N-CSR 1 d547868dncsr.htm AMG FUNDS AMG Funds
Table of Contents

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM N-CSR

 

 

CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF

REGISTERED MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Investment Company Act file number: 811-09521

 

 

AMG FUNDS

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

 

 

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

 

 

AMG Funds LLC

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830

(Name and address of agent for service)

 

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (203) 299-3500

Date of fiscal year end: DECEMBER 31

Date of reporting period: JANUARY 1, 2017 – DECEMBER 31, 2017

(Annual Shareholder Report)

 

 

 


Table of Contents
Item 1. Reports to Shareholders


Table of Contents
LOGO             ANNUAL REPORT

 

 

AMG Funds

December 31, 2017

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Class N: MBEAX      |     Class I: MBESX     |      Class Z: MBEYX

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

Class N: CESVX        |     Class I: CESSX      |     Class Z: CESIX

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Class N: MGIDX      |     Class I: MADIX     |      Class Z: MAMZX

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Class N: MGSDX      |     Class I: MANIX     |      Class Z: MATZX

 

 

 

amgfunds.com         |    123117             AR009


Table of Contents


Table of Contents

AMG Funds

Annual Report—December 31, 2017

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

   PAGE  

LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS

     2  

ABOUT YOUR FUND’S EXPENSES

     3  

PORTFOLIO MANAGER’S COMMENTS, FUND SNAPSHOTS AND SCHEDULES OF PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS

  

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

     4  

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

     16  

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

     23  

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

     31  

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

  

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

     41  

Balance sheets, net asset value (NAV) per share computations and cumulative undistributed amounts

  

Statement of Operations

     43  

Detail of sources of income, expenses, and realized and unrealized gains (losses) during the fiscal year

  

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

     44  

Detail of changes in assets for the past two fiscal years

  

Financial Highlights

     46  

Historical net asset values per share, distributions, total returns, income and expense ratios, turnover ratios and net assets

  

Notes to Financial Statements

     58  

Accounting and distribution policies, details of agreements and transactions with Fund management and affiliates, and descriptions of certain investment risks

  

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

     68  

OTHER INFORMATION

     69  

TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS

     70  

Nothing contained herein is to be considered an offer, sale or solicitation of an offer to buy shares of any series of the AMG Funds family of mutual funds. Such offering is made only by prospectus, which includes details as to offering price and other material information.

 


Table of Contents

 

LOGO             Letter to Shareholders

 

 

 

Dear Shareholder:

The last 12 months was a strong period for equity markets as the health of the global economy improved and positive investor sentiment helped extend the U.S. bull market into its ninth year. The S&P 500® Index, a widely followed barometer of the U.S. equity market, returned 21.83% during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. By comparison, small cap stocks underperformed large caps with a 14.65% return for the small cap Russell 2000® Index.

The S&P 500 Index has notched positive performance in every month since the U.S. presidential election amidst the backdrop of strong corporate earnings, improving global economic growth and the passage of sweeping tax reform. 2017 also marked a turning point for the broader global economy as growth accelerated in a more coordinated fashion around the world, global trade improved and commodities recovered. U.S. equity market volatility remained extremely low despite saber rattling in North Korea and a devastating hurricane season. In fact, the S&P 500 Index has not seen a pullback greater than 5% since the summer of 2016.

In total, all but two sectors of the S&P 500 Index were positive during the last 12 months; however, there was significant dispersion in performance across sectors. Information technology and materials stocks led the Index with returns of 38.87% and 23.25%, respectively, while companies within the energy and telecommunication services sectors were the laggards with returns of (1.11)% and (1.49)%, respectively. Growth stocks outperformed value during all four quarters of the year and ended 2017 with returns of 30.2% and 13.7% for the Russell 1000® Growth and Russell 1000® Value Indexes, respectively. International equities outperformed domestic equities for the first time since 2012 as the global economy picked up and international returns were boosted by a weaker U.S. Dollar with the MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index returning 27.19% during the year. Meanwhile, emerging markets had their strongest year since 2009 with a 37.3% return for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

The U.S. bond market produced modestly positive returns for the year, as measured by the 3.54% return for the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a broad measure of U.S. bond market performance. The yield curve flattened as the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) continued to normalize monetary policy and short-term interest rates rose more than longer-term rates. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note rose 69 basis points during the year to yield 1.89% while the 10-year U.S. Treasury note

ended 2017 at a 2.40% yield, five basis points lower than where it started. Investment grade corporates outperformed Treasuries and securitized credits with returns of 6.42%, 2.31% and 2.51%, respectively. Bond investors willing to accept more credit risk were rewarded with higher returns as high yield bonds performed strongly and credit spreads tightened. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index ended the period with a 7.50% return.

AMG Funds appreciates the privilege of providing investment tools to you and your clients. Our foremost goal is to provide investment solutions that help our shareholders successfully reach their long-term investment goals. By partnering with AMG’s affiliated investment boutiques, AMG Funds provides access to a distinctive array of actively managed return-oriented investment strategies. Additionally, we oversee and distribute a number of complementary open-architecture mutual funds subadvised by unaffiliated investment managers. We thank you for your continued confidence and investment in AMG Funds. You can rest assured that under all market conditions our team is focused on delivering excellent investment management services for your benefit.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Jeffery Cerutti

President

AMG Funds

 

           Periods ended December 31, 2017*  

Average Annual Total Returns

    1 Year     3 Years     5 Years  

Stocks:

        

Large Caps

     (S&P 500® Index)       21.83     11.41     15.79

Small Caps

     (Russell 2000® Index)       14.65     9.96     14.12

International

    
(MSCI All Country World
ex-USA Index)
 
 
    27.19     7.83     6.80

Bonds:

        

Investment Grade

    
(Bloomberg Barclays U.S.
Aggregate Bond Index)
 
 
    3.54     2.24     2.10

High Yield

    

(Bloomberg Barclays U.S.
Corporate High Yield
Index)
 
 
 
    7.50     6.35     5.78

Tax-exempt

    
(Bloomberg Barclays
Municipal Bond Index)
 
 
    5.45     2.98     3.02

Treasury Bills

    
(ICE BofAML 6-Month
U.S. Treasury Bill Index)
 
 
    0.95     0.62     0.43

 

* Source: Factset. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
 

 

 

 

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Table of Contents

About Your Fund’s Expenses

 

 

As a shareholder of a Fund, you may incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, which may include sales charges (loads) on purchase payments; redemption fees; and exchange fees; and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution (12b-1) fees; and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. The example is based on $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period as indicated below.

ACTUAL EXPENSES

The first line of the following table provides information about the actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

The second line of the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed annual rate of return of 5% before expenses, which is not the Fund’s

actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds by comparing this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads), redemption fees, or exchange fees. Therefore, the second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds.

Six Months Ended December 31, 2017    Expense
Ratio for
the Period
    Beginning
Account Value
07/01/17
     Ending
Account Value
12/31/17
     Expenses
Paid During
the Period*
 

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

          

Based on Actual Fund Return

          

Class N

     1.09   $ 1,000      $ 1,080      $ 5.71  

Class I

     .94   $ 1,000      $ 1,080      $ 4.93  

Class Z

     .84   $ 1,000      $ 1,082      $ 4.41  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

          

Class N

     1.09   $ 1,000      $ 1,020      $ 5.55  

Class I

     .94   $ 1,000      $ 1,020      $ 4.79  

Class Z

     .84   $ 1,000      $ 1,021      $ 4.28  

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

          

Based on Actual Fund Return

          

Class N

     1.35   $ 1,000      $ 1,069      $ 7.04  

Class I

     1.26   $ 1,000      $ 1,069      $ 6.57  

Class Z

     .95   $ 1,000      $ 1,072      $ 4.96  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

          

Class N

     1.35   $ 1,000      $ 1,018      $ 6.87  

Class I

     1.26   $ 1,000      $ 1,019      $ 6.41  

Class Z

     .95   $ 1,000      $ 1,020      $ 4.84  

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

          

Based on Actual Fund Return

          

Class N

     .84   $ 1,000      $ 1,006      $ 4.25  

Class I

     .73   $ 1,000      $ 1,006      $ 3.69  

Class Z

     .69   $ 1,000      $ 1,007      $ 3.49  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

          

Class N

     .84   $ 1,000      $ 1,021      $ 4.28  

Class I

     .73   $ 1,000      $ 1,022      $ 3.72  

Class Z

     .69   $ 1,000      $ 1,022      $ 3.52  

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

          

Based on Actual Fund Return

          

Class N

     .72   $ 1,000      $ 1,004      $ 3.64  

Class I

     .63   $ 1,000      $ 1,004      $ 3.18  

Class Z

     .57   $ 1,000      $ 1,005      $ 2.88  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

          

Class N

     .72   $ 1,000      $ 1,022      $ 3.67  

Class I

     .63   $ 1,000      $ 1,022      $ 3.21  

Class Z

     .57   $ 1,000      $ 1,022      $ 2.91  

 

* Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized expense ratio multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half-year (184), then divided by 365.
 

 

 

 

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Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund (Class N shares) (the “Fund”) returned 15.54%, compared to the 14.17% return for its benchmark, which consists of 60% the return of the Russell 1000® Index and 40% the return of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.

The portfolio is managed to emphasize stock selection while also using our proprietary models to adjust size, style and allocation exposures. The Fund has had a strong year, beating the benchmark in three of the four quarters. A 65/35 asset allocation was maintained throughout the year and the overweight to equities helped returns relative to the 60/40 benchmark. The market phase identified by the firm’s proprietary model was in expansion all year, so the Fund maintained its preference for growth over value—this also helped relative returns as growth beat value in 2017. The equity portion of the Fund significantly outperformed the Russell 1000® Index, helped by the preference for growth over value and good performance from the alpha model. The fixed income portion of the Fund underperformed the Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate Index. The portfolio maintained its underweight to corporate bonds as well as its emphasis on higher quality issuers in this environment, which hurt relative performance.

The strong stock market of 2017 reflected not only multiple expansion, but also strong corporate earnings growth. Economic indicators in the U.S.

were generally strong in the fourth quarter and throughout 2017, with a solid job market, strong housing numbers, improved growth and earnings expectations, and moderate inflation. As such, the Federal Reserve raised rates three times in the year, with the targeted federal funds rate ending the year at 1.5%. Regarding fixed income markets, from a valuation standpoint, risk premiums are at cycle lows, demonstrated by the corporate option-adjusted spread (OAS) declining 30 basis points over the year to end at 93 basis points. Throughout the year, the yield curve flattened as short rates rose and longer rates declined. Additionally, we have seen an increase in risk overall, including in balance sheet leverage. The Federal Reserve’s intent is to continue to raise rates and reverse Quantitative Easing.

Given this backdrop, the fixed income portion of the Fund continues to focus on downside protection and the equity portion continues to follow its disciplined approach. Our research has shown that constructing a well-diversified portfolio of companies with attractive valuation ratios, quality balance sheets, and positive growth and momentum expectations built through a disciplined, risk-controlled process offers the potential to deliver consistent excess returns for the equity portion of the Fund. For the fixed income portion of the Fund, current circumstances support our strategy of maintaining a high quality bias. We believe the current environment demands an emphasis on downside protection in bond portfolios, and we are managing the portfolio in line with that belief. We will continue to monitor inputs to our investment process for indications of improving conditions and opportunity

but believe our positioning is prudent and in line with our stated objectives. Overall, our philosophy will not change based on short-term trends or conditions in the market. We will continue to use our disciplined approach to provide added value at controlled levels of risk.

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, Chicago Equity Partners, LLC, as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject to change without notice.

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class N shares on December 31, 2007, to a $10,000 investment made in the 60% Russell 1000® Index/40% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, Russell 1000® Index and the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

 

 

4


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE (continued)

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund, the 60% Russell 1000® Index/40% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, the Russell 1000® Index and the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

     One     Five     Ten     Since     Inception  
Average Annual Total Returns1    Year     Years     Years     Inception     Date  

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

          

Class N

     15.54     9.67     7.25     8.05     01/02/97  

Class I

     15.71     9.89     —         9.62     11/30/12  

Class Z

     15.90     9.96     7.53     8.43     01/02/97  

60% Russell 1000® Index9 /40% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index10

     14.17     10.29     7.36     7.72     01/02/97  

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index10

     3.54     2.10     4.01     5.22     01/02/97  

Russell 1000® Index9

     21.69     15.71     8.59     8.52     01/02/97  

 

 

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

Date reflects inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).
2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.
3  To the extent that the Fund invests in asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities, its exposure to prepayment and extension risks may be greater than investments in other fixed income securities.
4  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in debt securities, such as default risk and fluctuations in the perception of the debtor’s ability to pay its creditors. Changing interest rates may adversely affect the value of an investment. An increase in interest rates typically causes the value of bonds and other fixed income securities to fall.
5  Investments in international securities are subject to certain risks of overseas investing including currency fluctuations and changes in political and economic conditions, which could result in significant market fluctuations. These risks are magnified in emerging markets.
6  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in mid-capitalization companies such as greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than the stocks of larger, more established companies.
7  The Fund invests in value stocks, which may perform differently from the market as a whole and may be undervalued by the market for a long period of time.
8  Obligations of certain government agencies are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. If one of these agencies defaulted on a loan, there is no guarantee that the U.S. government would provide financial support. Additionally, debt securities of the U.S. government may be affected by changing interest rates and subject to prepayment risk.
9  The Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of approximately 1,000 of the largest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. The Russell 1000® represents approximately 92% of the U.S. market. Unlike the Fund, the Russell 1000® Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment, and does not incur expenses.
10  The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index represents securities that are SEC-registered, taxable, and dollar denominated. The index covers the U.S. investment grade fixed rate bond market, with index components for government and corporate securities, mortgage pass-through securities, and asset-backed securities. Unlike the Fund, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment, and does not incur expenses.

The Russell 1000® Index is a trademark of the London Stock Exchange Group companies.

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

 

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Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector

   % of
Net Assets
 

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     31.3  

Information Technology

     17.2  

Industrials

     10.4  

Consumer Discretionary

     9.1  

Financials

     8.9  

Health Care

     8.0  

Consumer Staples

     4.6  

Energy

     2.4  

Real Estate

     2.4  

Materials

     2.2  

Utilities

     1.7  

Telecommunication Services

     0.7  

Short-Term Investments*

     1.9  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (0.8

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.
** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name

   % of
Net Assets
 

Apple, Inc.

     2.9  

U.S. Treasury Bonds, 2.750%, 08/15/42

     2.4  

Alphabet, Inc., Class A

     2.1  

U.S. Treasury Notes, 2.250%, 11/15/24

     2.0  

U.S. Treasury Notes, 2.250%, 02/15/27

     2.0  

Microsoft Corp.

     1.5  

Facebook, Inc., Class A

     1.4  

Amazon.com, Inc.

     1.2  

FHLMC Gold Pool, 3.500%, 01/01/46

     1.1  

U.S. Treasury Notes, 1.000%, 06/30/19

     1.1  
  

 

 

 

Top Ten as a Group

     17.7  
  

 

 

 
 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 

 

6


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 63.8%

     

Consumer Discretionary - 9.1%

     

888 Holdings PLC (Gibraltar)

     21,500      $ 81,772  

Amazon.com, Inc.*

     2,020        2,362,329  

Aoyama Trading Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     1,300        48,580  

Bellway PLC (United Kingdom)

     300        14,382  

Beneteau, S.A. (France)

     4,800        114,869  

Best Buy Co., Inc.

     1,420        97,227  

BorgWarner, Inc.

     5,780        295,300  

Burlington Stores, Inc.*

     6,240        767,707  

Cable One, Inc.1

     390        274,307  

Card Factory PLC (United Kingdom)

     29,400        117,138  

CarMax, Inc.*

     3,480        223,172  

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.*

     195        56,361  

Choice Hotels International, Inc.

     1,840        142,784  

Comcast Corp., Class A

     34,675        1,388,734  

CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA (Germany)

     1,200        55,790  

De’ Longhi S.P.A. (Italy)

     100        3,027  

Dollar Tree, Inc.*

     3,140        336,953  

Domino’s Pizza, Inc.

     2,430        459,173  

Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc.

     2,590        166,977  

EDION Corp. (Japan)

     5,500        63,946  

Exedy Corp. (Japan)

     3,500        107,831  

Harley-Davidson, Inc.1

     2,360        120,077  

Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

     9,285        741,500  

The Home Depot, Inc.

     10,045        1,903,829  

John Menzies PLC (United Kingdom)

     4,000        36,751  

Kadokawa Dwango Corp. (Japan)

     4,500        55,486  

Kindred Group PLC, SDR (Malta)

     3,100        44,264  

Liberty Interactive Corp. QVC Group, Class A*

     28,355        692,429  

Liberty Ventures*

     4,190        227,266  

Macy’s, Inc.1

     3,785        95,344  

Marriott International, Inc., Class A

     4,440        602,641  

McDonald’s Corp.

     5,400        929,448  

Misawa Homes Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     12,000        105,424  

N Brown Group PLC (United Kingdom)

     13,400        48,975  

Netflix, Inc.*

     4,620        886,855  

Nissan Shatai Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     3,100        31,642  

Omnicom Group, Inc.

     2,300        167,509  

Polaris Industries, Inc.1

     3,305        409,787  

Ralph Lauren Corp.1

     2,115        219,304  

Ross Stores, Inc.

     8,120        651,630  

Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.

     1,070        127,630  
     Shares      Value  

Sanoma OYJ (Finland)

     8,600      $ 112,164  

Service Corp. International

     11,480        428,434  

Sirius XM Holdings, Inc.1

     36,585        196,096  

SKY Perfect JSAT Holdings, Inc. (Japan)

     11,900        54,464  

SSP Group PLC (United Kingdom)

     400        3,674  

Target Corp.

     4,295        280,249  

Thule Group AB (Sweden)2

     2,000        45,054  

Time Warner, Inc.

     1,910        174,708  

Tokai Rika Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     1,800        37,771  

Tupperware Brands Corp.

     4,875        305,662  

VF Corp.

     7,620        563,880  

Visteon Corp.*

     2,210        276,559  

Wacoal Holdings Corp. (Japan)

     1,500        47,314  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        17,802,179  

Consumer Staples - 4.6%

     

a2 Milk Co., Ltd. (New Zealand)*

     18,100        103,518  

Altria Group, Inc.

     7,625        544,501  

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.

     9,070        363,526  

Brown-Forman Corp., Class B

     8,415        577,858  

The Coca-Cola Co.

     11,535        529,226  

Colgate-Palmolive Co.

     1,220        92,049  

Conagra Brands, Inc.

     15,970        601,590  

Constellation Brands, Inc., Class A

     3,650        834,281  

CVS Health Corp.

     4,120        298,700  

Edgewell Personal Care Co.*

     2,835        168,371  

The Estee Lauder Cos., Inc., Class A

     8,055        1,024,918  

Flowers Foods, Inc.

     7,530        145,404  

Ingredion, Inc.

     2,780        388,644  

La Doria S.P.A. (Italy)

     1,200        23,597  

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc.

     4,955        279,710  

McCormick & Co., Inc., Non-Voting Shares

     1,080        110,063  

Origin Enterprises PLC (Ireland)

     8,300        63,138  

PepsiCo, Inc.

     5,970        715,922  

Philip Morris International, Inc.

     1,660        175,379  

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp.*

     11,040        342,902  

The Procter & Gamble Co.

     9,800        900,424  

Rami Levy Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing 2006, Ltd. (Israel)

     1,600        84,882  

Salmar A.S.A. (Norway)

     3,100        93,135  

Stock Spirits Group PLC (United Kingdom)

     27,200        98,696  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

7


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Consumer Staples - 4.6% (continued)

     

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

     3,860      $ 381,175  

Total Consumer Staples

        8,941,609  

Energy - 2.4%

     

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

     2,800        150,192  

Apache Corp.

     3,150        132,993  

Baker Hughes, a GE company

     2,810        88,908  

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.

     4,870        139,282  

Chevron Corp.

     5,335        667,889  

CNX Resources Corp.*

     6,240        91,291  

ConocoPhillips

     7,425        407,558  

Devon Energy Corp.

     6,790        281,106  

EOG Resources, Inc.

     920        99,277  

EQT Corp.

     780        44,398  

Exxon Mobil Corp.

     11,525        963,951  

Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     2,800        74,013  

National Oilwell Varco, Inc.

     3,300        118,866  

Noble Corp. PLC (United Kingdom)*,1

     16,620        75,122  

Noble Energy, Inc.

     2,500        72,850  

Occidental Petroleum Corp.

     1,420        104,597  

Ocean Yield A.S.A. (Norway)

     2,700        22,855  

Pioneer Natural Resources

     745        128,773  

RPC, Inc.1

     22,950        585,914  

Sinanen Holdings Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     800        19,102  

Subsea 7, S.A. (United Kingdom)

     3,000        44,946  

Tethys Oil AB (Sweden)

     900        7,214  

Valero Energy Corp.

     2,940        270,215  

Whitehaven Coal, Ltd. (Australia)

     19,800        68,663  

Whiting Petroleum Corp.*

     3,000        79,440  

Total Energy

        4,739,415  

Financials - 7.6%

     

The Allstate Corp.

     12,150        1,272,226  

American Financial Group, Inc.

     640        69,466  

Ameriprise Financial, Inc.

     3,870        655,849  

Aspen Insurance Holdings, Ltd. (Bermuda)

     3,540        143,724  

Associated Banc-Corp.

     7,100        180,340  

Assurant, Inc.

     2,230        224,873  

Assured Guaranty, Ltd. (Bermuda)

     6,240        211,349  

Banca Mediolanum S.P.A. (Italy)

     1,300        11,254  

Banca Popolare Di Sondrio SCARL (Italy)

     15,300        55,871  

Bank of America Corp.

     28,255        834,087  

Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., Class B*

     2,850        564,927  

BlackRock, Inc.

     320        164,387  
     Shares      Value  

Chesnara PLC (United Kingdom)

     1,500      $ 7,883  

Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

     3,520        147,770  

CME Group, Inc.

     935        136,557  

Comerica, Inc.

     2,330        202,267  

Commerce Bancshares, Inc.

     4,043        225,761  

Corp. Financiera Alba, S.A. (Spain)

     1,700        97,336  

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.1

     1,120        106,008  

Dah Sing Financial Holdings, Ltd. (Hong Kong)

     16,800        107,623  

Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG (Germany)2

     7,100        113,420  

Discover Financial Services

     855        65,767  

Eaton Vance Corp.

     7,260        409,391  

Erie Indemnity Co., Class A

     1,020        124,277  

esure Group PLC (United Kingdom)

     30,900        103,673  

Fifth Third Bancorp

     8,240        250,002  

Franklin Resources, Inc.

     7,205        312,193  

Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia, Ltd. (Australia)

     2,300        5,372  

Invesco, Ltd.

