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.
Allows us to take a long-term view and look past short-term noise with a 3-5 year time horizon in mind.

A Focused Approach

"Invest within your circle of competence." - Warren Buffett

Augments our conviction, especially during crunch time when it matters most.
Leads us to isolate key issues of importance to a company in the midst of market noise.
Results in our portfolio concentration in a limited number of names and industries.

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.
Leads us to perform our own original, proprietary research.
Persuades us to be benchmark agnostic with very different industry weightings.

Social Screens: The responsibility factor

We believe ethical business practices make good investment sense.

We do not invest in corporations whose primary source of revenue is derived from:

the production or sale of tobacco products or
the manufacture of handguns.

Additionally, we consider a company’s environmental record which includes reviewing research from outside vendors that provide such services, and we encourage portfolio companies to have proactive diversity practices.

For more information, read The Responsibility Factor.

Fund Facts

Market Cap Range: generally between $2 billion and $15 billion

Inception:
Investor Class: 12/01/1989
Institutional Class: 12/30/2011

Number of holdings: 30-40

Turnover: 20-30%

Ticker Symbol:
Investor Class: CAAPX
Institutional Class: CAAIX

Fund Assets (all classes):
$1.6 billion as of 3/31/2013

> Click for Expense Ratios

Portfolio Managers

John W. Rogers, Jr.
Co-Portfolio Manager
View Full Bio

Timothy Fidler
Co-Portfolio Manager
View Full Bio

Fund Spotlight

Funds Start the Year Strong
Money recognizes Ariel Appreciation Fund as best performer

Independent Thinking
[video] Find out how we use independent thinking in our research process.

Focus and Expertise
[video] Hear from Tim Fidler why focus is a key ingredient to Ariel’s long-term investment strategy.

The four-part investment process drives us to take a long-term view, focusing on what matters most through independent thought and research.

The Idea: We read extensively, monitor computer screens, meet with industry experts, and stay abreast of former holdings.

The Science: We seek to purchase companies that trade at a 40% discount to the PMV we have calculated, sell for 13x or less forward cash earnings estimates, or both.

The Art: We surround companies to paint a long-term picture and identify what others are missing. The chief tool is our extensive independent verification network — the many experts we know well. We use strategic questioning of company management and outside experts to identify the key issues affecting an industry or company.

The Decision: We generally purchase only a few companies each year so we weigh our options carefully. Typically, key information is captured in a research report. Our research team vets the idea in a vigorous discussion and each senior research team member weighs in. After this step, the lead portfolio manager makes the final purchase decision.

Sector Weightings (%) as of March 31, 2013

	Ariel Appreciation Fund	Russell Midcap Value	Russell Midcap	S&P 500
Financial Services	36.75	30.90	21.51	17.19
Consumer Discretionary	35.20	10.01	17.41	13.61
Health Care	16.50	7.21	9.10	12.37
Producer Durables	8.55	11.31	13.35	10.57
Energy	1.56	9.14	7.57	10.93
Consumer Staples	1.44	4.84	6.16	9.56
Utilities	0.00	11.57	6.76	6.33
Materials and Processing	0.00	6.11	6.82	3.78
Technology	0.00	8.91	11.32	15.65

> View Historical Sector Diversification

Represents percentage of total equity holdings in the portfolio

Portfolio Characteristics as of March 31, 2013

	Market Capitalization	Ariel Appreciation Fund	Russell Midcap Value	Russell Midcap	S&P 500
Market Capitalization	(In billions)
Large Capitalization	64.31 & Above	0.0	0.0	0.0	48.1
Medium/Large Capitalization	18.65 -- 64.31	22.1	8.1	8.1	31.4
Medium Capitalization	6.39 -- 18.65	29.6	53.1	58.5	18.1
Medium/Small Capitalization	2.39 -- 6.39	39.1	34.7	30.4	2.4
Small Capitalization	2.39 & Below	9.2	4.0	3.0	0.0
Dollar-Weighted Average (BIL)^*		$7.91	$7.94	$8.37	$58.72
Valuation Metrics
Forward Price/Earnings		13.6	14.7	16.1	14.0
Trailing Price/Earnings		16.6	19.6	21.5	17.0
Discount to Private Market Value		-17.2	n/a	n/a	n/a
Fundamentals
5 Yr. Estimated Earnings Growth ^**		10.5	10.1	12.1	10.8
Interest Coverage Ratio		6.3	4.2	4.9	7.2
Portfolio Construction
Number of Holdings		42	562	796	500
Turnover		34.9	n/a	n/a	n/a

> View Historical Portfolio Characteristics

Market Capitalization data, Valuation Metrics, Fundamentals and Number of Holdings are obtained from BNY Mellon. Portfolio Turnover is generated internally through Fiserv APL.

*Market Capitalization is a dollar-weighted average natural log. Using the natural log of each stock’s market capitalization reduces the weight given to the largest companies in a simple averaging process.
**This measure is not a forecast of the fund’s performance.

