Quick Facts
Investor Institutional
Ticker: BUFGX BIIGX
Daily Pricing:  
As of 3/18/2024  
NAV: $32.80 $33.02
$ Change: $0.32 $0.32
% Change:
0.99% 0.98%
YTD:
8.72% 8.76%
Inception Date: 5/19/1995 7/1/2019
Expense Ratio: 0.92% 0.77%
Total Net Assets: $148.83 Million  (9/30/23)
Morningstar Category: Large Cap Growth
Benchmark Index: Russell 3000 Growth
Related Material:
   Fund Fact Sheet Q4 2023
   PM Commentary Q4 2023
Fund Objective & Investment Philosophy

The investment objective of the Buffalo Growth Fund is long-term growth of capital. The Fund invests in common stocks and other equity securities, including preferred stock, convertible securities, warrants and rights, with a goal of maintaining at least 75% of the Fund’s portfolio in companies with market capitalizations greater than the median of the Russell 3000 Growth Index at the time of purchase or $5 billion, whichever is lower. The median market capitalization of the Russell 3000 Growth Index changes due to market conditions and also changes with the composition of the index.

With respect to the remaining 25% of the equity weighting of the Fund’s portfolio, the Fund may invest in companies of any size, including, but not limited to, those with market capitalizations less than the lower of the median of the Russell 3000 Growth Index or $5 billion, whichever is lower.

The Fund managers seek to identify companies that are expected to experience growth based on the identification of long-term, measurable secular trends, and which, as a result, the managers believe may have potential revenue growth in excess of the gross domestic product growth rate. Companies are screened using in-depth, in-house research to identify those which the managers believe have favorable attributes, including attractive valuation, strong management, conservative debt, free cash flow, scalable business models, and competitive advantages.

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The Growth Fund invest in secular trend leaders: attractively-priced, financially-strong, well-managed companies across all market cap segments, which we believe are favorably positioned to harvest the lion’s share of big secular growth trends.

Dave Carlsen, CFA, Co-Portfolio Manager

Morningstar Ratings

       

Overall Morningstar Rating™ of BUFGX based on risk-adjusted returns among 1,115 Large Growth funds as of 2/29/24

Performance (%)

As of 2/29/243 MOYTD1 YR3 YR5 YR10 YR15 YR20 YRSince Inception
BUFFALO GROWTH FUND - Investor12.897.8243.189.1114.1511.8916.0310.0610.79
BUFFALO GROWTH FUND - Institutional12.917.8743.389.2714.3112.0516.2010.2210.95
  Russell 3000 Growth Index14.469.2543.9711.3717.9815.0918.0911.4310.63
  Lipper Large Cap Growth Fund Index16.0310.8947.659.1316.4213.7016.7610.399.62
As of 12/31/233 MOYTD1 YR3 YR5 YR10 YR15 YR20 YRSince Inception
BUFFALO GROWTH FUND - Investor13.1242.6442.646.1315.1311.3414.159.9410.56
BUFFALO GROWTH FUND - Institutional13.1542.7942.796.2715.2911.5014.3210.1010.72
  Russell 3000 Growth Index14.0941.2141.218.0818.8514.3316.3711.1010.35
  Lipper Large Cap Growth Fund Index14.2342.0342.035.7116.9412.8915.039.959.28

2013201420152016201720182019202020212022
BUFFALO GROWTH FUND - Investor35.408.882.644.8622.810.5131.9128.2921.69-31.13
BUFFALO GROWTH FUND - Institutional35.609.052.805.0222.990.6632.1128.4921.85-31.03
  Russell 3000 Growth Index34.2312.445.097.3929.59-2.1235.8538.2625.85-28.97
  Morningstar U.S. Growth Index33.3412.665.543.1629.520.7834.9044.6524.79-36.70
For performance prior to 7/1/19 (Inception Date of Institutional Class), performance of the Investor Class shares is used and includes expenses not applicable and lower than those of Investor Class shares.Performance data quoted represents past performance; 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 of the fund may be lower of higher than the performance quoted and can be obtained here. Performance is annualized for periods greater than 1 year. Each Morningstar category average represents a universe of funds with similar objectives.
3 Year Risk Metrics
BUFGX vs Russell 3000 Growth Index (As of 12/31/23)
Upside Capture101.49
Downside Capture105.37
Alpha-1.74
Beta1.00
Sharpe Ratio0.19
Hypothetical Growth of $10,000
This chart illustrates the performance of a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund on the Fund’s inception date. This chart does not imply future performance.

Portfolio

Portfolio Characteristics
(As of 12/31/23) 
 
# of Holdings42
Median Market Cap$125.23 B
Weighted Average Market Cap$998.05 B
3-Yr Annualized Turnover Ratio12.04%
% of Holdings with Free Cash Flow88.10%
Active Share47.33%
Top 10 Holdings
Name of HoldingTickerSector% of Net
Assets
Microsoft CorporationMSFTInformation Technology12.87
Alphabet Inc.GOOGCommunication Services10.12
Apple Inc.AAPLInformation Technology9.58
Amazon.com, Inc.AMZNConsumer Discretionary6.26
Mastercard Incorporated Class AMAFinancials3.30
Adobe IncorporatedADBEInformation Technology2.79
Visa Inc. Class AVFinancials2.70
NVIDIA CorporationNVDAInformation Technology2.68
Meta Platforms Inc. Class AMETACommunication Services2.42
UnitedHealth Group IncorporatedUNHHealth Care2.12
TOP 10 HOLDINGS TOTAL54.84%
As of 9/30/23. Top 10 Holdings for the quarter are not disclosed until 60 days after quarter end. Fund holdings are subject to change and are not recommendations to buy or sell any securities.
Sector Weighting

As of 12/31/23. Security weightings are subject to change and are not recommendations to buy or sell any securities. Sector Allocation may not equal 100% due to rounding.