     4,150        151,641  

Japan Securities Finance Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     19,700        111,365  

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

     11,538        1,233,874  

Lincoln National Corp.

     2,540        195,250  

LPL Financial Holdings, Inc.

     1,880        107,423  

M&T Bank Corp.

     1,130        193,219  

Marusan Securities Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     11,500        102,888  

MetLife, Inc.

     5,510        278,586  

MFA Financial, Inc., REIT

     14,840        117,533  

Moody’s Corp.

     2,735        403,713  

Navient Corp.

     4,600        61,272  

Northern Trust Corp.

     6,350        634,301  

Plus500, Ltd. (Israel)

     8,400        102,881  

The Progressive Corp.

     9,930        559,257  

Prudential Financial, Inc.

     1,770        203,515  

Regions Financial Corp.

     12,230        211,334  

S&P Global, Inc.

     2,500        423,500  

SEI Investments Co.

     2,890        207,675  

SpareBank 1 Nord Norge (Norway)

     3,200        24,261  

State Street Corp.

     3,680        359,205  

SunTrust Banks, Inc.

     5,715        369,132  

SVB Financial Group*

     960        224,419  

T Rowe Price Group, Inc.

     950        99,683  

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.

     11,070        566,009  

Torchmark Corp.

     1,480        134,251  

The Travelers Cos., Inc.

     665        90,201  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

8


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Financials - 7.6% (continued)

     

US Bancorp

     6,565      $ 351,753  

Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc., Class A1

     10,210        228,091  

Wells Fargo & Co.

     5,330        323,371  

White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd.

     110        93,641  

Total Financials

        14,966,897  

Health Care - 8.0%

     

AbbVie, Inc.

     2,760        266,920  

ABIOMED, Inc.*

     1,560        292,360  

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.*,1

     7,855        236,514  

Aetna, Inc.

     1,775        320,192  

Align Technology, Inc.*

     3,080        684,345  

Amgen, Inc.

     415        72,168  

Baxter International, Inc.

     22,633        1,462,997  

Becton Dickinson & Co.

     224        47,818  

BioGaia AB, Class B (Sweden)

     800        31,793  

Bioverativ, Inc.*

     3,250        175,240  

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

     2,980        182,614  

Bruker Corp.

     15,465        530,759  

Cardinal Health, Inc.

     750        45,952  

Centene Corp.*

     2,490        251,191  

Cigna Corp.

     810        164,503  

COSMO Pharmaceuticals, N.V. (Ireland)

     100        15,024  

Eli Lilly & Co.

     2,970        250,846  

Exelixis, Inc.*

     16,450        500,080  

Express Scripts Holding Co.*

     900        67,176  

Gilead Sciences, Inc.

     4,915        352,111  

Humana, Inc.

     1,410        349,779  

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc.*

     4,390        686,508  

Idorsia, Ltd. (Switzerland)*

     200        5,223  

Indivior PLC (United Kingdom)*

     13,400        73,586  

IQVIA Holdings, Inc.*

     2,870        280,973  

Johnson & Johnson

     5,095        711,873  

KYORIN Holdings, Inc. (Japan)

     4,800        89,573  

McKesson Corp.

     690        107,605  

Merck & Co., Inc.

     17,695        995,698  

Mettler-Toledo International, Inc.*

     200        123,904  

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.*

     10,225        793,358  

Paramount Bed Holdings Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     1,500        74,124  

Perrigo Co. PLC (Ireland)

     4,425        385,683  

Pfizer, Inc.

     3,367        121,953  

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.*

     1,210        454,912  

RHT Health Trust (Singapore)

     73,700        46,296  
     Shares      Value  

Ship Healthcare Holdings, Inc. (Japan)

     1,400      $ 46,275  

Toho Holdings Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     5,200        117,220  

UnitedHealth Group, Inc.

     7,060        1,556,448  

Varian Medical Systems, Inc.*

     4,985        554,083  

Veeva Systems, Inc., Class A*

     7,500        414,600  

Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.*

     1,055        158,102  

WellCare Health Plans, Inc.*

     4,645        934,156  

Zoetis, Inc.

     9,050        651,962  

Total Health Care

        15,684,497  

Industrials - 8.1%

     

3M Co.

     4,945        1,163,905  

Aida Engineering, Ltd. (Japan)

     7,500        91,533  

Air New Zealand, Ltd. (New Zealand)

     37,300        84,326  

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc.

     13,945        600,611  

Amadeus Fire AG (Germany)

     500        46,320  

Biesse S.P.A. (Italy)

     300        15,207  

The Boeing Co.

     4,770        1,406,721  

Caterpillar, Inc.

     11,555        1,820,837  

Cintas Corp.

     2,140        333,476  

Copa Holdings, S.A., Class A (Panama)

     950        127,357  

Costain Group PLC (United Kingdom)

     14,700        92,835  

Cummins, Inc.

     1,070        189,005  

Eaton Corp. PLC

     870        68,739  

Emerson Electric Co.

     2,910        202,798  

Enav S.P.A. (Italy)2

     5,100        27,599  

Expeditors International of Washington, Inc.

     14,420        932,830  

FACC AG (Austria)*

     4,800        99,664  

Flowserve Corp.

     2,050        86,367  

Fluor Corp.

     2,490        128,608  

Fortive Corp.

     2,630        190,280  

Galliford Try PLC (United Kingdom)

     1,700        29,517  

GATX Corp.1

     1,660        103,186  

General Electric Co.

     10,300        179,735  

Go-Ahead Group PLC (United Kingdom)

     2,100        42,218  

HEICO Corp.

     1,990        187,756  

Honeywell International, Inc.

     2,050        314,388  

Hopewell Holdings, Ltd. (Hong Kong)

     22,700        83,764  

Inabata & Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     600        9,077  

Ingersoll-Rand PLC

     710        63,325  

Itoki Corp. (Japan)

     6,500        48,034  

Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.

     2,980        196,561  

Kanematsu Corp. (Japan)

     500        6,900  

KAR Auction Services, Inc.

     2,370        119,709  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

9


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Industrials - 8.1% (continued)

 

  

Kirby Corp.*

     4,450      $ 297,260  

Komori Corp. (Japan)

     7,600        106,648  

Kyodo Printing Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     3,400        109,336  

Landstar System, Inc.

     4,820        501,762  

Macquarie Atlas Roads Group (Australia)

     22,000        107,571  

Mersen, S.A. (France)

     2,400        107,414  

Morgan Advanced Materials

     

PLC (United Kingdom)

     4,200        19,127  

Mota-Engil SGPS, S.A. (Portugal)

     26,000        114,271  

Namura Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     17,400        107,028  

Northrop Grumman Corp.

     870        267,012  

OC Oerlikon Corp. AG (Switzerland)

     3,200        54,015  

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.

     3,930        516,991  

Oshkosh Corp.

     980        89,072  

Redde PLC (United Kingdom)

     17,000        40,224  

Rheinmetall AG (Germany)

     100        12,646  

Robert Half International, Inc.

     5,690        316,023  

Rockwell Automation, Inc.

     4,775        937,571  

SG Fleet Group, Ltd. (Australia)

     34,000        107,706  

Sojitz Corp. (Japan)

     11,100        34,007  

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc., Class A

     2,425        211,581  

Sulzer AG (Switzerland)

     800        97,039  

The Toro Co.

     770        50,227  

TransUnion*

     15,480        850,781  

Union Pacific Corp.

     620        83,142  

United Rentals, Inc.*

     7,485        1,286,746  

Valmont Industries, Inc.

     690        114,436  

Waste Management, Inc.

     1,290        111,327  

WW Grainger, Inc.

     1,020        240,975  

Total Industrials

        15,985,126  

Information Technology - 17.2%

     

Activision Blizzard, Inc.

     3,160        200,091  

Adobe Systems, Inc.*

     2,790        488,920  

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.*

     11,890        122,229  

Alphabet, Inc., Class A*

     3,945        4,155,663  

Altium, Ltd. (Australia)

     900        9,303  

Apple, Inc.

     33,810        5,721,666  

Arista Networks, Inc.*

     3,665        863,401  

Atea A.S.A. (Norway)

     4,700        66,116  

Atlassian Corp. PLC, Class A (Australia)*

     2,180        99,234  

Broadcom, Ltd.

     510        131,019  

CDW Corp.

     18,100        1,257,769  
     Shares      Value  

Cisco Systems, Inc.

     7,240      $ 277,292  

Dell Technologies, Inc., Class V*

     1,800        146,304  

DXC Technology Co.

     2,800        265,720  

Facebook, Inc., Class A*

     15,285        2,697,191  

First Solar, Inc.*

     1,490        100,605  

Fortinet, Inc.*

     22,450        980,840  

Harris

     3,770        534,020  

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

     4,740        68,066  

HP, Inc.

     19,450        408,644  

IAC/InterActiveCorp*

     910        111,275  

Ines Corp. (Japan)

     7,700        79,742  

IPG Photonics Corp.*

     1,390        297,641  

Jabil, Inc.

     6,740        176,925  

Juniper Networks, Inc.

     10,970        312,645  

Kainos Group PLC (United Kingdom)

     11,100        50,880  

Leidos Holdings, Inc.

     13,110        846,513  

LogMeIn, Inc.

     1,525        174,612  

Mastercard, Inc., Class A

     5,930        897,565  

Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.

     9,511        497,214  

Micron Technology, Inc.*

     2,490        102,389  

Microsoft Corp.

     35,365        3,025,122  

Nemetschek SE (Germany)

     200        17,892  

NVIDIA Corp.

     2,940        568,890  

PayPal Holdings, Inc.*

     11,090        816,446  

Red Hat, Inc.*

     880        105,688  

Shinko Electric Industries Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     12,100        97,764  

Siltronic AG (Germany)*

     400        57,829  

Skyworks Solutions, Inc.

     6,700        636,165  

Softcat PLC (United Kingdom)

     11,200        78,633  

Square, Inc., Class A*

     17,240        597,711  

Synopsys, Inc.*

     6,220        530,193  

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.*

     5,215        572,503  

Teradyne, Inc.

     2,635        110,327  

Texas Instruments, Inc.

     13,290        1,388,008  

Tower Semiconductor, Ltd. (Israel)*

     100        3,398  

Toyo Corp./Chuo-ku (Japan)

     12,300        107,891  

Universal Display Corp.

     1,260        217,539  

Venture Corp., Ltd. (Singapore)

     5,300        80,916  

Viavi Solutions, Inc.*

     20,960        183,190  

Visa, Inc., Class A

     7,670        874,533  

VMware, Inc., Class A*,1

     650        81,458  

Vtech Holdings (Hong Kong)

     3,700        48,392  

Western Digital Corp.

     4,970        395,264  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

10


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Information Technology - 17.2% (continued)

 

  

Workday, Inc., Class A*

     2,540      $ 258,420  

Zebra Technologies Corp., Class A*

     7,160        743,208  

Total Information Technology

        33,738,874  

Materials - 2.2%

     

Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.

     1,855        304,368  

Albemarle Corp.

     400        51,156  

Avery Dennison Corp.

     1,850        212,491  

Berry Global Group, Inc.*

     12,390        726,921  

Cabot Corp.

     1,495        92,077  

The Chemours Co.

     10,910        546,155  

Domtar Corp.

     4,060        201,051  

DowDuPont, Inc.

     5,427        386,511  

DuluxGroup, Ltd. (Australia)

     12,400        73,893  

Ence Energia y Celulosa, S.A. (Spain)

     7,200        47,514  

FMC Corp.

     1,420        134,417  

Freeport-McMoRan, Inc.*

     24,725        468,786  

Huntsman Corp.

     4,950        164,785  

Marshalls PLC (United Kingdom)

     17,200        105,639  

Mitsubishi Steel Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     4,200        104,099  

The Navigator Co., S.A. (Portugal)

     3,700        18,839  

Newmont Mining Corp.

     3,755        140,888  

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     5,800        110,089  

Nippon Soda Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     700        4,654  

Owens-Illinois, Inc.*

     5,000        110,850  

PPG Industries, Inc.

     585        68,340  

Svenska Cellulosa AB SCA, Class B (Sweden)

     6,400        65,965  

Toyo Ink SC Holdings Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     3,000        17,721  

Vedanta Resources PLC (India)

     11,300        122,260  

Westlake Chemical Corp.

     1,320        140,620  

Total Materials

        4,420,089  

Real Estate - 2.4%

     

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., REIT

     760        99,248  

alstria office REIT-AG, REIT (Germany)

     3,000        46,362  

Boston Properties, Inc., REIT

     1,530        198,946  

CapitaLand Retail China Trust, REIT (Singapore)

     7,500        9,084  

CBRE Group, Inc., Class A*

     11,950        517,554  

Columbia Property Trust, Inc., REIT

     7,400        169,830  

CoreSite Realty Corp., REIT

     4,990        568,361  

Corporate Office Properties Trust, REIT

     4,180        122,056  

DDR Corp., REIT

     23,260        208,410  

Digital Realty Trust, Inc., REIT

     5,600        637,840  
     Shares      Value  

Equity Residential, REIT

     3,475      $ 221,601  

Eurocommercial Properties, N.V. (Netherlands)

     600        26,140  

Hemfosa Fastigheter AB (Sweden)

     2,800        37,520  

Kungsleden AB (Sweden)

     15,500        112,399  

Leopalace21 Corp. (Japan)

     1,100        8,542  

The Macerich Co., REIT

     2,270        149,094  

NSI, N.V., REIT (Netherlands)

     100        4,171  

Outfront Media Inc., REIT

     10,125        234,900  

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc., Class A, REIT

     14,790        290,032  

RDI REIT PLC, REIT (United Kingdom)

     215,200        106,380  

Realty Income Corp., REIT

     740        42,195  

Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc., REIT

     19,925        373,992  

Savills PLC (United Kingdom)

     5,400        72,397  

Senior Housing Properties Trust, REIT

     3,500        67,025  

Soilbuild Business Space REIT, REIT (Singapore)

     215,700        108,056  

Spirit Realty Capital, Inc., REIT

     16,000        137,292  

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc., REIT 1

     3,280        86,953  

Vastned Retail, N.V., REIT (Netherlands)

     200        9,911  

Total Real Estate

        4,666,291  

Telecommunication Services - 0.7%

     

AT&T, Inc.

     20,490        796,651  

B Communications, Ltd. (Israel)*

     6,200        113,419  

DNA Oyj (Finland)

     700        13,144  

Ei Towers S.P.A. (Italy)

     300        19,258  

T-Mobile US, Inc.*

     4,445        282,302  

Zayo Group Holdings, Inc.*

     4,510        165,968  

Total Telecommunication Services

        1,390,742  

Utilities - 1.5%

     

American Water Works Co., Inc.

     4,295        392,950  

Atmos Energy Corp.

     3,300        283,437  

CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

     9,475        268,711  

Consolidated Edison, Inc.

     2,620        222,569  

Entergy Corp.

     720        58,601  

Eversource Energy

     1,770        111,829  

Hokuriku Electric Power Co. (Japan)

     12,200        98,152  

NRG Energy, Inc.

     20,855        593,950  

OGE Energy Corp.

     4,240        139,538  

Pinnacle West Capital Corp.

     2,530        215,505  

PPL Corp.

     7,570        234,291  

REN - Redes Energeticas Nacionais SGPS,

     

S.A. (Portugal)

     14,500        43,129  

Vectren Corp.

     2,130        138,493  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

11


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Utilities - 1.5% (continued)

     

Xcel Energy, Inc.

     2,650      $ 127,492  

Total Utilities

        2,928,647  

Total Common Stocks

     

(Cost $103,058,322)

        125,264,366  
     Principal Amount         

Corporate Bonds and Notes - 3.8%

 

  

Consumer Staples - 0.0%#

 

  

Colgate-Palmolive Co., MTN 1.750%, 03/15/19

   $ 105,000        104,703  

Financials - 1.3%

 

  

American Express Credit Corp., MTN 2.250%, 05/05/21

     160,000        158,813  

Bank of America Corp., MTN 2.503%, 10/21/22

     270,000        267,308  

Bank of Montreal, MTN (Canada) 2.100%, 12/12/19

     185,000        184,540  

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. 2.350%, 11/15/21

     320,000        315,438  

JPMorgan Chase & Co., MTN 2.295%, 08/15/21

     330,000        327,214  

Morgan Stanley, MTN 2.625%, 11/17/21

     295,000        293,817  

The Toronto-Dominion Bank, MTN (Canada) 2.250%, 11/05/191

     70,000        70,061  

US Bancorp, MTN 2.200%, 04/25/19

     175,000        175,527  

Visa, Inc. 2.200%, 12/14/20

     220,000        219,920  

Wells Fargo & Co. 2.500%, 03/04/21

     545,000        544,998  

Total Financials

        2,557,636  

Industrials - 2.3%

     

3M Co., MTN 2.000%, 06/26/22

     130,000        127,788  

Altria Group, Inc. 2.625%, 01/14/20

     200,000        201,346  

Apple, Inc. 2.300%, 05/11/22

     310,000        308,023  

AT&T, Inc. 4.100%, 02/15/282

     370,000        371,972  

BP Capital Markets PLC (United Kingdom) 1.676%, 05/03/19

     225,000        223,860  

Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC 4.700%, 10/01/19

     65,000        67,770  

Cisco Systems, Inc. 1.400%, 02/28/18

     200,000        199,900  
     Principal Amount      Value  

Cisco Systems, Inc. 2.200%, 02/28/21

   $ 160,000      $ 159,565  

Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. 3.130%, 12/15/23

     120,000        121,260  

Exxon Mobil Corp. 1.708%, 03/01/19

     95,000        94,794  

Ford Motor Co. 4.346%, 12/08/26

     120,000        125,336  

General Electric Co.

     

Series A 6.750%, 03/15/32

     45,000        61,737  

The Home Depot, Inc. 2.250%, 09/10/18

     210,000        210,620  

Johnson & Johnson 5.150%, 07/15/18

     90,000        91,678  

Lockheed Martin Corp. 1.850%, 11/23/18

     70,000        69,930  

McDonald’s Corp., MTN 5.350%, 03/01/18

     195,000        196,170  

6.300%, 10/15/37

     80,000        107,781  

PepsiCo, Inc. 2.250%, 05/02/22

     335,000        331,729  

Pfizer, Inc. 1.700%, 12/15/19

     230,000        228,619  

Shell International Finance BV (Netherlands) 1.875%, 05/10/21

     130,000        128,150  

TransCanada PipeLines, Ltd. (Canada) 3.800%, 10/01/20

     100,000        103,726  

Tyson Foods, Inc. 2.650%, 08/15/19

     200,000        201,039  

Union Pacific Corp. 3.646%, 02/15/24

     155,000        163,053  

United Parcel Service, Inc. 6.200%, 01/15/38

     120,000        165,483  

Verizon Communications, Inc. 2.946%, 03/15/22

     396,000        398,804  

Total Industrials

        4,460,133  

Utilities - 0.2%

     

Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc.

     

Series 08-B 6.750%, 04/01/38

     105,000        151,056  

Dominion Energy, Inc. 4.450%, 03/15/21

     75,000        79,254  

Georgia Power Co. 5.400%, 06/01/40

     65,000        78,288  

PacifiCorp 6.000%, 01/15/39

     85,000        114,448  

Total Utilities

        423,046  

Total Corporate Bonds and Notes

     

(Cost $7,480,385)

        7,545,518  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

12


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations - 31.3%

 

  

Fannie Mae - 2.8%

     

FNMA, 1.000%, 10/24/19

   $ 360,000      $ 354,193  

1.375%, 10/07/211

     170,000        165,419  

1.875%, 02/19/19

     440,000        440,163  

2.000%, 01/01/30

     57,355        56,470  

2.500%, 04/01/28 to 05/01/43

     1,742,100        1,713,683  

2.625%, 09/06/24

     305,000        309,344  

3.000%, 03/01/42 to 08/01/43

     575,059        578,309  

3.500%, 11/01/25 to 07/01/43

     301,315        311,195  

4.000%, 12/01/21 to 11/01/44

     320,064        335,667  

4.500%, 06/01/39 to 09/01/43

     740,615        792,613  

5.000%, 09/01/33 to 10/01/41

     308,405        333,389  

5.500%, 02/01/35 to 05/01/39

     147,372        162,702  

Total Fannie Mae

        5,553,147  

Freddie Mac - 9.1%

     

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., 1.375%, 05/01/201

     170,000        167,516  

2.375%, 01/13/22

     105,000        106,005  

FHLMC Gold Pool, 2.500%, 07/01/28 to 09/01/46

     1,329,454        1,307,587  

3.000%, 01/01/29 to 11/01/47

     5,012,021        5,043,795  

3.500%, 03/01/42 to 10/01/47

     5,650,900        5,814,298  

4.000%, 03/01/44 to 11/01/45

     3,414,220        3,572,354  

4.500%, 02/01/39 to 04/01/44

     874,010        931,285  

5.000%, 07/01/35 to 07/01/41

     706,236        767,911  

5.500%, 04/01/38 to 01/01/39

     42,493        47,122  

Total Freddie Mac

        17,757,873  

U.S. Treasury Obligations - 19.4%

 

  

U.S. Treasury Bonds,

     

2.750%, 08/15/42 to 08/15/47

     5,925,000        5,960,996  

3.000%, 11/15/45

     1,155,000        1,213,246  

U.S. Treasury Notes,

     

0.875%, 07/31/19

     840,000        827,400  

1.000%, 06/30/19 to 11/30/19

     3,930,000        3,875,554  

1.125%, 07/31/21

     1,555,000        1,503,977  

1.375%, 05/31/20 to 08/31/20

     3,155,000        3,111,510  

1.500%, 02/28/19 to 01/31/22

     1,955,000        1,928,023  

1.625%, 07/31/20 to 05/15/26

     3,185,000        3,074,984  

1.750%, 05/15/22 to 06/30/22

     2,175,000        2,138,001  

1.875%, 11/30/21

     1,670,000        1,656,660  

2.000%, 02/15/25

     725,000        708,843  

2.250%, 11/15/24 to 02/15/27

     8,845,000        8,766,406  

2.500%, 08/15/23 to 05/15/24

     3,255,000        3,295,206  

Total U.S. Treasury Obligations

        38,060,806  
     

 

 

 

Total U.S. Government and Agency Obligations
(Cost $61,973,139)

        61,371,826  
     

 

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Rights - 0.0%

     

Health Care - 0.0%

     

Dyax Corp. CVR Expiration 12/31/19*,3,4 (Cost $0)

     670      $ 0  
     Principal Amount         

Short-Term Investments - 1.9%

 

  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 1.3%5

 

  

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.410% total to be received $1,000,157 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 8.500%, 01/31/18 - 06/20/63, totaling $1,020,000)

   $ 1,000,000        1,000,000  

Daiwa Capital Markets America, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.430% total to be received $448,828 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 6.500%, 01/11/18 - 12/01/51, totaling $457,732)

     448,757        448,757  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.630% total to be received $1,000,181 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% - 3.875%, 01/15/19 - 02/15/46, totaling $1,027,770)

     1,000,000        1,000,000  

Total Joint Repurchase Agreements

        2,448,757  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 0.6%

 

  

Dreyfus Preferred Government Money Market Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.25%6

     1,181,536        1,181,536  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $3,630,293)

 

     3,630,293  

Total Investments - 100.8%
(Cost $176,142,139)

        197,812,003  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (0.8)%

 

     (1,523,289
     

 

 

 

Net Assets - 100.0%

      $ 196,288,714  
     

 

 

 
 

 

#  Less than 0.05%.
*  Non-income producing security.
1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $2,374,701 or 1.2% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.

