The Bishop Street Strategic Growth Fund acknowledges the fact that one can easily get lost in the flood of market information. That’s why the fund based its philosophy on building a reliable system for analyzing data, a mix of quantitative and fundamental approach, which aims to remove all emotions from the process. A crucial element is the back-testing that goes decades into the past to ensure that all possible environments are observed.

Following a time-tested three-pronged investment philosophy Jay Kaplan, portfolio manager at The Royce Value Fund, seeks to generate higher returns by identifying companies with strong balance sheets, high return businesses and discount valuations. Using a contrarian approach, the manager believes that rock solid balance sheets offer brick wall protection against temporary operating problems at a company.

When developing its strategy, the Osterweis Strategic Income Fund, started with the premise of managing money with no restraints. It identified two consecutive cycles, and to capitalize on both of them, the fund emphasized the ability to switch between investment grade and high yield bonds – two asset classes that are usually considered mutually exclusive. The manager Carl Kaufman also believes in equity-like analysis and in going beyond the charts and the quotes.

With approximately 220 stocks from around the globe, Vanguard International Value represents a broadly diversified international investment. The fund’s investable universe consists of 10,000 stocks from anywhere but the U.S., and as if this diversification wasn’t enough, Vanguard has chosen to work with three separate managers. But both of the managers share the belief that international value investing requires a thorough understanding of the handpicked companies.

Investing in small and micro-cap stocks requires a special focus. A fund manager not only has to watch for business fundamentals but also look for investor sentiment. These thinly traded stocks can deliver outsized gains when very few analysts and investors are following the companies. The fund managers at the Perkins Discovery Fund combine fundamental valuation analysis with investor sentiment by following technical patterns on price charts to stay ahead of other investors.

Although First Focus Growth Opportunities is a growth fund, it doesn’t limit itself only to the growth industries. Instead, portfolio manager Kurt Spieler spreads the exposure across various industries looking for the companies with above-average growth in each group. The bottom-up research process is complemented by a risk control overlay whose final goal is a portfolio of 50 to 60 growth stocks with low correlations.

If you buy companies at appropriate valuations, you should do better than the market over time while taking less risk. This philosophy may sound simple to understand but is hard to execute. For Richard Earnest, co-manager of the HighMark Value Momentum Fund, it means conservative five-year forecasts on 700 companies, various estimates of their worth, a thorough understanding of the key issues, awareness of the downside risk, and a top-down view on the world.

Scouring the world for value plays is not an easy job, but the Quant Foreign Value Fund has found a way to narrow down a universe of 24,000 companies down to 400 in just two days. The remaining 28 days of the month are for scrutinizing financial statements and for traveling around the world for a first-hand experience with the companies on the short list. An emphasis on cash flow enables comparisons and helps to control the risk.

Combining growth investing with environmentally responsible practices does not seem that difficult when you talk to the manager of the Winslow Green Growth Fund. Not limited only to renewable energy or organic food industries, the fund finds many opportunities among young technology, science, or consumer companies that are established with a bias towards responsible practices.

Russell’s LifePoints Funds – available in two series: Target Portfolio Funds and Target Date Funds – are primarily geared towards investors planning their retirement. The Target Date Series is designed for investors who prefer to base their investment decision on their expected retirement date and the Target Portfolio Series is aimed at those investors who want to base their decision on risk tolerance.