The Russell Midcap® Value Index measures the performance of the mid-cap value segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes those Russell Midcap Index companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of the mid-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Russell Midcap Index is a subset of the Russell 1000® Index. It includes approximately 800 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. The Russell Midcap Index represents approximately 27% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 1000 companies. Russell® is a trademark of Russell Investment Group, which is the source and owner of the Russell Indexes’ trademarks, service marks and copyrights. The S&P 500® Index is the most widely accepted barometer of the market. It includes 500 blue chip, large cap stocks, which together represent about 75% of the total U.S. equities market.

> Investor Class

> Institutional Class

Quarter End

Month End

Ariel Appreciation Fund Performance as of April 30, 2013

	One Month	Three Months	Year To Date	One Year	Three Years	Five Years	Ten Years	Since Inception
Inception date: December 1, 1989				Annualized
Ariel Appreciation Fund	1.67%	7.74%	17.48%	24.51%	11.46%	9.67%	9.55%	10.85%
Russell Midcap® Value Index	1.12%	7.51%	15.49%	23.66%	13.70%	7.49%	11.88%	11.54%
Russell Midcap® Index	1.28%	7.08%	14.41%	19.20%	13.70%	7.24%	11.63%	11.20%
S&P 500® Index	1.93%	7.18%	12.74%	16.89%	12.80%	5.21%	7.88%	9.00%

Ariel Appreciation Fund Performance as of March 31, 2013

	One Month	Three Months	Year To Date	One Year	Three Years	Five Years	Ten Years	Since Inception
Inception date: December 1, 1989				Annualized
Ariel Appreciation Fund	3.70%	15.55%	15.55%	18.63%	12.55%	10.21%	10.23%	10.81%
Russell Midcap® Value Index	4.48%	14.21%	14.21%	21.49%	14.95%	8.53%	12.57%	11.53%
Russell Midcap® Index	4.25%	12.96%	12.96%	17.30%	14.62%	8.37%	12.27%	11.18%
S&P 500® Index	3.75%	10.61%	10.61%	13.96%	12.67%	5.81%	8.53%	8.94%

> Compare Performance for all our Funds
> View Historical Quarter-by-Quarter Performance

Expense Ratio as of the fiscal year ended 9/30/12: 1.17%

Investing in mid-cap stocks is more risky and volatile than investing in large-cap stocks. Ariel Appreciation Fund often invest a significant portion of its assets in companies within the financial services and consumer discretionary sectors and its performance may suffer if these sectors underperform the overall stock market. 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 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.

Average Annual Total Return does not reflect a maximum 4.75% sales load charged prior to 07/15/94.

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.

Quarter End

Month End

Ariel Appreciation Fund Performance as of April 30, 2013

	One Month	Three Months	Year To Date	One Year	Three Years	Five Years	Ten Years	Since Inception
Inception date: December 1, 1989				Annualized
Ariel Appreciation Fund	1.69%	7.82%	17.63%	24.83%	11.59%	9.75%	9.59%	10.87%
Russell Midcap® Value Index	1.12%	7.51%	15.49%	23.66%	13.70%	7.49%	11.88%	11.54%
Russell Midcap® Index	1.28%	7.08%	14.41%	19.20%	13.70%	7.24%	11.63%	11.20%
S&P 500® Index	1.93%	7.18%	12.74%	16.89%	12.80%	5.21%	7.88%	9.00%

Ariel Appreciation Fund Performance as of March 31, 2013

	One Month	Three Months	Year To Date	One Year	Three Years	Five Years	Ten Years	Since Inception
Inception date: December 1, 1989				Annualized
Ariel Appreciation Fund	3.76%	15.68%	15.68%	18.92%	12.68%	10.28%	10.27%	10.83%
Russell Midcap® Value Index	4.48%	14.21%	14.21%	21.49%	14.95%	8.53%	12.57%	11.53%
Russell Midcap® Index	4.25%	12.96%	12.96%	17.30%	14.62%	8.37%	12.27%	11.18%
S&P 500® Index	3.75%	10.61%	10.61%	13.96%	12.67%	5.81%	8.53%	8.94%

> Compare Performance for all our Funds

Expense Ratio as of the fiscal year ended 9/30/12: 0.99%*

*Annualized.

The inception date for the Institutional Class shares is December 30, 2011. Performance information for the Institutional Class prior to that date reflects the actual performance of the Fund's Investor Class (and uses the actual expenses of the Fund's Investor Class, for such period of time), without any adjustments. For any such period of time, the performance of the Fund's Institutional Class would have been substantially similar to, yet higher than, the performance of the Fund's Investor Class, because the shares of both classes are invested in the same portfolio of securities, but the classes bear different expenses, which are primarily differences in distribution and service fees.

Average Annual Total Return does not reflect a maximum 4.75% sales load charged prior to 07/15/94.