 

2  Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. This security may be resold in transactions exempt from registration, normally to qualified buyers. At December 31, 2017, the value of these securities amounted to $558,045 or 0.3% of net assets.
3  Security’s value was determined by using significant unobservable inputs.
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

13


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

4 This security is restricted and not available for re-sale. The security was received as part of a corporate action on January 22, 2016.
5 Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
6 Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

CVR         Contingent Value Rights

FHLMC    Freddie Mac

FNMA      Fannie Mae

MTN         Medium-Term Note

REIT         Real Estate Investment Trust

SDR          Sponsored Depositary Receipt

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

           

Information Technology

   $ 33,235,747      $ 503,127        —        $ 33,738,874  

Consumer Discretionary

     16,974,393        827,786        —          17,802,179  

Industrials

     15,064,347        920,779        —          15,985,126  

Health Care

     15,237,423        447,074        —          15,684,497  

Financials

     14,475,100        491,797        —          14,966,897  

Consumer Staples

     8,824,877        116,732        —          8,941,609  

Energy

     4,532,691        206,724        —          4,739,415  

Real Estate

     4,355,088        311,203        —          4,666,291  

Materials

     3,968,534        451,555        —          4,420,089  

Utilities

     2,830,495        98,152        —          2,928,647  

Telecommunication Services

     1,264,179        126,563        —          1,390,742  

Corporate Bonds and Notes

     —          7,545,518        —          7,545,518  

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     —          61,371,826        —          61,371,826  

Rights

     —          —        $ 0        —    

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

     —          2,448,757        —          2,448,757  

Other Investment Companies

     1,181,536        —          —          1,181,536  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 121,944,410      $ 75,867,593      $ 0      $ 197,812,003  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)
  All corporate bonds and notes and U.S. government and agency obligations held in the Fund are Level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of corporate bonds and notes and U.S. government and agency obligations by major industry or agency classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

At December 31, 2017, the Level 3 securities are Rights received as a result of a corporate action. The security’s value was determined by using significant unobservable inputs which generated a change in unrealized depreciation of $7.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

14


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

Country

   % of Long-Term
Investments
 

Australia

     0.2  

Austria

     0.0 #  

Bermuda

     0.2  

Canada

     0.2  

Finland

     0.1  

France

     0.1  

Germany

     0.2  

Gibraltar

     0.0 #  

Hong Kong

     0.1  

India

     0.1  

Ireland

     0.2  

Israel

     0.2  

Italy

     0.1  

Japan

     1.2  

Malta

     0.0 #  

Netherlands

     0.1  

New Zealand

     0.1  

Norway

     0.1  

Panama

     0.1  

Portugal

     0.1  

Singapore

     0.1  

Spain

     0.1  

Sweden

     0.1  

Switzerland

     0.1  

United Kingdom

     0.8  

United States

     95.4  
  

 

 

 
     100.0  
  

 

 

 

 

# Less than 0.05%.
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

15


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

 

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund (Class I shares) (the “Fund”) returned 5.35%, compared to the 7.84% return for its benchmark, the Russell 2000® Value Index.

The strong stock market of 2017 reflected not only multiple expansion, but also strong corporate earnings growth. Economic indicators in the U.S. were generally strong in the fourth quarter and throughout 2017, with a solid job market, strong housing numbers, improved growth and earnings expectations, and moderate inflation. As such, the Federal Reserve raised rates three times in the year, with the targeted federal funds rate ending the year at 1.5%.

While the Fund outperformed its benchmark in most months of 2017, weaker relative returns in March, May and December had the worst drag on relative performance for the year. In each of those months, at least two if not three factor groups detracted from returns. The Fund’s exposures to value and quality factors had weak performance, while momentum and growth were relatively strong. For the year, the spread between our top quintile-ranked and bottom quintile-ranked stocks was positive, but not as wide as the long-term average of our quantitative model.

Expectations for 2018 are for continued increased earnings as corporate tax reform is incorporated into expectations. It has been our experience that the market rewards a broad set of fundamental factors more often than not, which is why we consistently stick to our disciplined process.

The Fund is managed to emphasize stock selection while neutralizing size, style and sector exposure. Our research has shown that constructing a well-diversified portfolio of companies with attractive valuation ratios, quality balance sheets, and positive growth and momentum expectations built through a disciplined, risk-controlled process offers the potential to deliver consistent excess returns. Overall, our philosophy will not change based on short-term trends or conditions in the market. We will continue to use our disciplined approach to provide added value at controlled levels of risk.

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, Chicago Equity Partners, LLC, as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results and is subject to change without notice.

 

 

 

 

16


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class I shares on December 31, 2014 (inception date), to a $10,000 investment made in the Russell 2000® Value Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund and the Russell 2000® Value Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

Average Annual Total Returns1    One
Year
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

      

Class N

     5.18     8.41     12/31/14  

Class I

     5.35     8.69     12/31/14  

Class Z

     5.63     8.86     12/31/14  

Russell 2000® Value Index8

     7.84     9.55     12/31/14  

 

 

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects inception date of the Fund, not the index.
1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).
2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.
3  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in small-capitalization companies, such as erratic earnings patterns, competitive conditions, limited earnings history and a reliance on one or a limited number of products.
4  Investments in international securities are subject to certain risks of overseas investing including currency fluctuations and changes in political and economic conditions, which could result in significant market fluctuations.
5  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in emerging markets, such as erratic earnings patterns, economic and political instability, changing exchange controls, limitations on repatriation of foreign capital and changes in local governmental attitudes toward private investment, possibly leading to nationalization or confiscation of investor assets.
6  The Fund is subject to special risk considerations similar to those associated with the direct ownership of real estate. Real estate valuations may be subject to factors such as changing general and local economic, financial, competitive, and environmental conditions.
7  The Fund invests in value stocks, which may perform differently from the market as a whole and may be undervalued by the market for a long period of time.
8  The Russell 2000® Value Index is an unmanaged, market-value weighted, value-oriented index comprised of small stocks that have relatively low price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. Unlike the Fund, the Russell 2000® Value Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

The Russell 2000® Value Index is a trademark of the London Stock Exchange Group companies.

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

17


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector

   %of
Net Assets
 

Financials

     31.2  

Industrials

     15.5  

Consumer Discretionary

     8.6  

Information Technology

     8.6  

Real Estate

     8.1  

Utilities

     6.6  

Health Care

     6.1  

Energy

     5.4  

Materials

     5.0  

Consumer Staples

     2.7  

Telecommunication Services

     0.7  

Short-Term Investments*

     8.2  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (6.7

 

*  Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.
** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name    %of
Net Assets
 

Wintrust Financial Corp.

     2.1  

Cathay General Bancorp

     1.9  

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.

     1.7  

MGIC Investment Corp.

     1.6  

American Equity Investment Life Holding Co.

     1.6  

Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc., Class A

     1.5  

Invesco Mortgage Capital, Inc., 0.420%

     1.5  

Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc., 0.275%

     1.5  

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc., 0.580%

     1.4  

Halyard Health, Inc.

     1.3  
  

 

 

 

Top Ten as a Group

     16.1  
  

 

 

 
 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 

18


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 98.5%

     

Consumer Discretionary - 8.6%

     

Beazer Homes USA, Inc.*

     540      $ 10,373  

Bridgepoint Education, Inc.*

     730        6,059  

The Buckle, Inc.1

     235        5,581  

Callaway Golf Co.

     1,245        17,343  

Career Education Corp.*

     605        7,308  

Citi Trends, Inc.

     260        6,880  

Conn’s, Inc.*,1

     545        19,375  

Cooper-Standard Holdings, Inc.*

     30        3,675  

Dana, Inc.

     250        8,002  

Deckers Outdoor Corp.*

     80        6,420  

Flexsteel Industries, Inc.

     120        5,614  

Group 1 Automotive, Inc.

     180        12,775  

Johnson Outdoors, Inc., Class A

     320        19,869  

KB Home

     255        8,147  

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp.

     120        16,225  

MDC Partners, Inc., Class A*

     1,560        15,210  

MSG Networks, Inc., Class A*

     375        7,594  

Office Depot, Inc.

     1,785        6,319  

Oxford Industries, Inc.

     70        5,263  

Stoneridge, Inc.*

     260        5,944  

Tilly’s, Inc., Class A

     235        3,469  

TopBuild Corp.*

     310        23,479  

Tower International, Inc.

     205        6,263  

tronc, Inc.*

     330        5,805  

ZAGG, Inc.*

     225        4,151  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        237,143  

Consumer Staples - 2.7%

     

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.*

     75        3,334  

Central Garden & Pet Co., Class A*

     430        16,215  

Ingles Markets, Inc., Class A

     10        346  

Sanderson Farms, Inc.

     182        25,258  

SpartanNash Co.

     55        1,467  

SUPERVALU, Inc.*,1

     615        13,284  

United Natural Foods, Inc.*

     185        9,115  

Village Super Market, Inc., Class A

     215        4,930  

Total Consumer Staples

        73,949  

Energy - 5.4%

     

C&J Energy Services, Inc.*

     495        16,568  

Delek US Holdings, Inc.

     970        33,892  

Exterran Corp.*

     450        14,148  

McDermott International, Inc.*

     3,000        19,740  
     Shares      Value  

Newpark Resources, Inc.*

     1,620      $ 13,932  

Oasis Petroleum, Inc.*

     755        6,349  

Pacific Ethanol, Inc.*

     400        1,820  

ProPetro Holding Corp.*

     735        14,818  

Renewable Energy Group, Inc.*

     340        4,012  

Unit Corp.*

     210        4,620  

W&T Offshore, Inc.*

     5,545        18,354  

Total Energy

        148,253  

Financials - 31.2%

     

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc., REIT

     635        12,071  

American Equity Investment Life Holding Co.

     1,400        43,022  

Anworth Mortgage Asset Corp., REIT

     2,275        12,376  

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance,
Inc., REIT 1

     3        55  

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc., REIT

     1,195        30,735  

The Bancorp, Inc.*

     1,180        11,658  

Bank of Commerce Holdings

     70        805  

The Bank of NT Butterfield & Son, Ltd. (Bermuda)

     975        35,383  

Cadence BanCorp*

     275        7,458  

Cathay General Bancorp

     1,205        50,815  

Chemical Financial Corp.

     240        12,833  

City Holding Co.

     60        4,048  

CNB Financial Corp.

     60        1,574  

CoBiz Financial, Inc.

     390        7,796  

Columbia Banking System, Inc.

     565        24,544  

Evercore, Inc., Class A

     80        7,200  

Farmers Capital Bank Corp.

     40        1,540  

FB Financial Corp.*

     100        4,199  

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., Class C

     279        21,829  

First American Financial Corp.

     245        13,730  

First Commonwealth Financial Corp.

     575        8,234  

First Community Bancshares, Inc.

     65        1,867  

First Financial Bancorp

     1,224        32,252  

Hancock Holding Co.

     495        24,503  

Heritage Financial Corp.

     595        18,326  

Hope Bancorp, Inc.

     715        13,049  

Independent Bank Corp.

     570        12,740  

Invesco Mortgage Capital, Inc., REIT

     2,330        41,544  

Kearny Financial Corp.

     660        9,537  

Kemper Corp.

     100        6,890  

Lakeland Financial Corp.

     345        16,729  

Macatawa Bank Corp.

     380        3,800  

MBT Financial Corp.

     280        2,968  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

19


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Financials - 31.2% (continued)

     

Meta Financial Group, Inc.

     300      $ 27,795  

MGIC Investment Corp.*

     3,195        45,082  

New Residential Investment Corp., REIT

     855        15,287  

NMI Holdings, Inc., Class A*

     1,735        29,495  

Old Second Bancorp, Inc.

     440        6,006  

Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc., Class A

     130        3,484  

PCSB Financial Corp.*

     170        3,239  

Preferred Bank

     449        26,392  

RBB Bancorp

     65        1,779  

Republic Bancorp, Inc., Class A

     65        2,471  

Riverview Bancorp, Inc.

     740        6,416  

S&T Bancorp, Inc.

     300        11,943  

Shore Bancshares, Inc.

     170        2,839  

State Bank Financial Corp.

     390        11,638  

Third Point Reinsurance, Ltd. (Bermuda)*

     2,035        29,813  

UMB Financial Corp.

     85        6,113  

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc.

     1,155        31,589  

Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc., Class A1

     1,895        42,334  

Walker & Dunlop, Inc.*

     80        3,800  

Wintrust Financial Corp.

     700        57,659  

Total Financials

        861,284  

Health Care - 6.1%

     

Agenus, Inc.*,1

     960        3,130  

Bluebird Bio, Inc.*

     55        9,795  

Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc.*

     115        2,308  

Emergent BioSolutions, Inc.*

     410        19,053  

Halyard Health, Inc.*

     800        36,944  

Innoviva, Inc.*

     1,550        21,994  

Lannett Co., Inc.*

     180        4,176  

Magellan Health, Inc.*

     130        12,551  

Novavax, Inc.*

     3,015        3,739  

Omeros Corp.*

     85        1,652  

Orthofix International, N.V.*

     115        6,290  

Owens & Minor, Inc.1

     340        6,419  

PDL BioPharma, Inc.*

     3,300        9,042  

PTC Therapeutics, Inc.*

     110        1,835  

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.*

     235        4,453  

Tivity Health, Inc.*

     110        4,021  

Triple-S Management Corp.,

     

Class B (Puerto Rico)*

     535        13,295  
     Shares      Value  

Zogenix, Inc.*

     175      $ 7,009  

Total Health Care

        167,706  

Industrials - 15.5%

     

AAR Corp.

     480        18,859  

ACCO Brands Corp.*

     1,720        20,984  

Alamo Group, Inc.

     175        19,752  

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc.

     100        6,810  

ArcBest Corp.

     10        358  

Briggs & Stratton Corp.

     900        22,833  

CAI International, Inc.*

     150        4,248  

Costamare, Inc. (Monaco)

     1,020        5,885  

Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Class A*

     415        11,923  

CRA International, Inc.

     75        3,371  

DMC Global, Inc.

     130        3,257  

EMCOR Group, Inc.

     145        11,854  

Ennis, Inc.

     830        17,222  

The Greenbrier Cos., Inc.

     290        15,457  

KBR, Inc.1

     1,080        21,416  

Kelly Services, Inc., Class A

     680        18,544  

Kimball International, Inc., Class B

     290        5,414  

Meritor, Inc.*

     945        22,170  

Moog, Inc., Class A*

     305        26,489  

Northwest Pipe Co.*

     125        2,393  

Quad/Graphics, Inc.

     835        18,871  

Radiant Logistics, Inc.*

     770        3,542  

Rexnord Corp.*

     280        7,286  

Rush Enterprises, Inc., Class A*

     590        29,978  

SP Plus Corp.*

     500        18,550  

Textainer Group Holdings, Ltd.*

     670        14,405  

Triton International, Ltd. (Bermuda)

     500        18,725  

Tutor Perini Corp.*,1

     280        7,098  

Vectrus, Inc.*

     595        18,356  

Werner Enterprises, Inc.

     445        17,199  

YRC Worldwide, Inc.*

     1,080        15,530  

Total Industrials

        428,779  

Information Technology - 8.6%

     

ADTRAN, Inc.

     360        6,966  

Bel Fuse, Inc., Class B

     280        7,049  

Belden, Inc.

     215        16,592  

CACI International, Inc., Class A*

     55        7,279  

Comtech Telecommunications Corp.

     600        13,272  

Diodes, Inc.*

     410        11,755  

DSP Group, Inc.*

     240        3,000  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

20


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Information Technology - 8.6% (continued)

     

Electro Scientific Industries, Inc.*

     800      $ 17,144  

ePlus, Inc.*

     235        17,672  

Fitbit, Inc., Class A*

     755        4,311  

KVH Industries, Inc.*

     320        3,312  

ManTech International Corp., Class A

     65        3,262  

Progress Software Corp.

     550        23,413  

QAD, Inc., Class A

     220        8,547  

QuinStreet, Inc.*

     600        5,028  

Ribbon Communications, Inc.*

     855        6,609  

Sanmina Corp.*

     180        5,940  

Super Micro Computer, Inc.*

     60        1,256  

SYNNEX Corp.

     70        9,516  

Systemax, Inc.1

     295        9,815  

Viavi Solutions, Inc.*

     1,070        9,352  

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.

     2,255        46,791  

Zedge, Inc., Class B*

     1        3  

Total Information Technology

        237,884  

Materials - 5.0%

     

Boise Cascade Co.

     135        5,387  

The Chemours Co.

     164        8,210  

Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc.*,1

     4,420        31,868  

Greif, Inc., Class A

     200        12,116  

Kronos Worldwide, Inc.

     550        14,173  

Louisiana-Pacific Corp.*

     285        7,484  

Ryerson Holding Corp.*

     950        9,880  

Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc., Class A

     1,035        34,672  

Tronox, Ltd., Class A

     260        5,333  

Valhi, Inc.

     745        4,597  

Verso Corp., Class A*

     265        4,656  

Total Materials

        138,376  

Real Estate - 8.1%

     

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc., REIT

     1,630        10,970  

Chatham Lodging Trust, REIT

     830        18,891  

Chesapeake Lodging Trust, REIT

     895        24,245  

Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co.

     70        4,445  

DiamondRock Hospitality Co., REIT

     1,930        21,790  

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc., REIT

     305        9,598  

iStar, Inc., REIT *

     940        10,622  

Jernigan Capital, Inc., REIT 1

     210        3,992  

Lexington Realty Trust, REIT

     1,555        15,006  

One Liberty Properties, Inc., REIT

     135        3,499  

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, REIT 1

     390        14,496  
     Shares      Value  

PS Business Parks, Inc., REIT

     51      $ 6,380  

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc., REIT 1

     2,330        38,515  

Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc., REIT

     1,875        40,481  

Total Real Estate

        222,930  

Telecommunication Services - 0.7%

     

Cincinnati Bell, Inc.*

     420        8,757  

Iridium Communications, Inc. *,1

     885        10,443  

Total Telecommunication Services

        19,200  

Utilities - 6.6%

     

ALLETE, Inc.

     50        3,718  

American States Water Co.

     230        13,319  

Avista Corp.

     160        8,238  

California Water Service Group

     215        9,750  

Chesapeake Utilities Corp.

     105        8,248  

IDACORP, Inc.

     217        19,825  

New Jersey Resources Corp.

     405        16,281  

Northwest Natural Gas Co.

     30        1,790  

ONE Gas, Inc.

     250        18,315  

Otter Tail Corp.

     315        14,002  

PNM Resources, Inc.

     605        24,472  

SJW Group

     350        22,340  

Spire, Inc.

     70        5,261  

Unitil Corp.

     90        4,106  

WGL Holdings, Inc.

     140        12,018  

Total Utilities

        181,683  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $2,399,132)

        2,717,187  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

21


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Short-Term Investments - 8.2%

 

  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 6.1%2

 

  

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.410% total to be received $169,452 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% -8.500%, 01/31/18 - 06/20/63, totaling $172,813)

   $ 169,425      $ 169,425  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 2.1%

 

  

Dreyfus Preferred Government Money Market Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.25%3

     57,469        57,469  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $226,894)

 

     226,894  
         Value  

Total Investments - 106.7%
(Cost $2,626,026)

   $ 2,944,081  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (6.7)%

     (184,419

Net Assets - 100.0%

     $ 2,759,662  
 

 

* Non-income producing security.
1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $161,259 or 5.8% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.
2  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
3  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

REIT    Real Estate Investment Trust

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

   $ 2,717,187        —          —        $ 2,717,187  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

     —        $ 169,425        —          169,425  

Other Investment Companies

     57,469        —          —          57,469  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 2,774,656      $ 169,425        —        $ 2,944,081  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

All common stocks held in the Fund are Level 1 securities. For a detailed breakout of common stocks by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

22


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

 

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

During the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund (Class N shares) (formerly Class S shares) (the “Fund”) returned 1.68%, while the Citigroup Mortgage Index returned 2.47%.

Low interest rate volatility helped agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) performance relative to U.S. Treasuries. Performance was weak early in the first quarter despite lower volatility, as concerns over Federal Reserve (Fed) policy impacted performance. Coupon performance was mixed, but the coupon stack generally widened modestly versus Treasury hedges and tighter versus swaps. Overseas buying, which helped to support Ginnie Mae (GNMA) MBS for much of 2016, was light for first quarter of 2017. MBS rebounded later in the quarter with the market gaining greater comfort concerning the tapering of asset purchases by the Fed.

Agency MBS continued to exhibit low spread volatility into the second quarter. While lower volatility and good carry helped agency MBS performance relative to U.S. Treasuries, spreads widened modestly during the quarter. The market had a muted reaction to the Fed’s continued guidance regarding their plans for the tapering of mortgage purchases. Prepayment speeds remained relatively low. Ginnie Mae/Fannie Mae (GNMA/FNMA) spreads were weaker in the quarter due to expectations of bank reform resulting in easier liquidity rules.

Agency MBS finished the third quarter in strong fashion as the sell-off in rates in September proved to be supportive of spreads. Generally, Agency MBS traded with short empirical durations throughout the quarter as concern over recent interest rate lows in August gave way to relief in September. Higher coupon MBS outperformed production coupons significantly. Higher rates also brought in fresh demand. Because the plan and timing of the Fed tapering were well previewed through the middle of the year, markets took the formal announcement in stride.

MBS performance began the fourth quarter with fair performance, only to finish stronger in the month of December. The Treasury rate curve flattened over the quarter, driving lower coupon FNMA and Freddie Mac (FHLMC) 30-year MBS to be best performers while higher coupon MBS lagged significantly despite the favorable prepayment environment.

 

The Fed began tapering their MBS portfolio in the fourth quarter. The immediate impact on the market was minimal. The size of the MBS market grew in 2016 and 2017 due to high net supply. However, the Fed maintained the size of its MBS portfolio, leading to a reduction of the Fed’s footprint on the market. The gradual start of tapering tempered the market impact.

