%
Year Ended 1996 23.72% 20.26% 19.00% 22.96%
1Q 1997 -0.35% 1.70% -0.82% 2.68%
2Q 1997 14.59% 12.60% 13.56% 17.46%
3Q 1997 13.20% 12.76% 13.28% 7.49%
4Q 1997 6.71% 4.07% 1.11% 2.87%
Year Ended 1997 37.95% 34.37% 29.01% 33.36%
1Q 1998 9.11% 9.99% 10.80% 13.95%
2Q 1998 1.98% -2.57% -1.51% 3.30%
3Q 1998 -12.92% -13.66% -14.82% -9.95%
4Q 1998 23.38% 13.57% 18.44% 21.30%
Year Ended 1998 19.55% 5.08% 10.09% 28.58%
1Q 1999 -0.76% -3.11% -0.47% 4.98%
2Q 1999 8.27% 11.18% 10.86% 7.05%
3Q 1999 -11.76% -10.64% -8.59% -6.25%
4Q 1999 1.47% 3.77% 17.23% 14.88%
Year Ended 1999 -3.79% -0.11% 18.23% 21.04%
1Q 2000 -3.71% 1.01% 10.09% 2.29%
2Q 2000 4.56% -1.68% -4.51% -2.66%
3Q 2000 8.02% 9.65% 6.81% -0.97%
4Q 2000 9.26% 9.44% -3.59% -7.83%
Year Ended 2000 18.82% 19.18% 8.25% -9.11%
1Q 2001 1.84% -3.53% -10.49% -11.86%
2Q 2001 8.66% 7.05% 9.53% 5.85%
3Q 2001 -10.00% -11.55% -17.86% -14.68%
4Q 2001 16.70% 12.03% 17.20% 10.69%
Year Ended 2001 16.23% 2.33% -5.62% -11.88%
1Q 2002 8.56% 7.90% 4.25% 0.27%
2Q 2002 -6.77% -4.67% -9.55% -13.40%
3Q 2002 -15.96% -17.95% -17.64% -17.28%
4Q 2002 5.38% 7.07% 7.92% 8.44%
Year Ended 2002 -10.36% -9.64% -16.19% -22.10%
1Q 2003 -7.05% -4.06% -2.37% -3.15%
2Q 2003 21.84% 17.89% 18.26% 15.39%
3Q 2003 4.14% 5.94% 6.43% 2.65%
4Q 2003 11.06% 15.22% 13.97% 12.18%
Year Ended 2003 30.98% 38.07% 40.06% 28.68%
1Q 2004 3.72% 5.35% 5.14% 1.69%
2Q 2004 -0.04% 1.73% 1.45% 1.72%
3Q 2004 -0.60% 1.74% -0.84% -1.87%
4Q 2004 9.76% 13.46% 13.66% 9.23%
Year Ended 2004 13.10% 23.71% 20.22% 10.88%
1Q 2005 -2.69% 0.78% -0.25% -2.15%
2Q 2005 2.63% 4.70% 4.18% 1.37%
3Q 2005 1.49% 5.35% 5.92% 3.60%
4Q 2005 1.54% 1.34% 2.35% 2.09%
Year Ended 2005 2.92% 12.65% 12.65% 4.91%
1Q 2006 1.86% 7.62% 7.61% 4.21%
2Q 2006 -3.03% -0.56% -2.58% -1.44%
3Q 2006 5.01% 3.53% 2.11% 5.67%
4Q 2006 6.96% 8.50% 7.67% 6.70%
Year Ended 2006 10.94% 20.22% 15.26% 15.79%
1Q 2007 1.92% 4.86% 4.38% 0.64%
2Q 2007 7.86% 3.65% 5.30% 6.28%
3Q 2007 -4.67% -3.55% -0.39% 2.03%
4Q 2007 -5.91% -5.97% -3.55% -3.33%
Year Ended 2007 -1.40% -1.42% 5.60% 5.49%
1Q 2008 -9.22% -8.64% -9.98% -9.44%
2Q 2008 -3.04% 0.07% 2.67% -2.73%
3Q 2008 -3.98% -7.52% -12.91% -8.37%
4Q 2008 -29.88% -27.19% -27.27% -21.94%
Year Ended 2008 -40.74% -38.44% -41.46% -37.00%
1Q 2009 -11.85% -14.68% -8.98% -11.01%
2Q 2009 29.74% 20.94% 20.80% 15.93%
3Q 2009 29.10% 23.62% 20.62% 15.61%
4Q 2009 10.36% 5.21% 5.92% 6.04%
Year Ended 2009 62.96% 34.21% 40.48% 26.46%
1Q 2010 7.19% 9.61% 8.67% 5.39%
2Q 2010 -14.34% -9.57% -9.88% -11.43%
Annualized Return
Since Inception
12/01/1989 through 6/30/2010
9.59% 10.35% 9.99% 7.73%

Average Annual Total Return does not reflect a maximum 4.75% sales load charged prior to 07/15/94. Assumes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains.

For definitions of terms used, see Glossary.

The Russell Midcap® Value Index measures the performance of mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.

The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of mid-cap companies.

The S&P 500® Index is a broad market-weighted index dominated by blue-chip stocks.

Investors should consider carefully the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses before investing. For a current summary prospectus or full prospectus which contains this and other information about the funds offered by Ariel Investment Trust, call us at 800-292-7435 or click here. Please read the summary prospectus or full prospectus carefully before investing. Distributed by Ariel Distributors, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ariel Investments, LLC.