Monthly Commentary: Perspectives on the current market

> Open the most recent Market Commentary

Quarterly Report: Quarterly performance update and communication to investors

> Open the most recent Ariel Investments Quarterly Report

Fact Sheets: Quarterly overview of fund objectives and performance summary

> Open the most recent Ariel Appreciation Fund Fact Sheet

Morningstar Analyst Report: Independent fund report published by Morningstar

> Open the most recent Ariel Appreciation Fund Morningstar Analyst Report

Schedule of Holdings as of March 31, 2013

Shares	Security Description	CUSIP	Ticker	Current Value ($)	% of Net Assets

77,262,391	Fixed Income Clearing Corporation	85748R009		77,262,391	4.9
5,430,730	Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc.	460690100	IPG	70,762,412	4.5
1,859,520	Lazard Ltd	G54050102	LAZ	63,465,418	4.0
782,754	Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.	883556102	TMO	59,872,853	3.8
1,025,500	Northern Trust Corp.	665859104	NTRS	55,951,280	3.5
1,007,000	AFLAC Inc.	001055102	AFL	52,384,140	3.3
801,800	Viacom, Inc.	92553P201	VIAB	49,366,826	3.1
1,211,200	St. Jude Medical, Inc.	790849103	STJ	48,980,928	3.1
1,900,200	First American Financial Corp.	31847R102	FAF	48,588,114	3.1
2,899,890	International Game Technology	459902102	IGT	47,848,185	3.0
2,408,700	Blackstone Group L.P.	09253U108	BX	47,644,086	3.0
684,200	Towers Watson	891894107	TW	47,428,744	3.0
458,500	Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.	48020Q107	JLL	45,579,485	2.9
1,387,100	Hospira, Inc.	441060100	HSP	45,538,493	2.9
956,900	CBS Corp.	124857202	CBS	44,677,661	2.8
593,900	Zimmer Holdings, Inc.	98956P102	ZMH	44,673,158	2.8
295,400	Franklin Resources, Inc.	354613101	BEN	44,549,274	2.8
2,246,455	KKR & Co. L.P.	48248M102	KKR	43,401,511	2.7
2,829,000	Western Union Co.	959802109	WU	42,548,160	2.7
4,362,775	Janus Capital Group Inc.	47102X105	JNS	41,010,085	2.6
1,208,956	International Speedway Corp.	460335201	ISCA	39,508,682	2.5
597,900	City National Corp.	178566105	CYN	35,222,289	2.2
574,250	Illinois Tool Works Inc.	452308109	ITW	34,994,795	2.2
403,299	Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.	854502101	SWK	32,655,120	2.0
392,100	Snap-on Inc.	833034101	SNA	32,426,670	2.0
1,428,300	Gannett Co., Inc.	364730101	GCI	31,236,921	2.0
499,700	Madison Square Garden Co.	55826P100	MSG	28,782,720	1.8
571,100	Coach, Inc.	189754104	COH	28,549,289	1.8
223,625	Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.	090572207	BIO	28,176,750	1.8
448,700	Omnicom Group Inc.	681919106	OMC	26,428,430	1.7
988,700	Newell Rubbermaid Inc.	651229106	NWL	25,805,070	1.6
586,482	Contango Oil & Gas Co.	21075N204	MCF	23,512,063	1.5
739,435	DeVry Inc.	251893103	DV	23,477,061	1.5
601,600	Sotheby's	835898107	BID	22,505,856	1.4
342,300	Life Technologies Corp.	53217V109	LIFE	22,122,849	1.4
219,475	J.M. Smucker Co.	832696405	SJM	21,763,141	1.4
243,300	T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.	74144T108	TROW	18,215,871	1.1
669,050	CBRE Group, Inc.	12504L109	CBG	16,893,513	1.1
305,800	Nordstrom, Inc.	655664100	JWN	16,889,334	1.1
231,200	Tiffany & Co.	886547108	TIF	16,077,648	1.0
463,550	Carnival Corp.	143658300	CCL	15,899,765	1.0
187,100	Accenture plc	G1151C101	ACN	14,213,987	0.9
672,300	Apollo Group, Inc.	037604105	APOL	11,691,297	0.7
	Cash, Other Assets and Liabilities			-1,741,768	-0.2
Grand Total				$1,586,840,557	100.0%

Mutual Funds

Separately Managed Accounts

Our patient investment philosophy

A Patient View

A Focused Approach

A Team of Independent Thinkers

We believe ethical business practices make good investment sense.

Sector Weightings (%) as of March 31, 2013

Portfolio Characteristics as of March 31, 2013

Ariel Appreciation Fund Performance as of April 30, 2013

Ariel Appreciation Fund Performance as of March 31, 2013

Ariel Appreciation Fund Performance as of April 30, 2013

Ariel Appreciation Fund Performance as of March 31, 2013

Schedule of Holdings as of March 31, 2013