PERFORMANCE AND POSITIONING

The Fund underperformed its benchmark during the period. Performance was negatively impacted by the Fund’s shorter-than-benchmark duration exposure as the Fed raised rates and short-term interest rates rose more than long-term rates. Agency FRMs (fixed-rate MBS) were positive contributors to performance in 2017. Specifically, the Fund remained underweight in lower coupon MBS and generally overweight in middle to higher coupon MBS relative to the benchmark. Our asset-backed securities (ABS) exposure also provided a contribution to the portfolio’s performance.

During 2017, 30-year Agency FRMs continued to account for the majority of the portfolio exposure, generally ranging between 100% and 110% of capital. We slightly reduced our exposure to 15-year Agency FRMs by 1% from 6.7% to 5.7% by year-end. We eliminated the modest 2% exposure to collateralized mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) over the course of the year. We have maintained our asset-backed securities (ABS) and Agency collateralized mortgage obligations (CMO) exposure at approximately 7% and 2% of capital, respectively.

The Fund held both U.S. Treasury and swap futures throughout the year. These derivative positions were held primarily to hedge the effective duration (i.e., interest rate risk) of the total portfolio. In general, the presence of these positions reduced the portfolio duration by 0.22 years to 0.35 years.

LOOKING FORWARD

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, multiple factors inhibited leverage, including tighter regulation and more costly secured financing. The unleveraged investor was then king. Times have changed, and balance sheets are expanding. We are now in the final phase of the credit cycle, the “leverage” phase. Abundant liquidity and low defaults support higher asset prices with low volatility. The resulting excellent Sharpe ratios invite the increasing application of leverage and extend the virtuous cycle, further compressing spreads.

The rates market is pricing fewer than half of the seven rate hikes that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) forecasts over the next three

years. We think Fed rate hikes are underpriced. Still, we do not fear the Fed upsetting the apple cart, unless inflation surprises substantially to the upside.

Fundamentally, the U.S. housing market remains in healing mode. Affordability levels continue to support stable or rising home prices in most parts of the country. Mortgage credit availability has barely begun to expand from the severely restricted post-crisis levels. Housing construction rates and household formation rates are more likely to reveal a housing shortage than a housing surplus. One new obstacle to continued home price appreciation is the recent tax reform legislation that reduced the historic subsidy for home ownership. While we see modest risk in pockets of the housing market where home prices and state taxes are high, in the aggregate this headwind is likely to be overwhelmed by the aforementioned tailwinds. In the base case, the U.S. housing market remains positioned for home price gains that continue to outpace inflation in the majority of geographies and price points.

Additionally, the risk remains minimal for a “left tail” scenario of broad and severe home price declines. The housing crisis was made possible by an unsustainable combination of low affordability levels, weak mortgage credit standards and oversupply of housing. Today’s environment remains in the opposite corner of this matrix.

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, Amundi Pioneer Institutional Asset Management, Inc. as of December 31, 2017, and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results and is subject to change without notice.

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class N (formerly Class S) shares on December 31, 2007, to a $10,000 investment made in the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index and the Citigroup Mortgage Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

 

 

23


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE (continued)

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund and the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index and the Citigroup Mortgage Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

Average Annual Total Returns1    One
Year
    Five
Years
    Ten
Years
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

 

Class N8

     1.68     1.90     3.84     5.48     03/31/92  

Class I

     —         —         —         1.15     02/24/17  

Class Z

     —         —         —         1.15     02/24/17  

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index9

     3.54     2.10     4.01     5.66     03/31/92  

Citigroup Mortgage Index10

     2.47     2.02     3.85     5.52     03/31/92  

 

 

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects the inception date of the Fund, not the index.
1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).
2  From time to time the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.
3  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in debt securities, such as default risk and fluctuations in the perception of the debtor’s ability to pay its creditors. Changing interest rates may adversely affect the value of an investment. An increase in interest rates typically causes the value of bonds and other fixed income securities to fall.
4  To the extent that the Fund invests in asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities, its exposure to prepayment and extension risks may be greater than investments in other fixed income securities.
5  The Fund may invest in derivatives such as options and futures; the complexity and rapidly changing structure of derivatives markets may increase the possibility of market losses.
6  Many bonds have call provisions which allow the debtors to pay them back before maturity. This is especially true with mortgage securities, which can be paid back anytime. Typically debtors prepay their debt when it is to their advantage (when interest rates drop making a new loan at current rates more attractive), and thus likely to the disadvantage of bondholders, who may have to reinvest prepayment proceeds in securities with lower yields. Prepayment risk will vary depending on the provisions of the security and current interest rates relative to the interest rate of the debt.
7  Obligations of certain government agencies are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. If one of these agencies defaulted on a loan, there is no guarantee that the U.S. government would provide financial support. Additionally, debt securities of the U.S. government may be affected by changing interest rates and subject to prepayment risk.
8  Effective February 27, 2017, Class S was renamed Class N.
9  The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index represents securities that are SEC-registered, taxable, and dollar denominated. The index covers the U.S. investment grade fixed rate bond market, with index components for government and corporate securities, mortgage pass-through securities, and asset-backed securities. Unlike the Fund, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment, and does not incur expenses.
10  The Citigroup Mortgage Index includes all outstanding government sponsored fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities, weighted in proportion to their current market capitalization. The Index reflects no deductions for fees, expenses, or taxes. Unlike the Fund, the Citigroup Mortgage Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment, and does not incur expenses.

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

24


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Category

   %of
Net Assets
 

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     123.4  

Asset-Backed Securities

     7.2  

Mortgage-Backed Securities

     0.4  

Short-Term Investments

     16.6  

TBA Forward Sale Commitments

     (0.9

Other Assets Less Liabilities*

     (46.7

 

* Includes payables for To Be Announced securities, and net unrealized appreciation of $16,584 on open futures contracts.

 

Rating

   % of
Market Value*
 

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     94.2  

Aaa

     5.5  

Aa

     0.0 # 

A

     0.0 # 

Baa

     0.1  

Ba

     0.1  

B

     0.1  

Caa & lower

     0.0 # 

N/R

     0.0 # 

 

* Includes market value of fixed-income securities only.
# Less than 0.05%.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name

   %of
Net Assets
 

FHLMC Gold Pool, 4.000%, TBA 30 years

     15.0  

FNMA, 4.000%, TBA 30 years

     13.1  

FHLMC Gold Pool, 3.500%, TBA 30 years

     9.9  

FNMA, 3.000%, TBA 15 years

     3.9  

Progress Residential Trust, Series 2015-SFR2, Class A, 2.740%, 06/12/32

     2.7  

FNMA, 4.000%, 09/01/55

     2.6  

FNMA, 3.000%, 06/01/45

     2.3  

FNMA, 3.500%, TBA 30 years

     2.3  

FNMA, 4.500%, 09/01/53

     2.1  

FNMA, 4.500%, TBA 30 years

     2.0  
  

 

 

 

Top Ten as a Group

     55.9  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credit quality ratings shown above reflect the highest rating assigned by either Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) or Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”). These rating agencies are independent, nationally recognized statistical rating organizations and are widely used. Investment grade ratings are credit ratings of BBB/Baa or higher. Below investment grade ratings are credit ratings of BB/Ba or lower. Investments designated N/R are not rated by either rating agency. Unrated investments do not necessarily indicate low credit quality. Credit quality ratings are subject to change.

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 

 

25


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Asset-Backed Securities - 7.2%

     

Colony American Homes

     

Series 2014-1A, Class A (1-Month LIBOR plus 1.150%), 2.627%, 05/17/31 (01/17/18)1,2,3

   $ 1,424,362      $ 1,428,227  

Series 2014-2A, Class A (1-Month LIBOR plus 0.950%), 2.427%, 07/17/31 (01/17/18)1,3

     1,210,550        1,212,613  

Invitation Homes Trust

     

Series 2015-SFR3, Class A (1-Month LIBOR plus 1.300%), 2.760%, 08/17/32 (01/17/18)1,3

     1,823,604        1,835,003  

Progress Residential Trust

     

Series 2015-SFR2, Class A 2.740%, 06/12/321,2

     2,955,301        2,947,970  

Series 2016-SFR1, Class A (1-Month LIBOR plus 1.500%), 2.960%, 09/17/33 (01/17/18)1,3

     351,817        355,774  

Total Asset-Backed Securities

     

(Cost $7,753,093)

        7,779,587  

Mortgage-Backed Securities - 0.4%

     

American Home Mortgage Assets Trust

     

Series 2005-1, Class 1A1 3.730%, 11/25/354

     44,522        39,470  

American Home Mortgage Investment Trust

     

Series 2004-1, Class 4A (6-Month LIBOR plus 2.000%), 3.661%, 04/25/44 (01/01/18)3

     88,880        83,336  

Series 2005-1, Class 5A1 (6-Month LIBOR plus 2.000%), 3.652%, 06/25/45 (01/01/18)3

     5,887        5,889  

Banc of America Funding

     

Series 2004-B, Class 1A2 3.218%, 12/20/344

     64,029        52,428  

GSR Mortgage Loan Trust

     

Series 2004-5, Class 1A3 (US Treasury 1 Year plus 1.750%), 3.360%, 05/25/34 (01/01/18)3

     17,528        17,216  

Reperforming Loan REMIC Trust

     

Series 2004-R2, Class 1AF1 (1-Month LIBOR plus 0.420%), 1.972%, 11/25/34 (01/25/18)1,3

     69,806        62,518  

Structured Asset Securities Corp.

     

Series 2005-RF1, Class A (1-Month LIBOR plus 0.350%), 1.902%, 03/25/35 (01/25/18)1,3

     157,481        140,623  
     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Wells Fargo Mortgage Backed Securities Trust

     

Series 2007-16, Class 1A1 6.000%, 12/28/37

   $ 79,425      $ 82,749  

Total Mortgage-Backed Securities

     

(Cost $525,364)

        484,229  

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations - 123.4%

     

Fannie Mae - 54.4%

     

FNMA,

     

2.500%, 02/01/43

     646,228        626,614  

3.000%, 01/01/43 to 06/01/452

     4,376,764        4,396,732  

3.000%, TBA 15 years5,6

     4,200,000        4,277,930  

(6-Month LIBOR plus 1.600%), 3.121%, 06/01/342,3

     426,737        442,906  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.624%), 3.420%, 08/01/343

     119,707        125,193  

3.500%, 05/01/42 to 10/01/452

     6,845,835        7,063,474  

3.500%, TBA 30 years5,6

     2,400,000        2,464,125  

4.000%, 12/01/26 to 09/01/552

     8,952,109        9,453,663  

4.000%, TBA 30 years5,6

     13,600,000        14,222,049  

4.500%, 11/01/26 to 09/01/532

     6,878,995        7,381,676  

4.500%, TBA 30 years5,6

     2,000,000        2,127,812  

4.750%, 07/01/34 to 09/01/34

     195,479        211,035  

5.000%, 06/01/18 to 08/01/40

     1,971,122        2,152,144  

5.500%, 02/01/18 to 08/01/412

     2,121,407        2,317,807  

6.000%, 11/01/22 to 06/01/392

     810,776        886,192  

6.500%, 07/01/32

     59,505        60,437  

7.000%, 11/01/222

     185,003        194,253  

FNMA REMICS,

     

Series 1994-55, Class H 7.000%, 03/25/242

     328,264        356,005  

Series 2005-13, Class AF

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.400%), 1.952%, 03/25/352,3

     203,273        203,859  

FNMA REMICS Whole Loan

     

Series 2003-W4, Class 4A 7.500%, 10/25/424

     50,578        56,569  

Total Fannie Mae

        59,020,475  

Freddie Mac - 36.5%

     

FHLMC,

     

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.224%), 3.474%, 11/01/332,3

     392,045        409,827  

FHLMC Gold Pool, 3.000%, 10/01/42 to 06/01/45

     2,169,106        2,176,775  

3.500%, 04/01/32 to 02/01/472

     3,051,838        3,163,361  

3.500%, TBA 30 years5,6

     10,400,000        10,680,045  

4.000%, 09/01/31

     298,860        315,761  

4.000%, TBA 30 years5,6

     15,600,000        16,312,968  

4.500%, 02/01/20 to 09/01/412

     1,621,141        1,725,223  

5.000%, 05/01/18 to 06/01/412

     2,024,942        2,194,681  

5.500%, 01/01/18 to 01/01/392

     1,621,453        1,786,268  

6.000%, 09/01/21 to 01/01/24

     156,742        163,960  

7.000%, 07/01/19

     28,608        29,135  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

26


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Freddie Mac - 36.5% (continued)

     

FHLMC Gold Pool, 7.500%, 07/01/342

   $ 541,695      $ 631,934  

Total Freddie Mac

        39,589,938  

Ginnie Mae - 31.0%

     

GNMA,

     

3.000%, 11/15/42 to 06/20/45

     3,285,559        3,322,810  

3.000%, TBA 30 years5,6

     1,000,000        1,009,062  

3.500%, 08/15/43 to 11/20/452

     7,700,831        7,990,048  

4.000%, 06/20/43 to 04/20/472

     12,477,930        13,143,029  

4.500%, 05/15/39 to 02/15/462

     2,459,427        2,632,794  

4.500%, TBA 30 years5,6

     600,000        631,219  

5.000%, 12/15/35 to 12/15/452

     3,587,608        3,908,021  

5.500%, 10/15/39 to 11/15/392

     857,417        954,757  

7.500%, 09/15/28 to 11/15/31

     19,459        20,084  

Total Ginnie Mae

        33,611,824  

Interest Only Strip - 1.5%

     

FHLMC

     

Series 212, Class IO 6.000%, 05/15/31

     805        171  

FHLMC REMICS,

     

Series 2380, Class SI

     

(7.900% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.900%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 6.423%, 06/15/313

     7,568        1,506  

Series 2922, Class SE

     

(6.750% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.750%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.273%, 02/15/353

     77,443        14,257  

Series 2934, Class HI 5.000%, 02/15/20

     14,769        525  

Series 2934, Class KI 5.000%, 02/15/20

     9,884        328  

Series 2965, Class SA

     

(6.050% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.050%, Floor 0.000%), 4.573%, 05/15/323

     154,041        20,339  

Series 2967, Class JI 5.000%, 04/15/20

     29,562        1,119  

Series 2980, Class SL

     

(6.700% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.700%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.223%, 11/15/343

     112,039        25,611  

Series 3065, Class DI

     

(6.620% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.620%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.143%, 04/15/353

     222,825        37,438  

Series 3308, Class S

     

(7.200% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.200%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.723%, 03/15/323

     138,693        25,267  

Series 3424, Class XI

     

(6.570% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.570%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.093%, 05/15/363

     183,514        30,035  

Series 3489, Class SD

     

(7.800% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.800%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 6.323%, 06/15/323

     82,273        16,042  

Series 3685, Class EI 5.000%, 03/15/19

     9,292        85  

Series 3731, Class IO 5.000%, 07/15/19

     6,381        59  

Series 3882, Class AI 5.000%, 06/15/26

     41,834        1,190  
     Principal
Amount
     Value  

FHLMC REMICS,

     

Series 4395, Class TI 4.000%, 05/15/26

   $ 498,722      $ 46,962  

FNMA,

     

Series 222, Class 2 7.000%, 06/25/23

     4,065        600  

Series 343, Class 21 4.000%, 09/25/18

     6,678        54  

Series 343, Class 22 4.000%, 11/25/18

     3,758        37  

Series 351, Class 5 5.000%, 04/25/34

     22,796        4,086  

Series 351, Class 3 5.000%, 04/25/34

     46,302        8,067  

Series 351, Class 4 5.000%, 04/25/34

     26,926        4,826  

FNMA REMICS,

     

Series 2004-51, Class SX

     

(7.120% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.120%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.568%, 07/25/343

     81,453        14,893  

Series 2004-64, Class SW

     

(7.050% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.050%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.498%, 08/25/343

     265,541        47,247  

Series 2005-12, Class SC

     

(6.750% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.750%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.198%, 03/25/353

     117,172        18,797  

Series 2005-45, Class SR

     

(6.720% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.720%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.168%, 06/25/353

     209,961        35,907  

Series 2005-65, Class KI

     

(7.000% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.000%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.448%, 08/25/352,3

     484,107        85,074  

Series 2005-89, Class S

     

(6.700% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.700%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.148%, 10/25/353

     499,746        84,989  

Series 2006-3, Class SA

     

(6.150% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.150%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 4.598%, 03/25/363

     99,022        14,531  

Series 2007-75, Class JI

     

(6.545% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.545%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 4.993%, 08/25/373

     93,467        15,761  

Series 2008-86, Class IO 4.500%, 03/25/23

     29,935        468  

Series 2009-31, Class PI 5.000%, 11/25/38

     582,197        89,026  

Series 2010-121, Class IO 5.000%, 10/25/25

     20,444        416  

Series 2010-37, Class GI 5.000%, 04/25/25

     8,211        91  

Series 2010-65, Class IO 5.000%, 09/25/20

     87,529        2,925  

Series 2011-124, Class IC 3.500%, 09/25/21

     119,045        3,567  

Series 2011-69, Class AI 5.000%, 05/25/18

     1,816        6  

Series 2011-88, Class WI 3.500%, 09/25/26

     214,076        21,184  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

27


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Interest Only Strip - 1.5% (continued)

 

  

FNMA REMICS,

     

Series 2012-126, Class SJ

     

(5.000% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 5.000%, Floor 0.000%), 3.448%, 11/25/423

   $ 505,412      $ 65,735  

GNMA,

     

Series 2011-167, Class IO 5.000%, 12/16/20

     28,937        813  

Series 2011-32, Class KS

     

(12.100% minus 2 times 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 12.100%, Floor 0.000%), 9.118%, 06/16/343

     118,236        8,148  

Series 2011-94, Class IS

     

(6.700% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.700%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 5.209%, 06/16/363

     163,558        18,497  

Series 2012-103, Class IB 3.500%, 04/20/40

     169,689        15,376  

Series 2012-140, Class IC 3.500%, 11/20/42

     485,057        98,363  

Series 2012-34, Class KS

     

(6.050% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.050%, Floor 0.000%), 4.559%, 03/16/423

     353,326        78,873  

Series 2012-69, Class QI 4.000%, 03/16/41

     208,431        30,558  

Series 2014-173, Class AI 4.000%, 11/20/38

     194,953        13,547  

Series 2016-108, Class QI 4.000%, 08/20/46

     277,411        63,144  

Series 2016-118, Class DS

     

(6.100% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.100%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 4.599%, 09/20/463

     341,346        72,500  

Series 2016-145, Class UI 3.500%, 10/20/46

     442,499        88,059  

Series 2016-17, Class JS

     

(6.100% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.100%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 4.599%, 02/20/463

     366,916        64,181  

Series 2016-20, Class SB

     

(6.100% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.100%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 4.599%, 02/20/463

     382,496        68,390  

 

1  Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. This security may be resold in transactions exempt from registration, normally to qualified buyers. At December 31, 2017, the value of these securities amounted to $7,982,728 or 7.4% of net assets.
2  Some of this security has been pledged as collateral for delayed delivery securities.
3  Variable rate security. The rate shown is based on the latest available information as of December 31, 2017.
4  Certain variable rate securities are not based on a published reference rate and spread but are determined by the issuer or agent and are based on current market conditions. These securities do not indicate a reference rate and spread in their description above.
5  All or part of the security is delayed delivery transaction. The market value for delayed delivery securities at December 31, 2017, amounted to $51,725,210, or 47.7% of net assets.
6  TBA Securities are purchased/sold on a forward commitment basis with an approximate principal amount and no defined maturity date. The actual principal and maturity date will be determined upon settlement when the specific mortgage pools are assigned.
     Principal
Amount
     Value  

GNMA,

     

Series 2016-46, Class JI 4.500%, 04/20/46

   $ 231,027      $ 50,540  

Series 2016-5, Class CS

     

(6.150% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.150%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 4.649%, 01/20/463

     352,360        65,306  

Series 2016-81, Class IO 4.000%, 06/20/46

     431,944        81,762  

Series 2016-88, Class SM

     

(6.100% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.100%,

     

Floor 0.000%), 4.599%, 07/20/463

     355,534        69,012  

Total Interest Only Strip

        1,626,290  

Total U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     

(Cost $133,384,690)

        133,848,527  

Short-Term Investments - 16.6%

 

  

U.S. Government Obligation - 0.1%

 

  

U.S. Treasury Bill, 0.276%, 02/15/187,8

     90,000        89,878  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 16.5%

 

  

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class
Shares, 1.18%2,9

     14,228,475        14,228,475  

Dreyfus Preferred Government Money Market Fund, Institutional Class
Shares, 1.25%9

     3,722,763        3,722,763  

Total Other Investment Companies

        17,951,238  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $18,041,116)

        18,041,116  

Total Investments - 147.6%
(Cost $159,704,263)

        160,153,459  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (47.6)%

        (51,667,762

Net Assets - 100.0%

      $ 108,485,697  

 

7  Some or all of this security is held as collateral for futures contracts. The market value of collateral at December 31, 2017, amounted to $89,878, or 0.1% of net assets.
8  Represents yield to maturity at December 31, 2017.
9  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

FHLMC Freddie Mac

FNMA Fannie Mae

GNMA Ginnie Mae

GSR Goldman Sachs REMIC

IO Interest Only

LIBOR London Interbank Offered Rate

REMICS Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit

TBA To Be Announced

 

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

28


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

TBA Forward Sale Commitments    

 

 

Security    Principal
Amount
     Settlement
Date
     Market
Value
     Proceeds  

GNMA, 3.000%, TBA 30 years

   $ 1,000,000        01/22/18      $ 1,009,063      $ (1,005,078
        

 

 

    

 

 

 
        Totals      $ 1,009,063      $ (1,005,078
        

 

 

    

 

 

 

Open Futures Contracts

 

 

Description    Number of
Contracts
     Position      Expiration
Date
     Current
Notional
Amount
    Value and
Unrealized
Gain/(Loss)
 

10-Year U.S. Treasury Note

     2        Long        03/20/18      $ 248,094     $ (1,692

U.S. Ultra Bond CBT Mar 18

     2        Long        03/20/18        335,312       1,730  

10-Year Interest Rate Swap

     35        Short        03/19/18        (3,438,203     10,030  

2-Year U.S. Treasury Note

     3        Short        03/29/18        (642,328     1,446  

5-Year Interest Rate Swap

     23        Short        03/19/18        (2,268,196     1,919  

5-Year U.S. Treasury Note

     5        Short        03/29/18        (580,820     3,151  
             

 

 

 
              Total     $ 16,584  
             

 

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1     Level 2     Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

         

Asset-Backed Securities

     —       $ 7,779,587       —        $ 7,779,587  

Mortgage-Backed Securities

     —         484,229       —          484,229  

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     —         133,848,527       —          133,848,527  

Short-Term Investments

         

U.S. Government Obligation

     —         89,878       —          89,878  

Other Investment Companies

   $ 17,951,238       —         —          17,951,238  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 17,951,238     $ 142,202,221       —        $ 160,153,459  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

TBA Sale Commitments

     —       $ (1,009,063     —        $ (1,009,063
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Financial Derivative Instruments - Assets

         

Interest Rate Contracts

   $ 18,276       —         —        $ 18,276  

Financial Derivative Instruments - Liabilities

         

Interest Rate Contracts

     (1,692     —         —          (1,692
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Financial Derivative Instruments

   $ 16,584       —         —        $ 16,584  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

All U.S. government and agency obligations held in the Fund are Level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of U.S. government and agency obligations by agency classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

29


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

The following schedule shows the value of derivative instruments at December 31, 2017:

 

    

Asset Derivatives

    

Liability Derivatives

 
Derivatives not accounted for as
hedging instruments
  

Statement of Assets and

Liabilities Location

   Fair Value      Statement of Assets and
Liabilities Location
   Fair Value  

Interest rate contracts

   Receivable for variation margin1    $ 1,281      Payable for variation margin1    $ 8,102  
     

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

1 Only current day’s variation margin is reported within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. The variation margin is included in the open futures cumulative appreciation/depreciation of $16,584.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the effect of derivative instruments on the Statement of Operations for the Fund and the amount of realized gain (loss) and unrealized gain (loss) on derivatives recognized in income is as follows:

 

    

Realized Gain (Loss)

    

Change in Unrealized Gain (Loss)

 
Derivatives not accounted for
as hedging instruments
   Statement of Operations
Location
   Realized
Gain/(Loss)
    

Statement of Operations

Location

   Change in
Unrealized
Gain (Loss)
 

Interest rate contracts

   Net realized gain (loss) on futures contracts    $ 5,893      Net change in unrealized appreciation/ depreciation on futures contracts    $ (9,807
     

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

30


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

 

 

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

During the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund (Class N shares) (formerly Class S shares) (the “Fund”) returned 0.58%, while the ICE BofA Merrill Lynch 6-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index returned

0.95%.

