Ariel Investments
Current Price: $39.81 (as of 09/07/10)
Daily Change: -0.87    -2.14%
YTD Return: 3.24%

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


Value of a $10,000 Investment in Ariel Fund
*Statistics represent past performance which is not indicative of future results. All performance assumes the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. The Russell 2500™ Value Index measures the performance of small to mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The Russell 2500™ Index measures the performance of small to 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: ARGFX
Newspaper Symbol: Ariel
CUSIP: 040337107
Ariel Mutual Fund #: 2220
Total Net Assets: $1.8 billion as of 06/30/2010
Expense Ratio: 1.14% as of 9/30/09
Investment Minimum: $1,000 initial; $50 subsequent; waived min. with automatic investment program
Sales Charge: None

Investing in small- and 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 Fund received a two-star Overall Morningstar Rating™ as of 07/31/10 out of 363 domestic mid-cap blend funds. Ariel Fund was rated two stars among 363, one star among 304 and three 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 Fund Performance as of August 31, 2010

Inception date: November 6, 1986 Annualized
  One
Month
Three Months Year To Date One
Year
Three
Years
Five
Years
Ten
Years
Since Inception
Ariel Fund -6.39% -6.97% -2.70% 13.58% -8.83% -2.83% 5.67% 10.36%
Russell 2500™ Value Index -5.55% -6.43% -0.20% 9.82% -6.60% -0.49% 6.95% 10.47%
Russell 2500™ Index -5.92% -6.49% -1.00% 10.06% -6.26% 0.27% 3.64% 9.58%
S&P 500 Index -4.51% -3.17% -4.62% 4.91% -8.66% -0.91% -1.81% 8.79%

Ariel Fund Performance as of June 30, 2010

Inception date: November 6, 1986 Annualized
  One
Month
Three Months Year To Date One
Year
Three
Years
Five
Years
Ten
Years
Since Inception
Ariel Fund -10.46% -14.09% -6.35% 35.37% -11.46% -3.08% 5.62% 10.26%
Russell 2500™ Value Index -7.71% -10.16% -1.57% 26.46% -9.26% -0.09% 7.58% 10.49%
Russell 2500™ Index -7.14% -9.98% -1.69% 24.03% -7.98% 0.98% 4.15% 9.63%
S&P 500 Index -5.23% -11.43% -6.65% 14.43% -9.81% -0.79% -1.59% 8.70%

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:  1.14%  as of 9/30/09 

Investing in small cap and mid-cap stocks is more risky and more 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 2500™ Value Index measures the performance of small to mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.

The Russell 2500™ Index measures the performance of small to 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 in Ariel Fund
*Statistics represent past performance which is not indicative of future results. All performance assumes the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. The Russell 2500™ Value Index measures the performance of small to mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The Russell 2500™ Index measures the performance of small to 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 Fund
Overall Rating
Two-Star Overall Morningstar Rating

Ariel Fund received a two-star Overall Morningstar Rating™ as of 07/31/10 out of 363 domestic mid-cap blend funds. Ariel Fund was rated two stars among 363, one star among 304 and three 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 4.4
2.  Hospira, Inc. 4.2
3.  Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. 4.1
4.  Janus Capital Group Inc. 4.0
5.  CBS Corp., Class B 3.9
6.  Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc. 3.9
7.  Gannett Co., Inc. 3.8
8.  Lazard Ltd, Class A 3.6
9.  J.M. Smucker Co. 3.5
10.  Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. 3.5
    Grand Total 38.9%

Portfolio Composition (%) as of June 30, 2010

  Ariel Fund Russell 2500 Value Russell 2500 S&P 500
Consumer Discretionary 36.43% 10.41% 15.27% 12.02%
Financial Services 27.20 34.65 22.81 17.14
Producer Durables 14.41 11.02 13.70 10.64
Consumer Staples 10.16 3.77 3.29 10.01
Health Care 7.70 5.99 11.53 12.02
Materials and Processing 2.67 7.93 8.00 3.71
Technology 1.43 7.34 12.56 17.16
Utilities 0.00 12.13 7.04 6.51
Energy 0.00 6.76 5.81 10.80
* Represents percentage of total equity holdings in the portfolio

The Russell 2500™ Value Index measures the performance of small to mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The Russell 2500™ Index measures the performance of small and mid-cap companies. The S&P 500® Index is a broad market-weighted index dominated by blue-chip stocks.

