Founded in 1983 by John W. Rogers, Jr., Ariel Investments is a privately owned Chicago-based money management firm that has grown from 2 to 70 employees with $5.1 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2009. In addition to managing separate accounts for corporate, public, union and non-profit organizations, Ariel Investments also serves as the investment adviser to our publicly-traded, no-load mutual funds.

Our equity separate account strategies invest primarily in small and medium-sized U.S. companies. Our flagship Ariel Fund represents the firm’s small/mid-cap value strategy and Ariel Appreciation Fund is managed with a pure mid-cap value strategy. We have managed small-cap value portfolios since the firm's inception and introduced our mid-cap value style in 1989. 

We expanded our options in 2005 to include Ariel Focus Fund, a mid/large cap investment option. As a non-diversified fund, Ariel Focus Fund will invest in a limited number of companies—generally 20 stocks. Managed under the same time-tested patient investing philosophy which Ariel has been executing against for more than 25 years, Ariel Focus Fund enables us to apply Ariel’s distinctive investment approach across a broader spectrum of the market in a focused and exciting way for our shareholders.

Patience serves as the core of our investment philosophy. The firm was built around the belief that patient investors will be rewarded—that wealth can be created by investing in quality companies, selling at excellent prices whose true value would be realized over time. As such, we believe our long-term performance is driven by our disciplined and focused approach, our stock selection across industries where Ariel has proven expertise, our exhaustive investigative research process and our commitment to investing in quality businesses that are typically undervalued or ignored.

Given our commitment to identifying and realizing long-term value, it makes perfect sense that we have adopted the Tortoise, the victor in Aesop’s timeless fable, as our symbol, and the fable’s moral—slow and steady wins the race—as our creed.

Controlling interest of the firm is owned by John W. Rogers, Jr. and his family. However, as we feel that it is important to create an environment where employees share in both the rewards and responsibilities of ownership, Ariel’s employees also have an equity interest in the firm through restricted stock offerings, stock grant and stock option programs. As such, Ariel employees own a combined total of 85.3% of the firm as of December 31, 2009. Remaining shares of Ariel Investments are owned by company directors and outside shareholders who helped finance the firm’s initial start-up costs and ongoing business development.