Low interest rate volatility helped agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) performance relative to U.S. Treasuries. Performance was weak early in the first quarter, despite lower volatility as concerns over Federal Reserve (Fed) policy impacted performance. Coupon performance was mixed, but the coupon stack generally widened modestly versus Treasury hedges and tighter versus swaps. Overseas buying, which helped to support Ginnie Mae (GNMA) MBS for much of 2016, was light for first quarter of 2017. MBS rebounded later in the quarter with the market gaining greater comfort concerning the tapering of asset purchases by the Fed.

Agency MBS continued to exhibit low spread volatility into the second quarter. While lower volatility and good carry helped agency MBS performance relative to U.S. Treasuries, spreads widened modestly during the quarter. The market had a muted reaction to the Fed’s continued guidance regarding their plans for the tapering of mortgage purchases. Prepayment speeds remained relatively low. Ginnie Mae/Fannie Mae (GNMA/FNMA) spreads were weaker in the quarter due to expectations of bank reform resulting in easier liquidity rules.

Agency MBS finished the third quarter in strong fashion as the sell-off in rates in September proved to be supportive of spreads. Generally, Agency MBS traded with short empirical durations throughout the quarter as concern over recent interest rate lows in August gave way to relief in September. Higher coupon MBS outperformed production coupons significantly. Higher rates also brought in fresh demand. Because the plan and timing of the Fed tapering were well-previewed through the middle of the year, markets took the formal announcement in stride.

MBS performance began the fourth quarter with fair performance, only to finish stronger in the month of December. The Treasury rate curve flattened over the

quarter, driving lower coupon FNMA and Freddie Mac (FHLMC) 30-year MBS to be best performers while higher coupon MBS lagged significantly despite the favorable prepayment environment.

The Fed began tapering their MBS portfolio in the fourth quarter. The immediate impact on the market was minimal. The size of the MBS market grew in 2016 and 2017 due to high net supply. However, the Fed maintained the size of its MBS portfolio, leading to a reduction of the Fed’s footprint on the market. The gradual start of tapering tempered the market impact.

PERFORMANCE AND POSITIONING

The Fund underperformed its benchmark during the period. Agency FRMs (fixed-rate MBS) contributed positively to performance in 2017. Our asset-backed security (ABS) exposure also contributed to the Fund’s performance. The Fund’s Agency collateralized-mortgage obligations (CMO) exposure detracted modestly from performance.

During 2017, we increased our positioning of 30-year Agency FRMs by 5% from 33% to 38% by year end. We slightly reduced our exposure to 15-year Agency FRMs by 4% to end the year at 10% of capital. Our asset-backed securities (ABS) positioning declined by a modest 1% to also end the year at 10% of capital.

Agency adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) represented 21% of the fund’s positioning (1% higher than where we began the year). We sold the majority of our Agency CMO positions, which accounted for 6% of the portfolio at the beginning of the year.

The Fund held both U.S. Treasury and swap futures throughout the year. These derivative positions were held primarily to hedge the effective duration (i.e., interest rate risk) of the total portfolio. In general, the presence of these positions reduced the portfolio duration by 1.47 years to 1.73 years.

LOOKING FORWARD

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, multiple factors inhibited leverage, including tighter regulation and more costly secured financing. The unleveraged investor was then king. Times have

changed, and balance sheets are expanding. We are now in the final phase of the credit cycle, the “leverage” phase. Abundant liquidity and low defaults support higher asset pries with low volatility. The resulting excellent Sharpe ratios invite the increasing application of leverage and extend the virtuous cycle, further compressing spreads.

The rates market is pricing fewer than half of the seven rate hikes that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) forecasts over the next three years. We think Fed rate hikes are underpriced. Still, we do not fear the Fed upsetting the apple cart, unless inflation surprises substantially to the upside.

Fundamentally, the U.S. housing market remains in healing mode. Affordability levels continue to support stable or rising home prices in most parts of the country. Mortgage credit availability has barely begun to expand from the severely restricted post-crisis levels. Housing construction rates and household formation rates are more likely to reveal a housing shortage than a housing surplus. One new obstacle to continued home price appreciation is the recent tax reform legislation that reduced the historic subsidy for home ownership. While we see modest risk in pockets of the housing market where home prices and state taxes are high, in the aggregate this headwind is likely to be overwhelmed by the aforementioned tailwinds. In the base case, the U.S. housing market remains positioned for home price gains that continue to outpace inflation in the majority of geographies and price points. Additionally, the risk remains minimal for a “left tail” scenario of broad and severe home price declines. The housing crisis was made possible by an unsustainable combination of low affordability levels, weak mortgage credit standards, and oversupply of housing. Today’s environment remains in the opposite corner of this matrix.

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, Amundi Pioneer Institutional Asset Management, Inc. as of December 31, 2017, and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results and is subject to change without notice.

 

 

 

 

31


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class N (formerly Class S) shares on December 31, 2007, to a $10,000 investment made in the ICE BofAML U.S. 6-Month Treasury Bill Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund and the ICE BofAML U.S. 6-Month Treasury Bill Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

Average Annual Total Returns1    One
Year
    Five
Years
    Ten
Years
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

 

Class N8

     0.58     0.47     1.15     3.32     03/31/92  

Class I

     —         —         —         0.31     02/24/17  

Class Z

     —         —         —         0.44     02/24/17  

ICE BofAML U.S. 6-Month Treasury Bill Index9

     0.95     0.43     0.71     2.90     03/31/92  

 

 

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

Date reflects inception date of the Fund, not the index.
1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain
  distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).
2 From time to time the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.
3  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in debt securities, such as default risk and fluctuations in the perception of the debtor’s ability to pay its creditors. Changing interest rates may adversely affect the value of an investment. An increase in interest rates typically causes the value of bonds and other fixed-income securities to fall.
4  To the extent that the Fund invests in asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities, its exposure to prepayment and extension risks may be greater than investments in other fixed income securities.
5  The Fund may invest in derivatives such as options and futures; the complexity and rapidly changing structure of derivatives markets may increase the possibility of market losses.
6  Many bonds have call provisions which allow the debtors to pay them back before maturity. This is especially true with mortgage securities, which can be paid back anytime. Typically debtors prepay their debt when it is to their advantage (when interest rates drop making a new loan at current rates more attractive), and thus likely to the disadvantage of bondholders, who may have to reinvest prepayment proceeds in securities with lower yields. Prepayment risk will vary depending on the provisions of the security and current interest rates relative to the interest rate of the debt.
7  Obligations of certain government agencies are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. If one of these agencies defaulted on a loan, there is no guarantee that the U.S. government would provide financial support. Additionally, debt securities of the U.S. government may be affected by changing interest rates and subject to prepayment risk.
8  Effective February 27, 2017, Class S was renamed Class N.
9  The ICE BofAML U.S. 6-Month Treasury Bill Index is an unmanaged index that measures returns of six-month Treasury Bills. Unlike the Fund, the ICE BofAML U.S. 6-Month Treasury Bill Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment, and does not incur expenses.

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

32


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Category

   % of
Net Assets
 

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     86.5  

Asset-Backed Securities

     10.0  

Mortgage-Backed Securities

     0.3  

Short-Term Investments

     4.2  

TBA Forward Sale Commitments

     (2.9

Other Assets Less Liabilities*

     1.9  

 

* Includes net unrealized depreciation of $2,514 on open futures contracts.

 

Rating

   % of
Market Value*
 

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     89.4  

Aaa

     10.6  

 

* Includes market value of fixed-income securities only.

 

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name

   % of
Net Assets
 

GNMA, 6.000%, 01/15/36

     3.8  

FNMA, 4.000%, 02/01/41

     2.9  

FNMA, 5.500%, 05/01/34

     2.5  

FNMA, 4.500%, 04/01/35

     2.5  

United States Treasury Inflation Indexed Bonds, 2.375%, 01/15/27

     2.4  

FHLMC Gold Pool, 4.500%, 10/01/44

     2.4  

FNMA, 5.500%, 08/01/41

     2.3  

FHLMC Gold Pool, 4.500%, 03/01/42

     2.2  

Colony American Homes, Series 2015-1A, Class A, 2.632%, 07/17/32

     2.1  

FHLMC Gold Pool, 4.000%, 12/01/44

     2.1  
  

 

 

 

Top Ten as a Group

     25.2  
  

 

 

 
 

 

Credit quality ratings shown above reflect the highest rating assigned by either Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) or Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”). These rating agencies are independent, nationally recognized statistical rating organizations and are widely used. Investment grade ratings are credit ratings of BBB/Baa or higher. Below investment grade ratings are credit ratings of BB/Ba or lower. Investments designated N/R are not rated by either rating agency. Unrated investments do not necessarily indicate low credit quality. Credit quality ratings are subject to change.

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 

33


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Asset-Backed Securities - 10.0%

 

  

AmeriCredit Automobile Receivables Trust

     

Series 2013-3, Class D 3.000%, 07/08/19

   $ 233,343      $ 233,577  

Capital Auto Receivables Asset Trust

     

Series 2013-4, Class D 3.220%, 05/20/19

     769,448        769,960  

Colony American Homes

     

Series 2014-1A, Class A

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 1.150%), 2.627%, 05/17/31 (01/17/18)1,2

     3,199,403        3,208,084  

Series 2014-2A, Class A

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.950%), 2.427%, 07/17/31 (01/17/18)1,2

     1,154,984        1,156,953  

Series 2015-1A, Class A

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 1.200%), 2.632%, 07/17/32 (01/17/18)1,2

     3,409,472        3,421,055  

Drive Auto Receivables Trust

     

Series 2015-AA, Class C 3.060%, 05/17/211

     1,269,060        1,274,499  

Series 2015-BA, Class C 2.760%, 07/15/211

     1,068,456        1,071,927  

Series 2015-CA, Class C 3.010%, 05/17/211

     323,174        324,512  

Series 2016-BA, Class B 2.560%, 06/15/201

     502,338        502,831  

Invitation Homes Trust

     

Series 2015-SFR3, Class A

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 1.300%), 2.760%, 08/17/32 (01/17/18)1,2

     1,448,436        1,457,489  

Progress Residential Trust

     

Series 2016-SFR1, Class A

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 1.500%), 2.960%, 09/17/33 (01/17/18)1,2

     510,382        516,123  

Santander Drive Auto Receivables Trust

     

Series 2013-4, Class D 3.920%, 01/15/20

     2,086,598        2,096,361  

Series 2014-1, Class C 2.360%, 04/15/20

     28,361        28,371  

Total Asset-Backed Securities
(Cost $16,043,174)

        16,061,742  

Mortgage-Backed Security - 0.3%

     

Angel Oak Mortgage Trust

     

Series 2017-2 2.478%, 07/25/47 (Cost $434,652)1,3

     434,657        430,813  

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations -86.5%

     

Fannie Mae - 54.4%

     

FNMA,

     

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.111%), 2.907%, 05/01/332

     975,968        1,025,748  

FNMA,

     

(6-Month LIBOR plus 1.500%), 2.912%, 02/01/332

     712,413        735,929  

(6-Month LIBOR plus 1.560%), 2.986%, 08/01/332

     300,710        311,621  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.025%), 3.046%, 01/01/342

     501,798        525,238  

(6-Month LIBOR plus 1.600%), 3.121%, 06/01/342

     535,381        555,666  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.253%), 3.148%, 05/01/342

     1,347,701        1,427,342  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.425%), 3.175%, 09/01/332

     677,705        716,334  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.202%), 3.185%, 06/01/332

     273,711        286,723  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.187%), 3.298%, 12/01/342

     1,341,915        1,410,697  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.575%), 3.325%, 12/01/332

     336,330        351,985  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.108%), 3.341%, 09/01/332

     201,785        210,472  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.619%), 3.353%, 03/01/342

     166,383        174,691  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.616%), 3.375%, 10/01/352

     929,307        975,665  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.648%), 3.401%, 07/01/342

     876,669        920,620  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.624%), 3.420%, 08/01/342

     149,634        156,491  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.800%), 3.431%, 01/01/342

     951,332        1,006,068  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.349%), 3.444%, 04/01/342

     394,683        416,884  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.332%), 3.453%, 04/01/342

     309,206        326,182  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.717%), 3.460%, 04/01/372,4

     2,728,028        2,857,086  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.810%), 3.470%, 01/01/332

     724,306        765,130  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.380%), 3.492%, 01/01/362

     2,465,030        2,609,235  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.360%), 3.547%, 11/01/342

     2,142,724        2,267,182  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.857%), 3.557%, 01/01/362

     21,775        22,959  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.303%), 3.562%, 12/01/342

     1,309,757        1,378,883  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.820%), 3.572%, 08/01/352

     879,286        928,442  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.804%), 3.587%, 06/01/342

     1,250,235        1,321,246  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.730%), 3.605%, 06/01/352

     71,468        75,158  

4.000%, 10/01/21 to 06/01/42

     9,296,323        9,759,826  

4.500%, 10/01/19 to 11/01/56

     15,989,046        17,217,928  

5.000%, 10/01/19 to 01/01/41

     10,623,768        11,451,478  

5.500%, 05/01/34 to 08/01/41

     9,475,352        10,525,842  

6.000%, 09/01/21 to 08/01/37

     4,697,428        5,157,114  

6.500%, 04/01/18 to 08/01/32

     2,429,738        2,723,459  

7.000%, 11/01/22

     689,550        724,027  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

34


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Fannie Mae - 54.4% (continued)

     

FNMA,
7.500%, 08/01/33 to 09/01/33

   $ 50,552      $ 59,525  

FNMA Grantor Trust,

     

Series 2002-T5, Class A1

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.120%), 1.568%, 05/25/322

     162,156        161,798  

Series 2003-T4, Class 1A

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.220%), 1.772%, 09/26/332

     12,977        12,913  

FNMA REMICS,

     

Series 1994-31, Class ZC 6.500%, 02/25/24

     278,144        296,925  

Series 1994-76, Class J 5.000%, 04/25/24

     27,302        27,399  

Series 2001-63, Class FA

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.550%), 2.041%, 12/18/312

     293,687        298,087  

Series 2002-47, Class FD

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.400%), 1.952%, 08/25/322

     364,056        364,379  

Series 2003-2, Class FA

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.500%), 2.052%, 02/25/332

     266,283        267,502  

Series 2003-3, Class HJ 5.000%, 02/25/18

     735        734  

Series 2004-1, Class AC 4.000%, 02/25/19

     3,796        3,800  

Series 2004-21, Class AE 4.000%, 04/25/19

     39,052        39,203  

Series 2004-27, Class HB 4.000%, 05/25/19

     34,542        34,779  

Series 2004-53, Class NC 5.500%, 07/25/24

     213,688        226,157  

Series 2005-13, Class AF

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.400%), 1.952%, 03/25/352

     378,922        380,015  

Series 2005-19, Class PA 5.500%, 07/25/34

     95,183        98,255  

Series 2005-58, Class EP 5.500%, 07/25/35

     162,632        175,784  

Series 2005-68, Class PC 5.500%, 07/25/35

     121,056        124,762  

Series 2005-68, Class PB 5.750%, 07/25/35

     17,509        18,005  

Series 2007-56, Class FN

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.370%), 1.922%, 06/25/372

     122,288        121,634  

Series 2008-59, Class KB 4.500%, 07/25/23

     23,808        24,000  

Series 2010-12, Class AC 2.500%, 12/25/18

     15,832        15,812  

Series 2011-60, Class UC 2.500%, 09/25/39

     154,075        153,641  

FNMA REMICS Whole Loan,

     

Series 2003-W1, Class 2A 7.500%, 12/25/423

     14,778        16,588  

FNMA REMICS Whole Loan,

     

Series 2003-W13, Class AV2

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.280%), 1.832%, 10/25/332

     9,267        9,235  

Series 2003-W4, Class 4A 7.500%, 10/25/423

     303,466        339,411  

Series 2004-W14, Class 1AF

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.400%), 1.952%, 07/25/442

     1,515,378        1,497,932  

Series 2004-W5, Class F1

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.450%), 2.002%, 02/25/472

     342,780        338,846  

Series 2005-W2, Class A1

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.200%), 1.752%, 05/25/352

     688,529        685,343  

Total Fannie Mae

        87,111,815  

Freddie Mac - 23.3%

     

FHLMC,

     

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.250%), 3.039%, 04/01/342

     383,766        405,784  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.250%), 3.114%, 03/01/342

     1,447,439        1,529,128  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.154%), 3.227%, 10/01/282

     19,419        20,381  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.000%), 3.250%, 11/01/332

     571,024        596,707  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.406%), 3.317%, 02/01/232

     54,306        56,866  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.225%), 3.467%, 10/01/332

     993,444        1,042,582  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.219%), 3.467%, 10/01/332

     569,643        598,012  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.225%), 3.475%, 11/01/332

     638,075        670,660  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.230%), 3.482%, 12/01/332

     845,747        886,719  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.250%), 3.523%, 05/01/342

     1,242,551        1,309,975  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.514%), 3.551%, 06/01/352

     441,491        468,170  

(12-Month LIBOR plus 1.819%), 3.584%, 09/01/332

     1,229,135        1,298,013  

(US Treasury 1 Year plus 2.711%), 3.785%, 05/01/352

     671,778        716,833  

FHLMC Gold Pool, 3.000%, 04/01/31

     2,372,459        2,419,247  

4.000%, 12/01/44

     3,214,902        3,370,077  

4.500%, 05/01/19 to 10/01/44

     10,024,574        10,714,312  

5.000%, 10/01/18 to 08/01/20

     455,356        466,550  

5.500%, 12/01/32 to 08/01/40

     5,197,881        5,768,781  

6.000%, 02/01/22 to 01/01/24

     2,107,138        2,210,777  

6.500%, 03/01/18 to 10/01/23

     106,137        110,254  

7.000%, 07/01/19

     24,091        24,535  

7.500%, 03/01/33

     160,797        184,250  

FHLMC REMICS,

     

Series 2627, Class BM 4.500%, 06/15/18

     9,124        9,150  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

35


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Freddie Mac - 23.3% (continued)

     

FHLMC REMICS,

     

Series 2631, Class PD 4.500%, 06/15/18

   $ 2,932      $ 2,942  

Series 2668, Class AZ 4.000%, 09/15/18

     70,203        70,357  

Series 2683, Class JB 4.000%, 09/15/18

     47,059        47,153  

Series 2786, Class BC 4.000%, 04/15/19

     26,955        27,166  

Series 2809, Class UC 4.000%, 06/15/19

     23,999        24,129  

Series 2877, Class PA 5.500%, 07/15/33

     5,905        5,913  

Series 3033, Class CI 5.500%, 01/15/35

     7,438        7,444  

Series 3153, Class UG

     

(1-Month LIBOR plus 0.450%), 1.927%, 05/15/362

     1,756,259        1,765,541  

Series 3535, Class CA 4.000%, 05/15/24

     12,042        12,098  

Series 3609, Class LA 4.000%, 12/15/24

     88,477        89,214  

Series 3632, Class AG 4.000%, 06/15/38

     185,901        187,951  

Series 3653, Class JK 5.000%, 11/15/38

     103,735        106,871  

Series 3756, Class DA 1.200%, 11/15/18

     59,860        59,609  

Series 3846, Class CK 1.500%, 09/15/20

     527        524  

Total Freddie Mac

        37,284,675  

Ginnie Mae - 3.8%

     

GNMA, 4.000%, 09/15/18

     27,099        27,889  

6.000%, 01/15/364

     5,296,944        6,028,346  

Total Ginnie Mae

        6,056,235  

U.S. Treasury Obligations - 2.4%

 

  

United States Treasury Inflation Indexed Bonds, 2.375%, 01/15/27

     3,339,172        3,906,736  

Interest Only Strip - 2.6%

 

  

FHLMC REMICS,

     

Series 2922, Class SE

     

(6.750% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.750%, Floor 0.000%), 5.273%, 02/15/352

     174,560        32,136  

Series 2934, Class HI 5.000%, 02/15/20

     21,099        751  

Series 2934, Class KI 5.000%, 02/15/20

     11,531        383  

Series 2965, Class SA

     

(6.050% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.050%, Floor 0.000%), 4.573%, 05/15/322

     381,424        50,361  

Series 2967, Class JI 5.000%, 04/15/20

     69,565        2,632  

Series 2980, Class SL

     

(6.700% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.700%, Floor 0.000%), 5.223%, 11/15/342

     247,253        56,518  

FHLMC REMICS,

     

Series 2981, Class SU

     

(7.800% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.800%, Floor 0.000%), 6.323%, 05/15/302

     181,506        26,501  

Series 3065, Class DI

     

(6.620% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.620%, Floor 0.000%), 5.143%, 04/15/352

     681,159        114,446  

Series 3308, Class S

     

(7.200% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.200%, Floor 0.000%), 5.723%, 03/15/322

     314,615        57,317  

Series 3424, Class XI

     

(6.570% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.570%, Floor 0.000%), 5.093%, 05/15/362

     478,019        78,235  

Series 3489, Class SD

     

(7.800% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.800%, Floor 0.000%), 6.323%, 06/15/322