Equity: 99.2%
Cash, Assets & Other Liabilities: 0.8%

Portfolio Characteristics (%) as of June 30, 2010

  Ariel Fund Russell 2500 Value Russell 2500 S&P 500
Average Market Capitalization $3.15 $1.53 $1.54 $40.66
Median Market Capitalization 3.3 0.5 0.6 8.9
Number of Holdings 36 1,652 2,505 500
Wall Street Analysts Per Stock 11 9 9 21
Turnover (%) 33 n/a n/a n/a
P/E (forward) 13.3 12.7 14.1 12.3
Beta (vs. Russell 3000 Index) 1.36 1.22 1.24 0.94
Price/Book 1.9 1.2 1.7 1.9
Dividend Yield (%) 1.1 2.1 1.5 2.2
Return on Equity (5 year) (%) 12.8 9.2 11.4 20.6
EPS Growth (forward) (%) 10.9 9.1 12.2 10.8
The Russell 2500™ Value Index measures the performance of small to mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The Russell 2500™ Index measures the performance of small and 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
2,341,413 Hewitt Associates, Inc., Class A 42822Q100 HEW 64,470,352 80,685,092 4.4
1,335,301 Hospira, Inc. 441060100 HSP 46,336,740 76,713,042 4.2
1,123,173 Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. 48020Q107 JLL 17,107,621 73,725,076 4.1
8,232,978 Janus Capital Group Inc. 47102X105 JNS 79,768,946 73,108,845 4.0
5,509,000 CBS Corp., Class B 124857202 CBS 29,974,391 71,231,370 3.9
9,953,772 Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc. 460690100 IPG 69,134,383 70,970,394 3.9
5,164,739 Gannett Co., Inc. 364730101 GCI 14,134,177 69,517,387 3.8
2,436,200 Lazard Ltd, Class A G54050102 LAZ 84,280,457 65,070,902 3.6
1,070,438 J.M. Smucker Co. 832696405 SJM 38,667,004 64,461,776 3.5
1,250,395 Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. 854502101 SWK 36,598,806 63,169,955 3.5
720,834 Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Class A 090572207 BIO 44,711,306 62,344,933 3.4
907,100 Dun & Bradstreet Corp. 26483E100 DNB 71,447,111 60,884,552 3.3
4,108,757 Newell Rubbermaid Inc. 651229106 NWL 74,325,639 60,152,202 3.3
1,582,125 McCormick & Co., Inc. 579780206 MKC 56,989,323 60,057,465 3.3
4,266,657 CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. 12497T101 CBG 17,564,821 58,069,203 3.2
1,178,748 Mohawk Industries, Inc. 608190104 MHK 59,324,463 53,939,509 3.0
2,757,290 Herman Miller, Inc. 600544100 MLHR 50,432,182 52,030,062 2.9
3,303,625 International Game Technology 459902102 IGT 38,027,450 51,866,913 2.8
1,714,511 IDEX Corp. 45167R104 IEX 28,255,076 48,983,579 2.7
4,495,038 Interface, Inc., Class A 458665106 IFSIA 45,207,263 48,276,708 2.7
2,004,356 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. V7780T103 RCL 18,252,968 45,639,186 2.5
1,800,403 Brady Corp., Class A 104674106 BRC 28,930,591 44,866,043 2.5
1,794,065 HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. 404132102 HCC 35,586,221 44,421,049 2.4
1,334,775 Nordstrom, Inc. 655664100 JWN 18,623,063 42,966,407 2.4
1,117,106 Tiffany & Co. 886547108 TIF 39,374,382 42,349,488 2.3
3,333,657 PrivateBancorp, Inc. 742962103 PVTB 40,547,301 36,936,920 2.0
1,160,071 Meredith Corp. 589433101 MDP 24,852,975 36,113,010 2.0
682,826 City National Corp. 178566105 CYN 28,651,314 34,981,176 1.9
1,769,200 Brink's Co. 109696104 BCO 43,636,143 33,667,876 1.9
617,054 Energizer Holdings, Inc. 29266R108 ENR 14,462,367 31,025,475 1.7
1,788,338 Constellation Brands, Inc., Class A 21036P108 STZ 22,320,151 27,933,840 1.5
529,975 DeVry Inc. 251893103 DV 31,393,366 27,818,388 1.5
606,350 Anixter Intl Inc. 035290105 AXE 13,250,016 25,830,510 1.4
1,091,600 Fair Isaac Corp. 303250104 FICO 23,181,028 23,785,964 1.3
976,367 Sotheby's 835898107 BID 15,651,917 22,329,513 1.2
60,016 Markel Corp. 570535104 MKL 10,903,116 20,405,440 1.1
10,487,204 Fixed Income Clearing Corporation 85748R009 10,487,204 10,487,204 0.6
Other Assets and Liabilities 4,537,153 0.3
Grand Total   $1,386,861,634 $1,821,353,607 100.0%  