Market Capitalization

As of 12/31/23. Market Cap percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.

Management

Dave Carlsen, CFA
Portfolio Manager

31 Years of Experience

 View full bio

Josh West, CFA
Portfolio Manager

18 Years of Experience

 View full bio

Commentary

PERFORMANCE COMMENTARY

(As of 12/31/23)

The Buffalo Growth Fund gained 13.12% in the fourth quarter compared to the
Russell 3000 Growth Index return of 14.09%. Strong stock selection in the Consumer
and Technology sectors largely offset poor stock selection in the Health Care sector.
Within the Consumer sector, overweight positions in Amazon, Uber, and not owning
Tesla drove relative performance. Our performance in the tech sector was driven
by several software companies (Microsoft, Adobe, DoubleVerify, Intuit, Palo Alto
Networks, Salesforce, ServiceNow). Within Healthcare, life sciences and medical device
companies continued to underperform, but most of the underperformance was driven
by Establishment Labs (discussed on the following page).

Top Contributors
Shares of Microsoft advanced over 19% in the quarter. The company reported sales
and earnings ahead of street expectations, driven by strength across all business lines,
particularly Azure and personal computing. Microsoft has been investing heavily in the
development of AI-powered solutions across its various business segments, such as
using AI to enhance productivity and efficiency in its Azure cloud infrastructure, Search
and Office software suite. Microsoft should continue to grow their leading share in cloud
computing, gaming, and MS Office productivity applications.

Amazon.com shares rallied in the quarter, after the company reported a margin
driven earnings beat. The company continued to gain market share in North American
ecommerce and digital advertising markets. AWS growth stabilized with artificial
intelligence products growing rapidly. Looking forward, we expect Amazon to continue to
dominate ecommerce, benefit from growth in the public cloud, and continue to rapidly
grow advertising revenues.

Top Detractors
Within the Healthcare sector, Establishment Labs (ESTA) is bringing innovation to
the breast implant space that has not had material change for close to 20 years. Their
products offer a superior safety profile to that of legacy breast implant manufacturers,
and they are rolling out a less invasive procedure that could drive volume growth.
The incremental pressure on the shares in the calendar fourth quarter was due
to significant slowing of demand for breast augmentation procedures in foreign
geographies. Over half of the company’s revenue comes from distributors who serve
plastic surgeon practices. As the consumer showed some signs of weakness and
economic conditions tightened, distributors put the brakes on orders and started to
draw down existing inventories versus continuing to replenish. The shares have rallied
in early 2024 on the news of approval to enter the Chinese market and indications that
distributor inventory destocking is behind them. Additionally, investors are refocused
on the pending approval to enter the U.S. market which represents over half the global
opportunity.

Schlumberger, an oilfield services company that provides technology for reservoir
characterization, drilling, production, and processing was another detractor in the
quarter. Shares followed the price of oil lower during the quarter. Looking forward, we
expect Schlumberger to continue to benefit from years of underinvestment in global
energy production.

OUTLOOK

(As of 12/31/23)

In the first quarter of this year, investors were concerned that the Federal Reserve would
push the economy into recession with their rapid interest rate increases. In the second
quarter, investors became convinced that the Federal Reserve would be able to tame
inflation without killing economic expansion, also known as a “soft landing”. In the third
quarter, investors returned to fretting over a possible or probable recession again. In the
fourth quarter, the Federal Reserve signaled a more dovish position and a likely peak in
interest rates for this cycle. Investors cheered that outlook, and the prevailing view is again
for the economy to have a soft landing. We highlight this mainly to point out how fickle the
financial markets are and how quickly the prevailing view can change.

We do not know if there will be a recession this year, next year, or the year after, but we
remain focused on investing in businesses that will be larger and more profitable many
years from now and have the financial strength to weather a recession whenever one
occurs. Regardless of what happens with the economy or broader equity markets, we will
strive to maximize risk-adjusted returns in the portfolio by investing in attractively valued
businesses with solid growth opportunities, durable competitive advantages, scalable
business models, and exceptional management teams.

Thank you for your continued support.

The opinions expressed are those of the Portfolio Manager(s) and are subject to change, are not guaranteed and should not be considered recommendations to buy or sell any security. Investing in both actively and passively managed mutual funds involves risk and principal loss is possible. Earnings growth is not representative of the fund’s future performance.

Literature

General Account
Forms
Investor
Class
Institutional
Class
Both
  New Account Application
  New Account Application - Entity
  Change or Add Account Details
  Cost Basis Method Election
  Power of Attorney
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) Forms
  IRA Account Application
  IRA Beneficiary Addition / Change
  IRA Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)
  IRA / Qualified Plan Distribution Request
  IRA Transfer
Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (ESA) Forms
  Coverdell ESA Application
  Coverdell ESA Distribution Request
  Coverdell ESA Transfer
Retirement Information
  Retirement Savings Options for Individuals

Fundamental Approach

We get to know the companies we invest in and learn how they run their business.

Top-Down & Bottom-Up

We identify Top-Down broad, secular growth trends and search for companies from the Bottom-Up.

Proprietary Philosophy

We construct our portfolios based on our own proprietary investment strategy.

Disciplined Investing

Sticking to our disciplined investment strategy ensures we maintain a consistent, balanced approach.

Morningstar Rating™

The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating™ for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating™ metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.

©2022 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (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. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

The Buffalo Growth Fund (BUFGX) received 3 stars among 1,115 for the 3-year, 3 stars among 1,040 for the 5-year, and 3 stars among 811 Large Growth funds for the 10-year period ending 2/29/24. Other share classes may have different performance characteristics.