     184,129        35,902  

Series 3685, Class EI 5.000%, 03/15/19

     20,749        190  

Series 3731, Class IO 5.000%, 07/15/19

     14,474        133  

Series 3882, Class AI 5.000%, 06/15/26

     33,460        952  

Series 4395, Class TI 4.000%, 05/15/26

     579,712        54,588  

FNMA

     

Series 306, Class IO 8.000%, 05/25/30

     54,361        15,058  

FNMA REMICS,

     

Series 2004-51, Class SX

     

(7.120% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.120%, Floor 0.000%), 5.568%, 07/25/342

     204,425        37,378  

Series 2004-64, Class SW

     

(7.050% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.050%, Floor 0.000%), 5.498%, 08/25/342

     611,055        108,723  

Series 2004-66, Class SE

     

(6.500% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.500%, Floor 0.000%), 4.948%, 09/25/342

     96,252        15,231  

Series 2005-12, Class SC

     

(6.750% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.750%, Floor 0.000%), 5.198%, 03/25/352

     223,878        35,915  

Series 2005-45, Class SR

     

(6.720% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.720%, Floor 0.000%), 5.168%, 06/25/352

     517,343        88,475  

Series 2005-5, Class SD

     

(6.700% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.700%, Floor 0.000%), 5.148%, 01/25/352

     149,356        22,927  

Series 2005-65, Class KI

     

(7.000% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.000%, Floor 0.000%), 5.448%, 08/25/352

     1,207,412        212,183  

Series 2005-66, Class GS

     

(6.850% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.850%, Floor 0.000%), 5.298%, 07/25/202

     34,804        1,275  

Series 2006-3, Class SA

     

(6.150% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.150%, Floor 0.000%), 4.598%, 03/25/362

     229,176        33,630  

Series 2007-75, Class JI

     

(6.545% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.545%, Floor 0.000%), 4.993%, 08/25/372

     112,138        18,909  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

36


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Interest Only Strip - 2.6% (continued)

     

FNMA REMICS,

     

Series 2007-85, Class SI

     

(6.460% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.460%, Floor 0.000%), 4.908%, 09/25/372

   $ 245,178      $ 40,952  

Series 2008-86, Class IO 4.500%, 03/25/23

     74,932        1,172  

Series 2008-87, Class AS

     

(7.650% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 7.650%, Floor 0.000%), 6.098%, 07/25/332

     678,303        128,984  

Series 2009-31, Class PI 5.000%, 11/25/38

     677,301        103,569  

Series 2010-105, Class IO 5.000%, 08/25/20

     137,758        4,629  

Series 2010-121, Class IO 5.000%, 10/25/25

     54,865        1,117  

Series 2010-37, Class GI 5.000%, 04/25/25

     21,091        234  

Series 2010-65, Class IO 5.000%, 09/25/20

     226,257        7,560  

Series 2010-68, Class SJ

     

(6.550% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.550%, Floor 0.000%), 4.998%, 07/25/402

     263,997        49,926  

Series 2011-124, Class IC 3.500%, 09/25/21

     564,449        16,915  

Series 2011-63, Class AS

     

(5.920% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 5.920%, Floor 0.000%), 4.368%, 07/25/412

     304,855        45,335  

Series 2011-69, Class AI 5.000%, 05/25/18

     4,852        17  

Series 2011-88, Class WI 3.500%, 09/25/26

     628,134        62,156  

Series 2012-126, Class SJ

     

(5.000% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 5.000%, Floor 0.000%), 3.448%, 11/25/422

     3,324,011        432,331  

GNMA,

     

Series 2011-167, Class IO 5.000%, 12/16/20

     170,421        4,785  

Series 2011-32, Class KS

     

(12.100% minus 2 times 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 12.100%, Floor 0.000%), 9.118%, 06/16/342

     287,249        19,795  

Series 2011-94, Class IS

     

(6.700% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.700%, Floor 0.000%), 5.209%, 06/16/362

     367,470        41,557  

Series 2012-101, Class AI 3.500%, 08/20/27

     338,690        36,238  

Series 2012-103, Class IB 3.500%, 04/20/40

     738,702        66,935  

Series 2012-140, Class IC 3.500%, 11/20/42

     609,495        123,597  

Series 2012-34, Class KS

     

(6.050% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.050%, Floor 0.000%), 4.559%, 03/16/422

     2,713,315        605,698  

Series 2012-69, Class QI 4.000%, 03/16/41

     1,102,609        161,654  

Series 2012-96, Class IC 3.000%, 08/20/27

     590,728        58,044  

GNMA,

     

Series 2013-5, Class BI 3.500%, 01/20/43

     244,445        44,680  

Series 2014-173, Class AI 4.000%, 11/20/38

     185,157        12,866  

Series 2016-108, Class QI 4.000%, 08/20/46

     316,398        72,018  

Series 2016-118, Class DS

     

(6.100% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.100%, Floor 0.000%), 4.599%, 09/20/462

     604,758        128,448  

Series 2016-145, Class UI 3.500%, 10/20/46

     528,767        105,226  

Series 2016-17, Class JS

     

(6.100% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.100%, Floor 0.000%), 4.599%, 02/20/462

     644,830        112,795  

Series 2016-20, Class SB

     

(6.100% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.100%, Floor 0.000%), 4.599%, 02/20/462

     649,388        116,111  

Series 2016-46, Class JI 4.500%, 04/20/46

     261,433        57,192  

Series 2016-5, Class CS

     

(6.150% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.150%, Floor 0.000%), 4.649%, 01/20/462

     608,267        112,736  

Series 2016-81, Class IO 4.000%, 06/20/46

     491,234        92,984  

Series 2016-88, Class SM

     

(6.100% minus 1-Month LIBOR, Cap 6.100%, Floor 0.000%), 4.599%, 07/20/462

     624,828        121,285  

Total Interest Only Strip

        4,090,290  

Total U.S. Government and Agency Obligations (Cost $137,647,434)

        138,449,751  

Short-Term Investments - 4.2%

     

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations -2.8%

     

FHLB, 0.265%, 01/17/185

     3,000,000        2,998,560  

FHLB, 0.145%, 01/10/185

     1,500,000        1,499,537  

Total U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

        4,498,097  

U.S. Government Obligation - 0.5%

 

  

U.S. Treasury Bill, 0.276%, 02/15/185,6

     760,000        758,970  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 0.9%

     

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.18%7

     1,391,449        1,391,449  

Total Short-Term Investments (Cost $6,648,516)

        6,648,516  

Total Investments - 101.0% (Cost $160,773,776)

        161,590,822  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (1.0)%

        (1,538,096

Net Assets - 100.0%

      $ 160,052,726  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

37


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

1 Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. This security may be resold in transactions exempt from registration, normally to qualified buyers. At December 31, 2017, the value of these securities amounted to $13,364,286 or 8.3% of net assets.
2  Variable rate security. The rate shown is based on the latest available information as of December 31, 2017.
3  Certain variable rate securities are not based on a published reference rate and spread but are determined by the issuer or agent and are based on current market conditions. These securities do not indicate a reference rate and spread in their description above.
4  Some of this security has been pledged as collateral for delayed delivery securities.
5  Represents yield to maturity at December 31, 2017.
6  Some or all of this security is held as collateral for futures contracts. The market value of collateral at December 31, 2017, amounted to $519,295, or 0.3% of net assets.
7  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

 

FHLB    Federal Home Loan Bank      
FHLMC    Freddie Mac      
FNMA    Fannie Mae      
GNMA    Ginnie Mae      
IO    Interest Only      
LIBOR    London Interbank Offered Rate      
REMICS    Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit      
TBA    To Be Announced      

TBA Forward Sale Commitments

 

 

Security    Principal
Amount
     Settlement
Date
            Market
Value
     Proceeds  

FNMA, 4.000%, TBA 30 years

   $ 3,000,000        01/11/18         $ 3,137,217      $ (3,135,000

FNMA, 4.500%, TBA 30 years

   $ 1,400,000        01/11/18           1,489,468        (1,487,500
           

 

 

    

 

 

 
           Totals      $ 4,626,685      $ (4,622,500
           

 

 

    

 

 

 

Open Futures Contracts

 

 

Description    Number of
Contracts
     Position      Expiration Date      Current
Notional
Amount
    Value and
Unrealized
Gain/
(Loss)
 

10-Year U.S. Treasury Note

     39        Long        03/20/18      $ 4,837,828     $ (33,023

5-Year U.S. Treasury Note

     44        Long        03/29/18        5,111,219       (28,298

10-Year Interest Rate Swap

     60        Short        03/19/18        (5,894,062     17,194  

2-Year U.S. Treasury Note

     68        Short        03/29/18        (14,559,438     32,767  

5-Year Interest Rate Swap

     339        Short        03/19/18        (33,431,227     28,286  

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        12/17/18        (733,912     405  

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        03/16/20        (732,450     292  

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        03/15/21        (732,038     (45

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        03/14/22        (731,588     (232

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        03/19/18        (736,800     67  

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        03/18/19        (733,462     367  

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        06/15/20        (732,375     142  

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        06/14/21        (731,963     (120

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        06/13/22        (731,475     (270

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        06/18/18        (735,562     180  

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        06/17/19        (733,050     367  

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        09/14/20        (732,300     67  

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        09/13/21        (731,850     (195

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        09/19/22        (731,325     (270

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        09/17/18        (734,700     330  

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        09/16/19        (732,787     367  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

38


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

Description    Number of
Contracts
     Position      Expiration
Date
     Current
Notional
Amount
    Value and
Unrealized
Gain/(Loss)
 

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        12/14/20      $ (732,113   $ 30  

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        12/13/21        (731,663     (195

90-Day Euro Futures

     3        Short        12/16/19        (732,525     330  

U.S. Ultra Bond CBT Mar 18

     24        Short        03/20/18        (4,023,750     (21,057
             

 

 

 
              Total     $ (2,514
             

 

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1     Level 2     Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

         

Asset-Backed Securities

     —       $ 16,061,742       —        $ 16,061,742  

Mortgage-Backed Security

     —         430,813       —          430,813  

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     —         138,449,751       —          138,449,751  

Short-Term Investments

         

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     —         4,498,097       —          4,498,097  

U.S. Government Obligation

     —         758,970       —          758,970  

Other Investment Companies

   $ 1,391,449       —         —          1,391,449  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 1,391,449     $ 160,199,373       —        $ 161,590,822  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

TBA Sale Commitments

     —       $ (4,626,685     —        $ (4,626,685
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Financial Derivative Instruments - Assets

         

Interest Rate Contract

   $ 81,191       —         —        $ 81,191  

Financial Derivative Instruments - Liabilities

         

Interest Rate Contract

     (83,705     —         —          (83,705
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Financial Derivative Instruments

   $ (2,514     —         —        $ (2,514
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

All U.S. government and agency obligations held in the Fund are Level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of U.S. government and agency obligations by agency classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

39


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

The following schedule shows the value of derivative instruments at December 31, 2017:

 

     Asset Derivatives      Liability Derivatives  

Derivatives not accounted

for as hedging instruments

   Statement of Assets and
Liabilities Location
  Fair Value      Statement of Assets and
Liabilities Location
  Fair Value  

Interest rate contracts

   Receivable for variation margin1
  $ 12,047      Payable for variation margin1
  $ 55,959  
    

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

1  Only current day’s variation margin is reported within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. The variation margin is included in the open futures cumulative appreciation/depreciation of $(2,514).

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the effect of derivative instruments on the Statement of Operations for the Fund and the amount of realized gain (loss) and unrealized gain (loss) on derivatives recognized in income is as follows:

 

    

Realized Gain (Loss)

    

Change in Unrealized Gain (Loss)

 

Derivatives not accounted

for as hedging instruments

   Statement of Operations
Location
  

Realized

Gain/(Loss)

     Statement of Operations
Location
  

Change in

Unrealized

Gain (Loss)

 

Interest rate contracts

  

Net realized gain (loss) on

futures contracts

     $(83,966)     

Net change in unrealized

appreciation/ depreciation on futures contracts

     $(268,606)  
     

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

40


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

 

     AMG
Chicago Equity
Partners
Balanced Fund
     AMG
Chicago Equity
Partners

Small Cap Value
Fund
     AMG
Managers Amundi
Intermediate
Government Fund#
     AMG
Managers Amundi
Short Duration
Government Fund#
 

Assets:

           

Investments at Value* (including securities on loan valued at $2,374,701, $161,259, $0, and $0, respectively)

   $ 197,812,003      $ 2,944,081      $ 160,153,459      $ 161,590,822  

Cash

     1,212        44        —          —    

Foreign currency**

     56,531        —          —          —    

Receivable for investments sold

     98,089        —          —          —    

Receivable for delayed delivery investments sold

     —          —          1,523,376        4,627,583  

Dividend, interest and other receivables

     452,729        6,514        371,132        569,674  

Receivable for paydowns

     —          —          7,415        158,299  

Receivable for Fund shares sold

     959,521        —          267,110        363,934  

Receivable from affiliate

     10,377        8,740        21,406        15,506  

Receivable for variation margin

     —          —          1,281        12,047  

Prepaid expenses

     27,193        24,431        15,231        16,024  

Total assets

     199,417,655        2,983,810        162,360,410        167,353,889  

Liabilities:

           

Payable upon return of securities loaned

     2,448,757        169,425        —          —    

Payable for investments purchased

     181,915        —          —          —    

Payable for delayed delivery investments purchased

     —          —          52,309,032        —    

Payable for Fund shares repurchased

     245,909        159        339,685        2,391,163  

TBA sale commitments at value (proceeds receivable of $1,005,078 and $4,622,500, respectively)

     —          —          1,009,063        4,626,685  

Payable for variation margin

     —          —          8,102        55,959  

Accrued expenses:

           

Investment advisory and management fees

     100,947        1,467        45,005        56,383  

Administrative fees

     25,237        355        14,064        21,144  

Distribution fees

     15,946        16        —          —    

Shareholder service fees

     9,852        1,086        13,997        20,080  

Professional fees

     39,060        29,593        54,508        55,875  

Trustee fees and expenses

     2,090        29        1,189        1,811  

Other

     59,228        22,018        80,068        72,063  

Total liabilities

     3,128,941        224,148        53,874,713        7,301,163  

Net Assets

   $ 196,288,714      $ 2,759,662      $ 108,485,697      $ 160,052,726  

*     Investments at cost

   $ 176,142,139      $ 2,626,026      $ 159,704,263      $ 160,773,776  

** Foreign currency at cost

   $ 56,400        —          —          —    

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

41


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (continued)

 

 

 

     AMG
Chicago Equity
Partners
Balanced Fund
    AMG
Chicago Equity
Partners

Small Cap Value
Fund
    AMG
Managers Amundi
Intermediate
Government Fund#
    AMG
Managers Amundi
Short Duration
Government Fund#
 

Net Assets Represent:

        

Paid-in capital

   $ 169,915,960     $ 2,442,498     $ 111,223,590     $ 166,269,354  

Undistributed (distribution in excess of) net investment income

     (12,953     —         —         205,033  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss) from investments

     4,716,694       (891     (3,199,688     (7,232,008

Net unrealized appreciation on investments

     21,669,013       318,055       461,795       810,347  

Net Assets

   $ 196,288,714     $ 2,759,662     $ 108,485,697     $ 160,052,726  

Class N:

        

Net Assets

   $ 74,314,956     $ 76,466     $ 104,846,586     $ 135,620,127  

Shares outstanding

     4,363,297       7,059       9,867,917       14,324,148  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

   $ 17.03     $ 10.83     $ 10.62     $ 9.47  

Class I:

        

Net Assets

   $ 114,913,377     $ 677,717     $ 2,312,744     $ 23,757,338  

Shares outstanding

     6,684,538       62,640       217,713       2,510,663  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

   $ 17.19     $ 10.82     $ 10.62     $ 9.46  

Class Z:

        

Net Assets

   $ 7,060,381     $ 2,005,479     $ 1,326,367     $ 675,261  

Shares outstanding

     410,793       184,812       124,894       71,301  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

   $ 17.19     $ 10.85     $ 10.62     $ 9.47  

 

# Effective February 27, 2017, Class S shares were renamed to Class N shares and Class I shares and Class Z shares were added as described in the Note 1 of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

42


Table of Contents

Statement of Operations

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

 

 

 

 

     AMG
Chicago Equity
Partners
Balanced Fund
    AMG
Chicago Equity
Partners

Small Cap Value
Fund
    AMG
Managers Amundi
Intermediate
Government Fund#
    AMG
Managers Amundi
Short Duration
Government Fund#
 

Investment Income:

        

Dividend income

   $ 1,826,550     $ 80,342     $ 182,404     $ 23,093  

Interest income

     1,366,759       —         2,926,134       3,662,796  

Securities lending income

     18,293       2,669       —         2  

Foreign withholding tax

     (230     —         —         —    

Total investment income

     3,211,372       83,011       3,108,538       3,685,891  

Expenses:

        

Investment advisory and management fees

     1,122,450       41,773       647,221       807,773  

Administrative fees

     280,612       10,106       202,257       302,915  

Distribution fees - Class N

     221,747       165       —         —    

Shareholder servicing fees - Class N

     —         99       199,069       276,966  

Shareholder servicing fees - Class I

     91,837       6,809       393       8,372  

Professional fees

     49,659       30,168       70,627       78,728  

Registration fees

     72,815       49,715       66,949       64,057  

Transfer agent fees

     25,593       5,954       20,373       9,094  

Custodian fees

     55,033       18,388       66,835       61,714  

Reports to shareholders

     38,405       9,322       42,301       18,544  

Trustee fees and expenses

     12,522       608       10,124       15,057  

Miscellaneous

     7,062       2,172       6,698       6,878  

Total expenses before offsets

     1,977,735       175,279       1,332,847       1,650,098  

Expense reimbursements

     (92,722     (104,187     (135,196     —    

Expense reductions

     (9,606     (5,004     —         —    

Fee waivers

     —         —         (61,463     (182,649

Net expenses

     1,875,407       66,088       1,136,188       1,467,449  

Net investment income

     1,335,965       16,923       1,972,350       2,218,442  

Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss):

        

Net realized gain on investments

     11,775,375       1,739,455       1,055,935       76,802  

Net realized gain (loss) on TBA forward sale commitments

     —         —         2,500       (45,875

Net realized loss on foreign currency transactions

     (30,293     —         —         —    

Net realized gain (loss) on futures contracts

     —         —         5,893       (83,966

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     14,147,684       (1,776,787     (477,597     (655,370

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on foreign currency translations

     (851     —         —         —    

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on futures contracts

     —         —         (9,807     (268,606

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     25,891,915       (37,332     576,924       (977,015

Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations

   $ 27,227,880     $ (20,409   $ 2,549,274     $ 1,241,427  

 

# Effective February 27, 2017, Class S shares were renamed to Class N shares and Class I shares and Class Z shares were added as described in the Note 1 of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

43


Table of Contents

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

For the fiscal years ended December 31,

 

 

 

     AMG
Chicago Equity
Partners
Balanced Fund
    AMG
Chicago Equity
Partners
Small Cap Value
Fund
 
     2017     2016##     2017     2016##  

Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Resulting From Operations:

        

Net investment income

   $ 1,335,965     $ 1,744,880     $ 16,923     $ 117,437  

Net realized gain on investments

     11,745,082       1,942,643       1,739,455       735,967  

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     14,146,833       5,002,573       (1,776,787     2,288,175  

Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations

     27,227,880       8,690,096       (20,409     3,141,579  

Distributions to Shareholders:

        

From net investment income:

        

Class N

     (544,946     (899,880     —         (217

Class I

     (750,899     (784,679     —         (102,530

Class Z

     (58,823     (62,513     —         (19,183

From net realized gain on investments:

        

Class N

     (2,969,365     (70,151     (5,985     —    

Class I

     (4,597,864     (57,353     (1,212,426     —    

Class Z

     (281,134     (4,375     (281,840     —    

From paid in capital:

        

Class N

     —         —         (76     —    

Class I

     —         —         (15,312     —    

Class Z

     —         —         (3,559     —    

Total distributions to shareholders

     (9,203,031     (1,878,951     (1,519,198     (121,930

Capital Share Transactions:1

        

Net increase (decrease) from capital share transactions

     4,076,435       10,393,262       (8,568,796     (2,861,768

Total increase (decrease) in net assets

     22,101,284       17,204,407       (10,108,403     157,881  

Net Assets:

        

Beginning of year

     174,187,430       156,983,023       12,868,065       12,710,184  

End of year

   $ 196,288,714     $ 174,187,430     $ 2,759,662     $ 12,868,065  

End of year distribution in excess of net investment income

   $ (12,953   $ (570     —         —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

## Effective October 1, 2016, the Funds’ share classes were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
1 See Note 1(g) of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

44


Table of Contents

Statements of Changes in Net Assets (continued)

For the fiscal years ended December 31,

 

 

 

     AMG
Managers Amundi Intermediate
Government Fund#
    AMG
Managers Amundi
Short Duration
Government Fund#
 
     2017     2016     2017     2016  

Increase in Net Assets Resulting From Operations:

        

Net investment income

   $ 1,972,350     $ 2,538,653     $ 2,218,442     $ 4,660,640  

Net realized gain (loss) on investments

     1,064,328       1,044,235       (53,039     1,422,193  

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     (487,404     (577,674     (923,976     (3,256,852

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

     2,549,274       3,005,214       1,241,427       2,825,981  

Distributions to Shareholders:

        

From net investment income:

        

Class N

     (2,210,849     (2,324,161     (4,012,537     (2,527,449

Class I

     (27,256     —         (443,522     —    

Class Z

     (23,041     —         (15,045     —    

From net realized gain on investments:

        

Class N

     —         (2,763,558     —         —    

From paid in capital:

        

Class N

     (188,523     —         —         —    

Class I

     (2,324     —         —         —    

Class Z

     (1,965     —         —         —    

Total distributions to shareholders

     (2,453,958     (5,087,719     (4,471,104     (2,527,449

Capital Share Transactions:1

        

Net decrease from capital share transactions

     (58,020,446     (23,546,144     (71,286,485     (161,035,899

Total decrease in net assets

     (57,925,130     (25,628,649     (74,516,162     (160,737,367

Net Assets:

        

Beginning of year

     166,410,827       192,039,476       234,568,888       395,306,255  

End of year

   $ 108,485,697     $ 166,410,827     $ 160,052,726     $ 234,568,888  

End of year undistributed net investment income

     —       $ 380,109     $ 205,033     $ 2,457,695  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

# Effective October 1, 2016, and February 27, 2017, the Fund’s share classes were renamed or redesignated as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
1 See Note 1(g) of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

45


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class N    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 15.45     $ 14.92     $ 15.09     $ 15.13     $ 14.19  

Income from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.10       0.14 3       0.10 4       0.11       0.10 5  