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 Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in common stocks of companies with market capitalizations between $1 billion and $5 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.
  • Allows us to take a long-term view and look past short-term noise with a 3-5 year time horizon in mind.
  • 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 Fund may invest up to 10% of their respective 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 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 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 Fund Historical Sector Diversification as of December 31

Sector Diversification(%) 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009  
Technology 2.61 4.65 5.85 5.51 4.26 3.20  
Health Care 9.72 9.81 7.25 7.63 12.88 7.84  
Consumer Discretionary 35.42 32.51 31.00 24.60 36.42 35.61  
Consumer Staples 5.36 4.63 2.86 7.96 8.26 11.34  
Energy 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00  
Materials and Processing 6.23 4.96 6.64 10.63 8.89 1.70  
Producer Durables 13.48 9.63 10.24 10.32 3.32 11.91  
Financial Services 27.18 33.81 36.16 33.35 25.97 28.40  
Utilities 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00  

Ariel Fund Historical Portfolio Characteristics as of December 31

Market Capitalization ($ weighted avg. nlog — millions) 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009  
Ariel Fund 2340 2550 3220 3400 2200 3440  
Russell 2500 Value 1790 1770 1950 1900 1300 1640  
Russell 2500 1710 1820 1970 2200 1300 1690  
S&P 500 47530 47510 53920 56600 38500 43770  
     
Price/Earnings (Forward)        
     
Ariel Fund 19.3 17.0 15.9 13.2 8.9 16.3  
Russell 2500 Value 16.4 15.6 16.1 13.9 10.7 14.7  
Russell 2500 18.5 17.5 17.7 16.5 11.5 16.2  
S&P 500 17.1 15.4 15.4 15.2 11.1 15.1  
     
Beta (Correlated to the Russell 3000 Index)        
     
Ariel Fund 0.77 0.77 0.80 1.05 1.14 1.36  
Russell 2500 Value 0.86 1.00 1.01 1.12 0.91 1.28  
Russell 2500 1.08 1.17 1.17 1.27 1.01 1.23  
S&P 500 0.94 0.94 0.95 0.90 0.81 0.94  
     
Number of Issues        
     
Ariel Fund 45 46 34 33 33 35  
Russell 2500 Value 1676 1654 1616 1611 1638 1757  
Russell 2500 2521 2499 2464 2430 2433 2503  
S&P 500 500 500 500 500 500 500  
     
Portfolio Turnover        
     
Ariel Fund 15.7 18.9 23.7 26.8 30.6 39.9  

All indexes are unmanaged and returns include reinvested dividends. An investor cannot invest directly in an index.

The Russell 2500™ Value Index measures the performance of small to mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.