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

     2.30       0.54       0.23       1.37       2.33  

Total income from investment operations

     2.40       0.68       0.33       1.48       2.43  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.11     (0.14     (0.11     (0.11     (0.09

Net realized gain on investments

     (0.71     (0.01     (0.39     (1.41     (1.40

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.82     (0.15     (0.50     (1.52     (1.49

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 17.03     $ 15.45     $ 14.92     $ 15.09     $ 15.13  

Total Return2

     15.54 %6      4.59 %6       2.19 %6       9.69 %6       17.14 %6 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets7

     1.09     1.08     1.08     1.07     1.10 %8  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets9

     1.14     1.25     1.36     1.40     1.55 %8  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.63     0.94     0.64     0.70     0.62 %8  

Portfolio turnover

     75     119     105     92     90

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 74,315     $ 92,502     $ 94,476     $ 41,751     $ 33,151  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

46


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class I    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 15.59     $ 15.05     $ 15.23     $ 15.26     $ 14.30  

Income from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.13       0.17 3       0.12 4       0.15       0.13 5  

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

     2.31       0.54       0.23       1.37       2.36  

Total income from investment operations

     2.44       0.71       0.35       1.52       2.49  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.13     (0.16     (0.14     (0.13     (0.12

Net realized gain on investments

     (0.71     (0.01     (0.39     (1.42     (1.41

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.84     (0.17     (0.53     (1.55     (1.53

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 17.19     $ 15.59     $ 15.05     $ 15.23     $ 15.26  

Total Return2

     15.71 %6       4.79 %6       2.29 %6       9.93 %6       17.45

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets7

     0.94     0.93     0.93     0.86     0.92 %8 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets9

     0.99     1.10     1.21     1.20     1.39 %8 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.78     1.09     0.80     0.91     0.83 %8 

Portfolio turnover

     75     119     105     92     90

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 114,913     $ 75,890     $ 60,798     $ 14,481     $ 1,581  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

47


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class Z    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 15.58     $ 15.05     $ 15.22     $ 15.26     $ 14.31  

Income from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.15       0.18 3       0.14 4       0.15       0.14 5  

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

     2.32       0.54       0.23       1.38       2.35  

Total income from investment operations

     2.47       0.72       0.37       1.53       2.49  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.15     (0.18     (0.15     (0.15     (0.13

Net realized gain on investments

     (0.71     (0.01     (0.39     (1.42     (1.41

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.86     (0.19     (0.54     (1.57     (1.54

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 17.19     $ 15.58     $ 15.05     $ 15.22     $ 15.26  

Total Return2

     15.90 %6      4.82 %6      2.44 %6      9.97 %6      17.45 %6 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets7

     0.84     0.83     0.83     0.82     0.85 %8  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets9

     0.89     1.00     1.09     1.15     1.30 %8  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.88     1.20     0.89     0.95     0.88 %8  

Portfolio turnover

     75     119     105     92     90

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 7,060     $ 5,796     $ 1,709     $ 12,401     $ 11,122  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, the Investor Class, Service Class and Institutional Class were renamed Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per share would have been $0.12, $0.15, and $0.16 for Class N, Class I, and Class Z shares, respectively.
4  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per share would have been $0.09, $0.11, and $0.13 for Class N, Class I and Class Z shares, respectively.
5  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per share would have been $0.09, $0.12, and $0.13 for Class N, Class I, and Class Z shares, respectively.
6  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
7  Includes reduction from broker recapture amounting to less than 0.01%, 0.01%, 0.01%, 0.02% and 0.01% for the fiscal years ended 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.
8  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.019%, 0.014% and 0.019% of average net assets for the Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
9  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 

 

48


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal periods ended December 31,  
Class N    2017     2016#     2015*  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 12.02     $ 9.39     $ 10.00  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

      

Net investment income (loss)1,2

     (0.00 )      0.08       (0.08 ) 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.55       2.64       (0.53

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.55       2.72       (0.61

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

      

Net investment income

     —         (0.09     —    

Net realized gain on investments

     (1.72     —         —    

Paid in capital

     (0.02     —         —    

Total distributions to shareholders

     (1.74     (0.09     —    

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 10.83     $ 12.02     $ 9.39  

Total Return2,5

     5.18     29.00     (6.10 )% 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets7

     1.28     1.33     1.32 % 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets9

     2.90     2.26     2.34 % 

Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets2

     (0.04 )%      0.77     (0.77 )% 

Portfolio turnover

     121     146     138 % 

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 76     $ 30     $ 16  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

49


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal periods ended December 31,  
Class I    2017     2016#     2015*  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 11.99     $ 9.35     $ 10.00  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

      

Net investment income1,2

     0.02       0.09       0.10 4  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.54       2.65       (0.68

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.56       2.74       (0.58

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

      

Net investment income

     —         (0.10     (0.07

Net realized gain on investments

     (1.71     —         —    

Paid in capital

     (0.02     —         —    

Total distributions to shareholders

     (1.73     (0.10     (0.07

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 10.82     $ 11.99     $ 9.35  

Total Return2,5

     5.35     29.34     (5.77 )% 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets7

     1.02     1.06     1.03 %8  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets9

     2.64     1.85     1.85 %8  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.21     0.96     0.98 %8  

Portfolio turnover

     121     146     138 %6  

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 678     $ 10,888     $ 11,085  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

50


Table of Contents

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal periods ended December 31,  
Class Z    2017     2016#     2015*  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 11.99     $ 9.35     $ 10.00  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

      

Net investment income1,2

     0.04       0.11       0.11 4  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.55       2.65       (0.68

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.59       2.76       (0.57

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

      

Net investment income

     —         (0.12     (0.08

Net realized gain on investments

     (1.71     —         —    

Paid in capital

     (0.02     —         —    

Total distributions to shareholders

     (1.73     (0.12     (0.08

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 10.85     $ 11.99     $ 9.35  

Total Return2,5

     5.63     29.49     (5.69 )% 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets7

     0.88     0.92     0.92 % 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets9

     2.50     1.71     3.06 % 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.36     1.04     1.07 % 

Portfolio turnover

     121     146     138 % 

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 2,005     $ 1,950     $ 1,609  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

# Effective October 1, 2016, the Investor Class, Service Class and Institutional Class were renamed Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
* Commencement of operations was on January 2, 2015.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  Amount is less than $(0.01) per share.
4  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income (loss) per share would have been $(0.09), $0.09, and $0.10 for Class N, Class I and Class Z shares, respectively.
5  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
6  Not annualized.
7  Includes reduction from broker recapture amounting to 0.07%, 0.01% and 0.03% for the years ended 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.
8  Annualized.
9  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 

 

51


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class N    2017#     2016##     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 10.65     $ 10.81     $ 10.96     $ 10.64     $ 10.98  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.16       0.14       0.11       0.17       0.18  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.02       0.01       0.01       0.54       (0.32

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.18       0.15       0.12       0.71       (0.14

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.19     (0.13     (0.10     (0.17     (0.18

Net realized gain on investments

     —         (0.18     (0.17     (0.22     (0.02

Paid in capital

     (0.02     —         —         —         —    

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.21     (0.31     (0.27     (0.39     (0.20

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 10.62     $ 10.65     $ 10.81     $ 10.96     $ 10.64  

Total Return2

     1.68 %3       1.42 %3       1.09     6.73     (1.25 )% 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.84     0.88     0.88     0.89     0.91 %4  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     0.99     0.93     0.92     0.96     0.94 %4  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     1.46     1.32     0.99     1.54     1.64 %4  

Portfolio turnover

     10     17     21     11     29

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 104,847     $ 166,411     $ 192,039     $ 174,138     $ 136,915  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

52


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal period ended
December 31,
 
Class I    2017*  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 10.70  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

  

Net investment income1,2

     0.15  

Net realized and unrealized loss on investments

     (0.03

Total income from investment operations

     0.12  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

  

Net investment income

     (0.18

Paid in capital

     (0.02

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.20

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 10.62  

Total Return2

     1.15 %3,6  

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.72 % 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     0.88 % 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     1.68 % 

Portfolio turnover

     10

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 2,313  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

53


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal period ended
December 31,
 
Class Z    2017*  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 10.70  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

  

Net investment income1,2

     0.16  

Net realized and unrealized loss on investments

     (0.04

Total income from investment operations

     0.12  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

  

Net investment income

     (0.18

Paid in capital

     (0.02

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.20

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 10.62  

Total Return2

     1.15 %3,6 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.69 %7 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     0.85 %7 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     1.72 %7 

Portfolio turnover

     10

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 1,326  
  

 

 

 

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, Class S was renamed Class N.
## Effective October 1, 2016, the shares were reclassified and redesignated as Class S shares.
*  Commencement of operations was February 27, 2017.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal period end.
4  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.020% of average net assets.
5  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)
6  Not annualized.
7  Annualized.

 

 

 

54


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class N    2017#     2016##     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 9.63     $ 9.62     $ 9.65     $ 9.64     $ 9.65  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.10       0.16       0.02       0.05       0.03  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     (0.04     (0.05     (0.03     0.01       (0.01

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.06       0.11       (0.01     0.06       0.02  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.22     (0.10     (0.02     (0.05     (0.03

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.22     (0.10     (0.02     (0.05     (0.03

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 9.47     $ 9.63     $ 9.62     $ 9.65     $ 9.64  

Total Return2,3

     0.58     1.10     (0.15 )%      0.60     0.20

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.74     0.80     0.79     0.80     0.79 %5  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets7

     0.83     0.80     0.79     0.80     0.79 %5  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     1.07     1.69     0.25     0.47     0.27 %5  

Portfolio turnover

     20     37     51     41     48

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 135,620     $ 234,569     $ 395,306     $ 385,246     $ 422,488  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

55


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal period ended
December 31,
 
Class I    2017*  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 9.64  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

  

Net investment income1,2

     0.11  

Net realized and unrealized loss on investments

     (0.08

Total income from investment operations

     0.03  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

  

Net investment income

     (0.21

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.21

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 9.46  

Total Return2,3

     0.31 %4  

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.62 %6  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets7

     0.73 %6  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     1.41 %6  

Portfolio turnover

     20

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 23,757  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

56


Table of Contents

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal period ended
December 31,
 
Class Z    2017*  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 9.64  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

  

Net investment income1,2

     0.12  

Net realized and unrealized loss on investments

     (0.08

Total income from investment operations

     0.04  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

  

Net investment income

     (0.21

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.21

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 9.47  

Total Return2,3

     0.44 %4 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.57 %6 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets7

     0.68 %6 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     1.46 %6 

Portfolio turnover

     20

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 675  
  

 

 

 

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, Class S was renamed Class N.
##  Effective October 1, 2016, the shares were reclassified and redesignated as Class S shares.
*  Commencement of operations was February 27, 2017.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
4  Not annualized.
5  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.019% of average net assets.
6  Annualized.
7  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 

 

57


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

AMG Funds and AMG Funds II (the “Trusts”) are open-end management investment companies, organized as Massachusetts business trusts, and registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Currently, the Trusts consist of a number of different funds, each having distinct investment management objectives, strategies, risks, and policies. Included in this report are AMG Funds: AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund (“Small Cap Value”) and AMG Funds II: AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund (“Balanced”), AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund (“Intermediate Government”) and AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund (“Short Duration”), each a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds.”

Each Fund offers different classes of shares, which, effective October 1, 2016, were renamed or redesignated. Both Balanced and Small Cap Value previously offered Investor Class shares, Service Class shares, and Institutional Class shares which were renamed to Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively; and Intermediate Government and Short Duration shares were reclassified and redesignated Class S. Effective February 27, 2017, Intermediate Government and Short Duration’s Class S shares were renamed Class N and both funds commenced offering Class I and Class Z shares. Each class represents an interest in the same assets of the respective Fund. Although all share classes generally have identical voting rights, each share class votes separately when required by law. Different share classes may pay different distribution amounts to the extent the net asset value per share and/or the expenses of such share classes differ. Each share class has its own expense structure. Please refer to a current prospectus for additional information on each share class.

The Funds’ financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”), including accounting and reporting guidance pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 applicable to investment companies. U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates and such differences could be material. The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Funds in the preparation of their financial statements:

a. VALUATION OF INVESTMENTS

Equity securities traded on a national securities exchange or reported on the NASDAQ national market system (“NMS”) are valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, if applicable, the NASDAQ official closing price or the official closing price of the relevant exchange or, lacking any sales, at the last quoted bid price or the mean between the last quoted bid and ask prices (the “exchange mean price”). Equity securities traded in the over-the-counter market (other than NMS securities) are valued at the exchange mean price. Foreign equity securities (securities principally traded in markets other than U.S. markets) are valued at the official closing price on the primary exchange or, for markets that either do not offer an official closing price or where the official closing price may not be representative of the overall market, the last quoted sale price.

Fixed income securities purchased with a remaining maturity exceeding 60 days are valued at the evaluated bid price or the mean price provided by an authorized pricing service or, if an evaluated price is not available, by reference to other securities which are considered comparable in credit rating, interest rate, due date

and other features (generally referred to as “matrix pricing”) or other similar pricing methodologies. Investments in certain mortgage-backed and stripped mortgage-backed securities, preferred stocks, convertible securities, derivatives and other debt securities not traded on an organized securities market are valued on the basis of valuations provided by dealers or by a pricing service which uses information with respect to transactions in such securities and various relationships between such securities and yield to maturity in determining value.

Fixed income securities purchased with a remaining maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost, provided that the amortized cost value is approximately the same as the fair value of the security valued without the use of amortized cost. Investments in other open-end regulated investment companies are valued at their end of day net asset value per share.

Futures contracts for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the settlement price as of the close of the futures exchange.

The Funds’ portfolio investments are generally valued based on independent market quotations or prices or, if none, “evaluative” or other market based valuations provided by third party pricing services approved by the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”). Under certain circumstances, the value of certain Fund portfolio investments (including derivatives) may be based on an evaluation of fair value, pursuant to procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Board. The Valuation Committee, which is comprised of the Independent Trustees of the Board, and the Pricing Committee, which is comprised of representatives from AMG Funds LLC (the “Investment Manager”) are the committees appointed by the Board to make fair value determinations. Each Fund may use the fair value of a portfolio investment to calculate its net asset value (“NAV”) in the event that the market quotation, price or market based valuation for the portfolio investment is not readily available or otherwise not determinable pursuant to the Board’s valuation procedures, if the Investment Manager or the Pricing Committee believes the quotation, price or market based valuation to be unreliable, or in certain other circumstances. When determining the fair value of an investment, the Pricing Committee and, if required under the Trusts’ securities valuation procedures, the Valuation Committee, seeks to determine the price that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from current sale of that portfolio investment in an arms-length transaction. Fair value determinations shall be based upon consideration of all available facts and information, including, but not limited to (i) attributes specific to the investment; (ii) fundamental and analytical data relating to the investment; and (iii) the value of other comparable securities or relevant financial instruments, including derivative securities, traded on other markets or among dealers.

The values assigned to fair value portfolio investments are based on available information and do not necessarily represent amounts that might ultimately be realized in the future, since such amounts depend on future developments inherent in long-term investments. Because of the inherent uncertainty of valuation, those estimated values may differ significantly from the values that would have been used had a ready market for the investments existed, and the differences could be material. The Board will be presented with a quarterly report showing as of the most recent quarter end, all outstanding securities fair valued by the Fund, including a comparison with the prior quarter end and the percentage of the Fund that the security represents at each quarter end.

With respect to foreign equity securities and certain foreign fixed income securities, the Board has adopted a policy that securities held in a Fund that can be fair valued by the applicable fair value pricing service are fair valued on each business day provided that each individual price exceeds a pre-established confidence level.

 

 

 

 

 

58


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

U.S. GAAP defines fair value as the price that a fund would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. U.S. GAAP also establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and a three level hierarchy for fair value measurements based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability. Inputs may be observable or unobservable and refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Funds. Unobservable inputs reflect the Funds’ own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. Each investment is assigned a level based upon the observability of the inputs which are significant to the overall valuation.

The three-tier hierarchy of inputs is summarized below:

Level 1 – inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical investments (e.g., equity securities, open-end investment companies, futures contracts,)

Level 2 – other observable inputs (including, but not limited to: quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in markets that are active, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets or liabilities (such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks and default rates) or other market corroborated inputs) (e.g., debt securities, government securities, foreign currency exchange contracts, foreign securities utilizing international fair value pricing, fair valued securities with observable inputs)

Level 3 – inputs are significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions used to determine the fair value of investments) (e.g., fair valued securities with unobservable inputs)

Changes in inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may result in a transfer in or out of levels within the fair value hierarchy. The inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may not necessarily be an indication of the risk associated with investing in those investments. Transfers between different levels of the fair value disclosure hierarchy are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.

b. SECURITY TRANSACTIONS

Security transactions are accounted for as of trade date. Realized gains and losses on securities sold are determined on the basis of identified cost.

c. INVESTMENT INCOME AND EXPENSES

Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date. Dividends from foreign securities are recorded on the ex-dividend date, and if after the fact, as soon as the Funds become aware of the ex-dividend date. Interest income, which includes amortization of premium and accretion of discount on debt securities, is accrued as earned. Dividend and interest income on foreign securities is recorded gross of any withholding tax. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are reported at the fair market value of the securities received. Upon notification from issuers, distributions received from a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) may be redesignated as a reduction of cost of investments and/or realized gain. Other income and expenses are recorded on an accrual basis. Expenses that cannot be directly attributed to a Fund are apportioned among the funds in the Trusts and other trusts within the AMG Funds family of mutual funds (collectively the “AMG Funds Family”) based upon their relative average net assets or number of shareholders. Investment income, realized and unrealized capital gains and losses, the common expenses of each Fund, and certain fund level expense reductions, if any, are allocated on a pro-rata basis to each class based on the relative net assets of each class to the total net assets of each Fund.

The following Funds had certain portfolio trades directed to various brokers under a brokerage recapture program. Credits received from the brokerage recapture program are earned and paid on a monthly basis, and are recorded as expense offsets, which serve to reduce the Funds’ overall expense ratio. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the impact on the expense ratios, if any, were as follows: Balanced - $9,606 or 0.01% , Small Cap Value - $5,004 or 0.07%.

d. DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

Fund distributions resulting from either net investment income or realized net capital gains, if any, will normally be declared and paid at least annually in December. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Distributions are determined in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which may differ from net investment income and net realized capital gains for financial statement purposes (U.S. GAAP). Differences may be permanent or temporary. Permanent differences are reclassified among capital accounts in the financial statements to reflect their tax character. Permanent book and tax basis differences, if any, relating to shareholder distributions will result in reclassifications to paid-in capital. Temporary differences arise when certain items of income, expense and gain or loss are recognized in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes; these differences will reverse at some time in the future. Permanent differences are due to redesignation of dividends paid, foreign currency, expiration of capital loss carryforwards and return of capital distributions paid by the Funds. Temporary differences are due to capital loss deferrals on straddles and mark-to-market on futures.

 

 

 

 

59


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 were as follows:    

 

     Balanced      Small Cap Value  
Distributions paid from:    2017      2016      2017      2016  

Ordinary income

   $ 1,336,645      $ 1,747,072      $ 32,099      $ 121,930  

Short-term capital gains

     3,377,861        —          833,144        —    

Long-term capital gains

     4,487,937        131,879        635,008        —    

Return of capital

     —          —          18,947        —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
   $ 9,202,443      $ 1,878,951      $ 1,519,198      $ 121,930  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
     Intermediate Government      Short Duration  
Distributions paid from:    2017      2016      2017      2016  

Ordinary income

   $ 2,261,146      $ 5,087,719      $ 4,471,104      $ 2,527,449  

Short-term capital gains

     —          —          —          —    

Long-term capital gains

     —          —          —          —    

Return of capital

     192,812        —          —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
   $ 2,453,958      $ 5,087,719      $ 4,471,104      $ 2,527,449  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

As of December 31, 2017, the components of distributable earnings (excluding unrealized appreciation/depreciation) on tax basis consisted of:

 

     Balanced      Small Cap Value      Intermediate Government      Short Duration  

Capital loss carryforward

     —          —        $ 2,178,798      $ 5,515,191  

Undistributed ordinary income

     —          —          —          205,033  

Undistributed short-term capital gains

   $ 1,664,599        —          —          —    

Undistributed long-term capital gains

     3,163,719        —          —          —    

Late-year loss deferral

     —          —          —          —    

At December 31, 2017, the approximate cost of investments and the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation for federal income tax were as follows:

 

Fund    Cost      Appreciation      Depreciation     Net  

Balanced

   $ 176,266,128      $ 23,454,226      $ (1,909,202   $ 21,545,024  

Small Cap Value

     2,626,917        367,939        (50,775     317,164  

Intermediate Government

     159,704,263        1,376,051        (930,840     445,211  

Short Duration

     160,773,775        2,938,336        (2,125,475     812,861  

 

e. FEDERAL TAXES

Each Fund currently qualifies as an investment company and intends to comply with the requirements under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and to distribute substantially all of its taxable income and gains to its shareholders and to meet certain diversification and income requirements with respect to investment companies. Therefore, no provision for federal income or excise tax is included in the accompanying financial statements.

Additionally, based on each Fund’s understanding of the tax rules and rates related to income, gains and transactions for the foreign jurisdictions in which it invests, each Fund will provide for foreign taxes, and where appropriate, deferred foreign taxes.

Management has analyzed the Funds’ tax positions taken on federal income tax returns as of December 31, 2017, and for all open tax years (generally, the three

prior taxable years), and has concluded that no provision for federal income tax is required in the Funds’ financial statements. Additionally, Management is not aware of any tax position for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change materially in the next twelve months.

Net capital losses incurred may be carried forward for an unlimited time period, and retain their tax character as either short-term or long-term capital losses.

f. CAPITAL LOSS CARRYOVERS AND DEFERRALS

As of December 31, 2017, the following Funds had accumulated net realized capital loss carryovers from securities transactions for federal income tax purposes as shown in the following chart. These amounts may be used to offset future realized capital gains, if any, for an unlimited time period.

 

 

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

     Capital Loss
Carryover Amounts
        
Fund    Short-Term      Long-Term      Total  

Intermediate Government

     —        $ 2,178,798      $ 2,178,798  

Short Duration

   $ 359,813        5,155,378        5,515,191  

As of December 31, 2017, Balanced and Small Cap Value had no accumulated net realized capital loss carryovers from securities transactions for federal income tax purposes. Should Balanced and Small Cap Value incur net capital losses for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, such amounts may be used to offset future realized capital gains, for an unlimited time period.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the following Funds utilized capital loss carryovers in the amount of:

 

     Capital Loss Carryover Utilized  
Fund    Short-Term      Long-Term  

Small Cap Value

   $ 247,331        —    

g. CAPITAL STOCK

The Trusts’ Declaration of Trust authorizes for each Fund the issuance of an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest, without par value. Each Fund records sales and repurchases of its capital stock on the trade date.