The Russell 2500™ Index measures the performance of small to 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
Nov. 28, 1986 $15.65 $0.000000 $0.009760 $0.000000 $0.009760
Dec. 24, 1987 $16.39 $0.795300 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.795300
April 25, 1988 $20.06 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.020000 $0.020000
Dec. 30, 1988 $22.55 $0.381100 $0.000000 $0.133710 $0.514810
Dec. 22, 1989 $26.85 $0.463155 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.463155
Dec. 29, 1989 $27.68 $0.055120 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.055120
Dec. 28, 1990 $22.64 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.284606 $0.284606
Dec. 27, 1991 $27.38 $0.705390 $0.000000 $0.561421 $1.266811
Nov. 26, 1992 $28.69 $1.922440 $0.000000 $0.693324 $2.615764
Dec. 24, 1992 $29.37 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.056035 $0.056035
Nov. 24, 1993 $28.59 $1.733548 $0.000000 $0.179786 $1.913333
Dec. 30, 1993 $30.09 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.116056 $0.116056
Dec. 30, 1994 $26.98 $1.700970 $0.000000 $0.233870 $1.934840
Dec. 28, 1995 $27.10 $3.597260 $0.584380 $0.436930 $4.618570
Dec. 30, 1996 $31.91 $0.783910 $0.996836 $0.000000 $1.780746
Dec. 30, 1997 $39.79 $2.240620 $1.333220 $0.143910 $3.717750
Dec. 30, 1998 $39.28 $3.687650 $0.028360 $0.081450 $3.797460
Dec. 15, 1999 $29.06 $5.339000 $0.702330 $0.075580 $6.116910
Dec. 4, 2000 $31.27 $4.753460 $1.000170 $0.246170 $5.999800
Dec. 10, 2001 $36.48 $0.303240 $0.231330 $0.110580 $0.645150
Dec. 27, 2002 $34.96 $0.420290 $0.099980 $0.000000 $0.520270
Dec. 29, 2003 $45.27 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000
Nov. 17, 2004 $51.76 $1.582560 $0.207850 $0.000000 $1.790410
Dec. 29, 2004 $53.17 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.022910 $0.022910
Nov. 17, 2005 $50.82 $2.973050 $0.511130 $0.000000 $3.484180
Dec. 29, 2005 $50.28 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.149450 $0.149450
Nov. 16, 2006 $51.22 $3.402430 $0.000000 $0.000000 $3.402430
Dec. 28, 2006 $52.04 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000
Nov. 15, 2007 $47.73 $4.359440 $0.141470 $0.000000 $4.500910
Dec. 27, 2007 $46.40 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.148540 $0.000000
Nov. 24, 2008 $21.17 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000
Dec. 29, 2008 $22.04 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.380020 $0.380020
Nov. 23, 2009 $36.36 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.000000
Dec. 29, 2009 $38.98 $0.000000 $0.000000 $0.006336 $0.006336

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
Fund
Russell 2500 Value Index Russell 2500 Index Russell 2000 Value Index Russell 2000
Index
S&P 500 Index
4Q 1986 2.03% 0.31% 1.32% 0.15% 0.62% 5.57%
Period Ending 1986 2.03% 0.31% 1.32% 0.15% 0.62% 5.57%
1Q 1987 15.45% 19.22% 22.04% 21.45% 24.31% 21.35%
2Q 1987 3.46% 0.94% 0.60% 0.00% -0.71% 5.02%
3Q 1987 13.10% 5.37% 4.90% 5.14% 4.19% 6.60%
4Q 1987 -17.54% -24.99% -25.98% -27.25% -29.06% -22.52%
Year Ended 1987 11.40% -4.88% -4.68% -7.11% -8.77% 5.25%
1Q 1988 20.30% 17.56% 16.03% 20.73% 19.07% 5.69%
2Q 1988 12.91% 7.60% 6.79% 6.83% 6.59% 6.65%
3Q 1988 -0.22% 1.00% -0.82% 0.85% -0.94% 0.32%
4Q 1988 3.24% -0.07% -0.13% -0.46% -0.66% 3.13%
Year Ended 1988 39.93% 27.67% 22.73% 29.47% 24.89% 16.61%
1Q 1989 7.23% 7.81% 7.73% 7.99% 7.70% 7.08%
2Q 1989 7.73% 7.19% 7.59% 6.27% 6.37% 8.84%
3Q 1989 6.95% 5.43% 7.30% 4.62% 6.75% 10.71%
4Q 1989 1.27% -5.45% -3.97% -6.36% -4.95% 2.06%
Year Ended 1989 25.12% 15.19% 19.43% 12.43% 16.24% 31.69%
1Q 1990 -4.77% -2.71% -2.78% -1.77% -2.21% -3.01%
2Q 1990 5.50% 0.72% 3.93% 1.25% 3.86% 6.29%
3Q 1990 -25.39% -20.33% -21.98% -22.94% -24.54% -13.74%
4Q 1990 11.94% 5.82% 7.97% 2.07% 5.03% 8.96%
Year Ended 1990 -16.08% -17.40% -14.88% -21.77% -19.51% -3.10%
1Q 1991 18.88% 22.75% 25.46% 28.87% 29.74% 14.52%
2Q 1991 1.25% 2.12% -0.19% 0.55% -1.55% -0.23%
3Q 1991 4.27% 6.52% 8.59% 5.83% 8.15% 5.35%
4Q 1991 5.75% 5.34% 7.88% 3.32% 5.73% 8.39%
Year Ended 1991 32.72% 40.65% 46.70% 41.70% 46.05% 30.46%
1Q 1992 2.41% 8.45% 4.28% 12.30% 7.50% -2.53%
2Q 1992 -2.62% -0.17% -4.54% -1.98% -6.82% 1.90%
3Q 1992 1.96% 2.98% 2.73% 3.67% 2.87% 3.15%
4Q 1992 9.88% 12.02% 13.62% 13.17% 14.92% 5.04%
Year Ended 1992 11.73% 24.90% 16.19% 29.14% 18.41% 7.62%
1Q 1993 2.72% 9.03% 4.74% 9.74% 4.27% 4.37%
2Q 1993 -5.60% 1.87% 2.09% 1.62% 2.18% 0.49%
3Q 1993 5.62% 6.25% 7.07% 8.23% 8.74% 2.58%
4Q 1993 6.15% 1.10% 1.78% 2.62% 2.62% 2.32%
Year Ended 1993 8.72% 19.30% 16.54% 23.84% 18.91% 10.08%
1Q 1994 -5.33% -1.58% -2.22% -1.36% -2.65% -3.79%
2Q 1994 -0.59% -0.95% -3.54% -1.78% -3.89% 0.42%
3Q 1994 1.51% 4.82% 7.17% 4.73% 6.94% 4.89%
4Q 1994 0.26% -3.41% -2.21% -2.97% -1.87% -0.02%
Year Ended 1994 -4.22% -1.31% -1.06% -1.55% -1.82% 1.32%
1Q 1995 5.26% 6.26% 7.39% 3.70% 4.61% 9.74%
2Q 1995 2.04% 8.89% 8.91% 8.78% 9.37% 9.55%
3Q 1995 6.21% 7.99% 9.61% 8.32% 9.88% 7.95%
4Q 1995 3.89% 3.84% 2.73% 2.91% 2.17% 6.02%
Year Ended 1995 18.52% 29.76% 31.70% 25.75% 28.44% 37.58%
1Q 1996 2.82% 4.52% 5.86% 4.39% 5.10% 5.37%
2Q 1996 5.91% 3.07% 4.16% 4.09% 5.00% 4.49%
3Q 1996 2.79% 3.10% 2.25% 1.49% 0.34% 3.09%
4Q 1996 10.35% 10.03% 5.57% 10.06% 5.20% 8.34%
Year Ended 1996 23.51% 22.20% 19.03% 21.37% 16.49% 22.96%
1Q 1997 1.06% 0.81% -3.35% -0.25% -5.17% 2.68%
2Q 1997 12.88% 14.17% 15.11% 15.09% 16.21% 17.46%
3Q 1997 13.80% 12.45% 14.35% 12.89% 14.88% 7.49%
4Q 1997 5.10% 2.83% -2.25% 1.68% -3.35% 2.87%
Year Ended 1997 36.44% 33.09% 24.36% 31.79% 22.36% 33.36%
1Q 1998 9.18% 9.54% 10.25% 8.35% 10.06% 13.95%
2Q 1998 -0.69% -3.58% -4.17% -3.61% -4.66% 3.30%
3Q 1998 -15.61% -16.47% -19.07% -17.88% -20.15% -9.95%
4Q 1998 20.10% 11.17% 17.40% 9.07% 16.31% 21.30%
Year Ended 1998 9.89% -1.92% 0.39% -6.45% -2.55% 28.58%
1Q 1999 -7.56% -8.00% -4.74% -9.69% -5.42% 4.98%
2Q 1999 10.02% 16.02% 16.40% 16.56% 15.55% 7.05%
3Q 1999 -6.52% -8.64% -6.45% -7.82% -6.32% -6.25%
4Q 1999 -0.87% 4.08% 19.67% 1.53% 18.44% 14.88%
Year Ended 1999 -5.76% 1.49% 24.14% -1.49% 21.26% 21.04%
1Q 2000 -4.21% 4.67% 10.10% 3.82% 7.08% 2.29%
2Q 2000 14.03% -0.59% -4.00% 1.95% -3.78% -2.66%
3Q 2000 4.94% 6.89% 2.40% 7.34% 1.11% -0.97%
4Q 2000 12.34% 8.61% -3.66% 8.11% -6.91% -7.83%
Year Ended 2000 28.77% 20.79% 4.27% 22.83% -3.02% -9.11%
1Q 2001 1.87% -1.97% -8.67% 0.97% -6.51% -11.86%
2Q 2001 5.78% 9.98% 13.70% 11.64% 14.29% 5.85%
3Q 2001 -7.29% -12.45% -18.80% -13.34% -20.79% -14.68%
4Q 2001 14.32% 16.27% 20.05% 16.72% 21.09% 10.69%
Year Ended 2001 14.21% 9.74% 1.22% 14.02% 2.49% -11.88%
1Q 2002 7.64% 8.51% 3.74% 9.58% 3.98% 0.27%
2Q 2002 -3.55% -3.49% -8.63% -2.12% -8.35% -13.40%
3Q 2002 -10.16% -18.38% -18.67% -21.29% -21.40% -17.28%
4Q 2002 1.66% 5.44% 6.64% 4.92% 6.16% 8.44%
Year Ended 2002 -5.18% -9.87% -17.79% -11.42% -20.48% -22.10%
1Q 2003 -5.51% -4.77% -4.09% -5.08% -4.49% -3.15%
2Q 2003 17.63% 21.28% 21.91% 22.72% 23.42% 15.39%
3Q 2003 4.26% 7.77% 8.75% 7.72% 9.08% 2.65%
4Q 2003 10.48% 16.43% 14.43% 16.37% 14.52% 12.18%
Year Ended 2003 28.04% 44.93% 45.51% 46.03% 47.25% 28.68%
1Q 2004 6.74% 6.18% 5.89% 6.92% 6.26% 1.69%
2Q 2004 4.78% 0.51% 0.34% 0.85% 0.47% 1.72%
3Q 2004 0.32% 0.25% -2.52% 0.15% -2.86% -1.87%
4Q 2004 8.72% 13.64% 14.22% 13.20% 14.09% 9.23%
Year Ended 2004 21.97% 21.58% 18.29% 22.25% 18.33% 10.88%
1Q 2005 -0.32% -2.12% -3.14% -3.98% -5.34% -2.15%
2Q 2005 1.68% 5.33% 4.52% 5.08% 4.32% 1.37%
3Q 2005 1.22% 3.55% 4.89% 3.09% 4.69% 3.60%
4Q 2005 -1.63% 0.92% 1.81% 0.66% 1.13% 2.09%
Year Ended 2005 0.93% 7.74% 8.11% 4.71% 4.55% 4.91%
1Q 2006 8.11% 10.47% 11.14% 13.51% 13.94% 4.21%
2Q 2006 -6.21% -2.53% -4.34% -2.70% -5.02% -1.44%
3Q 2006 2.42% 2.27% 0.52% 2.55% 0.44% 5.67%
4Q 2006 6.25% 9.14% 8.70% 9.03% 8.90% 6.70%
Year Ended 2006 10.35% 20.18% 16.16% 23.48% 18.37% 15.79%
1Q 2007 3.94% 3.08% 3.55% 1.46% 1.95% 0.64%
2Q 2007 7.89% 2.91% 4.94% 2.30% 4.41% 6.28%
3Q 2007 -6.02% -6.04% -2.50% -6.26% -3.09% 2.03%
4Q 2007 -6.73% -6.97% 4.32% -7.28% -4.58% -3.33%
Year Ended 2007 -1.70% -7.27% 1.38% -9.78% -1.57% 5.49%
1Q 2008 -11.21% -7.22% -9.37% -6.53% -9.90% -9.44%
2Q 2008 -9.15% -1.24% 1.39% -3.55% 0.58% -2.73%
3Q 2008 -2.38% -1.22% -6.72% 4.96% -1.11% -8.37%
4Q 2008 -34.28% -24.86% -26.25% -24.89% -26.12% -21.94%
Year Ended 2008 -48.25% -31.99% -36.79% -28.92% -33.79% -37.00%
1Q 2009 -16.10% -16.32% -11.43% -19.64% -14.95% -11.01%
2Q 2009 34.75% 18.76% 20.27% 18.00% 20.69% 15.93%
3Q 2009 34.11% 22.77% 20.06% 22.70% 19.28% 15.61%
4Q 2009 7.79% 4.65% 5.08% 3.63% 3.87% 6.04%
Year Ended 2009 63.42% 27.68% 34.39% 20.58% 27.17% 26.46%
1Q 2010 9.00% 9.57% 9.21% 10.02% 8.85% 5.39%
2Q 2010 -14.09% -10.16% -9.98% -10.60% -9.92% -11.43%
Annualized Return
Since Inception
11/06/1986 through 6/30/2010
10.26% 10.49% 9.63% 9.87% 8.03% 8.70%

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.

The Russell 2500™ Value Index measures the performance of small to mid-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.

The Russell 2500™ Index measures the performance of small to mid-cap companies.

The Russell 2000® Value Index measures the performance of small-cap value companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.

The Russell 2000® Index measures the performance of small-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.