 

 

For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the capital stock transactions by class for the Funds were as follows:

 

           Balanced                 Small Cap Value        
     December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016     December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016  
     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  

Class N:

                

Proceeds from sale of shares

     1,239,936     $ 20,491,466       3,377,841     $ 49,948,934       5,673     $ 59,815       1,549     $ 18,593  

Reinvestment of distributions

     180,583       3,069,279       53,953       817,953       567       5,890       17       207  

Cost of shares repurchased

     (3,044,466     (50,984,756     (3,777,688     (56,409,174     (1,695     (17,799     (783     (7,962
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

     (1,623,947   $ (27,424,011     (345,894   $ (5,642,287     4,545     $ 47,906       783     $ 10,838  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class I:

                

Proceeds from sale of shares

     2,705,468     $ 45,868,384       2,263,148     $ 34,028,928       47,763     $ 556,183       181,690     $ 1,853,567  

Reinvestment of distributions

     161,858       2,780,507       19,571       299,586       118,507       1,227,738       8,418       102,527  

Cost of shares repurchased

     (1,051,459     (17,798,320     (1,453,335     (22,061,566     (1,012,039     (10,627,683     (467,369     (4,771,305
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

     1,815,867     $ 30,850,571       829,384     $ 12,266,948       (845,769   $ (8,843,762     (277,261   $ (2,815,211
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class Z:

                

Proceeds from sale of shares

     77,566     $ 1,285,979       323,484     $ 4,749,655       39,324     $ 406,905       43,104     $ 418,513  

Reinvestment of distributions

     19,371       332,260       4,203       64,334       27,522       285,399       1,575       19,183  

Cost of shares repurchased

     (58,065     (968,364     (69,342     (1,045,388     (44,678     (465,244     (54,112     (495,091
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

     38,872     $ 649,875       258,345     $ 3,768,601       22,168     $ 227,060       (9,433   $ (57,395
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

     Intermediate Government     Short Duration  
     December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016     December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016  
     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  

Class N:1

                

Proceeds from sale of shares

     2,506,899     $ 26,802,132       6,031,612     $ 66,129,198       4,487,160     $ 43,034,526       36,112,882     $ 103,879,750  

Reinvestment of distributions

     206,475       2,204,214       431,895       4,630,731       392,197       3,743,767       221,824       2,135,935  

Cost of shares repurchased

     (8,473,695     (90,681,619     (8,607,228     (94,306,073     (14,919,003     (142,857,038     (53,058,101     (267,051,584
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net decrease

     (5,760,321   $ (61,675,273     (2,143,721   $ (23,546,144     (10,039,646   $ (96,078,745     (16,723,395   $ (161,035,899
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class I:2

                

Proceeds from sale of shares

     282,788     $ 3,034,044       —         —         5,634,803     $ 53,874,614       —         —    

Reinvestment of distributions

     2,771       29,580       —         —         15,916       151,394       —         —    

Cost of shares repurchased

     (67,846     (727,699     —         —         (3,140,056     (29,921,094     —         —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase

     217,713     $ 2,335,925       —         —         2,510,663     $ 24,104,914       —         —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class Z:2

                

Proceeds from sale of shares

     169,759     $ 1,799,841       —         —         126,003     $ 1,211,014       —         —    

Reinvestment of distributions

     2,342       25,005       —         —         1,577       15,045       —         —    

Cost of shares repurchased

     (47,207     (505,944     —         —         (56,279     (538,713     —         —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase

     124,894     $ 1,318,902       —         —         71,301     $ 687,346       —         —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

1  Effective February 27, 2017, Class S was renamed Class N.
2  Commencement of operations was February 27, 2017.

At December 31, 2017, certain unaffiliated shareholders of record individually held greater than 10% of the net assets of the Funds as follows: Small Cap Value - one owns 23%. Transactions by this shareholder may have a material impact on its respective Fund.

 

h. REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS AND JOINT REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS

The Funds may enter into third-party repurchase agreements for temporary cash management purposes and third-party joint repurchase agreements for reinvestment of cash collateral on securities lending transactions under the securities lending program offered by The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) (the “Program”) (collectively, “Repurchase Agreements”). The value of the underlying collateral, including accrued interest, must equal or exceed the value of the Repurchase Agreements during the term of the agreement. For joint repurchase agreements, the Funds participate on a pro rata basis with other clients of BNYM in its share of the underlying collateral under such joint repurchase agreements and in its share of proceeds from any repurchase or other disposition of the underlying collateral. The underlying collateral for all Repurchase Agreements is held in safekeeping by the Funds’ custodian or at the Federal Reserve Bank. If the seller defaults and the value of the collateral declines, or if bankruptcy proceedings commence with respect to the seller of the security, realization of the collateral by the Funds may be delayed or limited. Pursuant to the Program, the Funds are indemnified for such losses by BNYM on joint repurchase agreements.

At December 31, 2017, the market value of Repurchase Agreements outstanding for Balanced and Small Cap Value were $2,448,757 and $169,425, respectively.

i. FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION

The books and records of the Funds are maintained in U.S. dollars. The value of investments, assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than U.S. dollars are translated into U.S. dollars based upon current foreign exchange rates. Purchases and sales of foreign investments, income and expenses are converted into U.S. dollars based on currency exchange rates prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions. Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on foreign currency transactions represent: (1) foreign exchange gains and losses from the sale and holdings of foreign currencies; (2) gains and losses between trade date and settlement date on investment securities transactions and forward foreign currency exchange contracts; and (3) gains and losses from the difference between amounts of interest and dividends recorded and the amounts actually received.

The Funds do not isolate the net realized and unrealized gain or loss resulting from changes in exchange rates from the fluctuations in market prices of securities held. Such fluctuations are included with the net realized and unrealized gain or loss on investments.

j. SECURITIES TRANSACTED ON A WHEN ISSUED BASIS

All Funds except Small Cap Value may enter into To-Be-Announced (“TBA”) sale commitments to hedge their portfolio positions or to sell mortgage-backed securities they own under delayed delivery arrangements. Proceeds of TBA sale

 

 

 

 

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Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

commitments are not received until the contractual settlement date. During the time a TBA sale commitment is outstanding, equivalent deliverable securities, with the same counterparty, or an offsetting TBA purchase commitment deliverable on or before the sale commitment date, are held as “cover” for the transaction. Unsettled TBA sale commitments are valued at the current market value of the underlying securities according to the procedures described under “Valuation of Investments,” in Footnote 1a above.

Each TBA contract is marked-to-market daily and the change in market value is recorded by the Fund as an unrealized gain or loss. If the TBA sale commitment is closed through the acquisition of an offsetting purchase commitment with the same broker, the Fund realizes a gain or loss. If the Fund delivers securities under the commitment, the Fund realizes a gain or a loss from the sale of the securities based upon the unit price established at the date the commitment was entered into.

k. DELAYED DELIVERY TRANSACTIONS AND WHEN-ISSUED SECURITIES

All Funds except Small Cap Value may enter into securities transactions on a delayed delivery or when issued basis. Payment and delivery may take place after the customary settlement period for that security. The price of the underlying securities and the date when the securities will be delivered and paid for are fixed at the time the transaction is negotiated. During the time a delayed delivery sell is outstanding, the contract is marked to market daily and equivalent deliverable securities are held for the transaction. The value of the securities purchased on a delayed delivery or when-issued basis are identified as such in the Funds’ Schedules of Portfolio Investments. With respect to purchase commitments, the Funds identify securities as segregated in their records with a value at least equal to the amount of the commitment. Delayed delivery or when-issued securities that have been purchased from and sold to different brokers are reflected as an investment in securities and a forward sale commitment in the Funds’ Statement of Assets and Liabilities. For financial reporting purposes, the Funds do not offset the receivable and payable for delayed delivery investments purchased and sold on TBA commitments. Losses may arise due to changes in the value of the underlying securities or if the counterparty does not perform under the contract, or if the issuer does not issue the securities due to political, economic, or other factors.

l. FOREIGN SECURITIES

Balanced invests in securities of foreign entities and in instruments denominated in foreign currencies which involve risks not typically associated with investments in domestic securities. Non-domestic securities carry special risks, such as exposure to currency fluctuations, less developed or less efficient trading markets, political instability, a lack of company information, differing auditing and legal standards, and, potentially, less liquidity. Realized gains in certain countries may be subject to foreign taxes at the Fund level and would pay such foreign taxes at the appropriate rate for each jurisdiction.

2. AGREEMENTS AND TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

For each of the Funds, the Trusts have entered into an investment advisory agreement under which the Investment Manager, a subsidiary and the U.S. retail distribution arm of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (“AMG”), serves as investment manager to the Funds and is responsible for the Funds’ overall administration and operations. The Investment Manager selects one or more subadvisers for the Funds (subject to Board approval) and monitors each subadviser’s investment

performance, security holdings and investment strategies. Each Fund’s investment portfolio is managed by one or more portfolio managers who serve pursuant to a subadvisory agreement with the Investment Manager. Balanced and Small Cap Value are managed by Chicago Equity Partners, LLC (“CEP”). AMG indirectly owns a majority interest in CEP.

Investment management fees are paid directly by the Funds to the Investment Manager based on average daily net assets. Effective October 1, 2016, the Funds’ investment management fees were paid at the following annual rate of each Fund’s respective average daily net assets:

 

Balanced

     0.60

Small Cap Value

     0.62

Intermediate Government

     0.48

Short Duration

     0.40

Prior to October 1, 2016, the annual rate for the investment management fees was 0.70%, 0.62%, 0.70% and 0.70% of each Fund’s average daily net assets of Balanced, Small Cap Value, Intermediate Government and Short Duration, respectively.

The Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2018, to waive management fees and/or reimburse fund expenses in order to limit total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), shareholder servicing fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses) of Balanced and Small Cap Value to 0.84% and 0.95%, respectively, of each Fund’s average daily net assets subject to later reimbursement by the Funds in certain circumstances.

The Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2018, to waive management fees and/or reimburse Fund expenses in order to limit total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), shareholder servicing fees, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses) to 0.74% of Intermediate Government’s average daily net assets subject to later reimbursement by the Fund in certain circumstances.

Effective February 27, 2017, the Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through May 1, 2018, to waive Intermediate Government’s management fee by 0.05%, from 0.48% to 0.43%, and Short Duration’s management fee by 0.11%, from 0.40% to 0.29%. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the management fee for Intermediate Government and Short Duration was reduced by $54,629 and $182,649, respectively.

The contractual expense limitation may only be terminated in the event the Investment Manager or a successor ceases to be the investment manager of the Fund or a successor fund, by mutual agreement between the Investment Manager and the Board, or in the event of the Fund’s liquidation unless the Fund is reorganized or is a party to a merger in which the surviving entity is successor to the accounting and performance information of the Fund.

In general, for a period of up to 36 months, the Investment Manager may recover from each Fund fees waived and expenses paid pursuant to this contractual agreement, provided that such repayment would not cause the Fund’s total annual operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of the items noted in the parenthetical above) to exceed the contractual expense limitation amount.

 

 

 

 

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At December 31, 2017, the Funds’ expiration of recoupment is as follows:

 

Expiration Period    Balanced      Small
Cap
Value
     Intermediate
Government
 

Less than 1 year

   $ 256,154      $ 100,095      $ 58,801  

Within 2 years

     276,286        94,463        81,422  

Within 3 years

     92,722        104,187        135,196  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Amount Subject to Recoupment

   $ 625,162      $ 298,745      $ 275,419  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

The Investment Manager has agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in consideration of shareholder servicing fees that it has received from JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc., with respect to short-term cash investments each Fund may have made in the JPMorgan Money Market Funds. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the investment management fee for Intermediate Government was reduced by $6,834.

The Trusts, on behalf of the Funds, have entered into an amended and restated Administration Agreement under which the Investment Manager serves as the Funds’ administrator (the “Administrator”) and is responsible for all non-portfolio management aspects of managing the Funds’ operations, including administration and shareholder services to each Fund. Effective October 1, 2016, each Fund pays a fee to the Administrator at the rate of 0.15% per annum of the Fund’s average daily net assets for this service. Prior to October 1, 2016, Balanced and Small Cap Value paid an administration fee under a similar contract at an annual rate of 0.20% and 0.25%, respectively, of each Fund’s average daily net assets, while Intermediate Government and Short Duration did not pay an administration fee.

The Funds are distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Investment Manager. The Distributor serves as the distributor and underwriter for each Fund and is a registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). Shares of each Fund will be continuously offered and will be sold directly to prospective purchasers and through brokers, dealers or other financial intermediaries who have executed selling agreements with the Distributor. Generally the Distributor bears all or a portion of the expenses of providing services pursuant to the distribution agreement, including the payment of the expenses relating to the distribution of prospectuses for sales purposes and any advertising or sales literature.

Balanced and Small Cap Value have adopted a distribution and service plan (the “Plan”) with respect to the Class N shares in accordance with the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act and the requirements of the applicable rules of FINRA regarding asset based sales charges. Pursuant to the Plan, each Fund may make payments to the Distributor for its expenditures in financing any activity primarily intended to result in the sale of each Funds’ Class N shares and for maintenance and personal service provided to existing shareholders of that class. The Plan authorizes payments to the Distributor up to 0.25% annually of each Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to the Class N shares.

For Class N of Small Cap Value, Intermediate Government and Short Duration, and Class I of Balanced, Small Cap Value, Intermediate Government and Short Duration, the Board has approved reimbursement payments to the Investment Manager for shareholder servicing expenses (“shareholder servicing fees”) incurred.

Shareholder servicing fees include payments to financial intermediaries, such as broker-dealers (including fund supermarket platforms), banks, and trust companies who provide shareholder recordkeeping, account servicing and other services. Class N shares of Small Cap Value, Intermediate Government and Short Duration and Class I shares of Balanced, Small Cap Value, Intermediate Government and Short Duration may reimburse the Investment Manager for the actual amount incurred up to a maximum annual rate of each Class’s average daily net assets as shown in the table below.

The impact on the annualized expense ratios for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

Fund    Maximum
Annual
Amount
Approved
    Actual
Amount
Incurred
 

Balanced

    

Class I

     0.10     0.10

Small Cap Value

    

Class N

     0.15     0.15

Class I

     0.15     0.14

Intermediate Government

    

Class N*

     0.15     0.15

Class I**

     0.05     0.04

Short Duration

    

Class N*

     0.15     0.15

Class I**

     0.05     0.05

 

* Effective October 1, 2016, the maximum annual rate was increased to 0.15% from 0.10%.
** Effective February 27, 2017, Class I shares were authorized up to a maximum annual rate of 0.05%.

The Board provides supervision of the affairs of the Trusts and other trusts within the AMG Funds family. The Trustees of the Trusts who are not affiliated with an Investment Manager receive an annual retainer and per meeting fees for regular, special and telephonic meetings, and they are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses incurred while carrying out their duties as Board members. The Chairman of the Board and the Audit Committee Chair receive additional annual retainers. Certain Trustees and Officers of the Funds are Officers and/or Directors of the Investment Manager, AMG and/or the Distributor.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) granted an exemptive order that permits the Funds to lend and borrow money for certain temporary purposes directly to and from other eligible funds in the AMG Funds family. Participation in this interfund lending program is voluntary for both the borrowing and lending funds, and an interfund loan is only made if it benefits each participating fund. The Administrator manages the program according to procedures approved by the Board, and the Board monitors the operation of the program. An interfund loan must comply with certain conditions set out in the exemptive order, which are designed to assure fairness and protect all participating funds. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, Short Duration lent a maximum of $1,536,965 for five days earning interest of $284. The interest income amount is included in the Statement of Operations as interest income. Small Cap Value borrowed a maximum of $184,534 for six days paying interest of $12. The interest expense amount is included in the Statement of Operations as miscellaneous expense. For

 

 

 

 

64


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, Balanced and Intermediate Government neither borrowed from nor lent to other funds in the AMG Funds family. At December 31, 2017, the Funds had no interfund loans outstanding.

3. PURCHASES AND SALES OF SECURITIES

Purchases and sales of securities (excluding short-term securities and U.S. Government Obligations) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Long Term Securities  
Fund    Purchases      Sales  

Balanced

   $ 106,659,747      $ 115,310,960  

Small Cap Value

     8,243,046        19,204,211  

Intermediate Government

     2,556,164        9,399,872  

Short Duration

     15,202,456        23,253,173  
     U.S. Government Obligations  
Fund    Purchases      Sales  

Balanced

   $ 31,734,603      $ 27,439,918  

Small Cap Value

     —          —    

Intermediate Government

     14,389,593        38,484,841  

Short Duration

     22,896,697        60,785,533  

4. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES LOANED

The Funds participate in the Program providing for the lending of securities to qualified brokers. Securities lending income includes earnings of such temporary cash investments, plus or minus any rebate to a borrower. These earnings (after any rebate) are then divided between BNYM, as a fee for its services under the Program, and the Funds, according to agreed-upon rates. Collateral on all securities loaned is accepted in cash and is maintained at a minimum level of 102% (105% in the case of certain foreign securities) of the market value, plus interest, if applicable, of investments on loan. It is the Funds’ policy to obtain additional collateral from or return excess collateral to the borrower by the end of the next business day, following the valuation date of the securities loaned. Therefore, the value of the collateral held may be temporarily less than the value of the securities on loan. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to the Funds if and to the extent that the market value of the securities loaned were to increase and the borrower did not increase the collateral accordingly, and the borrower fails to return the securities. Under the terms of the Program, the Funds are indemnified for such losses by BNYM. Cash collateral is held in a separate omnibus account managed by BNYM, who is authorized to exclusively enter into joint repurchase agreements. BNYM bears the risk of any deficiency in the amount of the cash collateral available for return to the borrower due to any loss on the collateral invested.

The value of securities loaned on positions held and cash collateral received at December 31, 2017, were as follows:

Fund    Securities
Loaned
    

Cash

Collateral
Received

 

Balanced

   $ 2,374,701      $ 2,448,757  

Small Cap Value

     161,259        169,425  

5. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Under the Trusts’ organizational documents, its trustees and officers are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to the Trusts. In addition, in the normal course of business, the Funds may enter into contracts and agreements that contain a variety of representations and warranties, which provide general indemnifications. The maximum exposure to the Funds under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against a Fund that have not yet occurred. However, based on experience, the Funds had no prior claims or losses and expect the risks of loss to be remote.

6. DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS

The following disclosures contain information on how and why certain Funds use derivative instruments, the credit risk and how derivative instruments affect the Funds’ financial position, and results of operations and cash flows. The location and fair value amounts of these instruments on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities, and the realized gains and losses and changes in unrealized gains and losses on the Statement of Operations, each categorized by type of derivative contract, are included in a table at the end of applicable Schedule of Portfolio Investments. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the average quarterly balances of derivative financial instruments outstanding were as follows:

 

    

Intermediate

Government

    

Short

Duration

 
Financial Futures Contracts         

Average number of contracts purchased

     5        87  

Average number of contracts sold

     67        625  

Average notional value of contracts

   $ 677,244      $ 10,517,013  

Average notional value of contracts sold

   $ 6,962,949      $ 78,732,845  

7. FUTURES CONTRACTS

Intermediate Government and Short Duration purchased and sold futures contracts to achieve a desired level of investment, whether to accommodate portfolio turnover or cash flows from capital shares transactions. There are certain risks associated with futures contracts. Prices may not move as expected or the Fund may not be able to close out the contract when it desires to do so, resulting in losses.

On entering into a futures contract, either cash or securities in an amount equal to a certain percentage of the contract value (initial margin) must be deposited with the futures broker. Subsequent variation margin payments are made or received by the Funds depending on the fluctuations in the value of the futures contract and the value of cash or securities on deposit with the futures broker. Variation

 

 

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

margin is recorded as unrealized gains and losses. The Funds must have total value at the futures broker consisting of either net unrealized gains, cash or securities collateral to meet the initial margin requirement, and any value over the initial margin requirement may be transferred to the Funds. The Funds recognize a realized gain or loss when the contract is closed or expires equal to the difference between the value of the contract at the time it was opened and the value at the time it was closed. Futures are valued at their quoted daily settlement prices. Fluctuations in the value of the contracts are recorded in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as an asset (liability) and in the Statement of Operations as unrealized appreciation (depreciation) until the contracts are closed, when they are recorded as realized gains (losses) on futures contracts.

8. RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH COLLATERALIZED MORTGAGE OBLIGATIONS (“CMOs”)

The net asset values of a Fund may be sensitive to interest rate fluctuations because a Fund may hold several instruments, including CMOs and other derivatives, whose values can be significantly impacted by interest rate movements. CMOs are obligations collateralized by a portfolio of mortgages or mortgage-related securities. Payments of principal and interest on the mortgages are passed through to the holder of the CMOs on the same schedule as they are received, although certain classes of CMOs have priority over others with respect to the receipt of prepayments on the mortgages. Therefore, the investment in CMOs may be subject to a greater or lesser risk of prepayment than other types of mortgage-related securities. CMOs are subject to principal paydowns as a result of prepayments or refinancing of the underlying mortgage instruments. As a result, the average life may be substantially less than the original maturity. CMOs may have a fixed or variable rate of interest.

9. DOLLAR ROLL AGREEMENTS

All Funds except Small Cap Value may enter into dollar rolls in which they sell debt securities for delivery currently and simultaneously contract to repurchase similar, but not identical, securities at the same price or a lower price on an agreed date. The Funds receive compensation as consideration for entering into the commitment to repurchase. The compensation is the difference between the current sale price and the repurchase price (often referred to as the “drop”) as well as the interest earned on the cash proceeds of the initial sale. The Funds may also be compensated by the receipt of a commitment fee. As the holder, the counterparty receives all principal and interest payments, including prepayments, made with respect to the similar security sold. Dollar rolls may be renewed with a new sale and repurchase price with a cash settlement made at renewal without physical delivery of the securities subject to the contract.

Certain risks may arise upon entering into dollar rolls from the potential inability of counterparties to meet the terms of their commitments. Additionally, the value of

such securities may change adversely before the Funds are able to repurchase them. There can be no assurance that the Funds’ use of the cash that they receive from a dollar roll will provide a return that exceeds their cost.

10. STRIPPED SECURITIES

Intermediate Government and Short Duration may invest in stripped securities (“STRIPS”) for hedging purposes to protect the Funds’ portfolios against interest rate fluctuations. Interest-only STRIPS will most likely move differently than typical fixed-income securities in relation to changes in interest rates. STRIPS are usually structured with two classes that receive different proportions of the interest and principal distributions from a pool of underlying assets. A common type of STRIP will have one class receiving all of the interest from the underlying assets (“interest-only” or “IO” class), while the other class will receive the entire principal (“principal only” or “PO” class). However, in some instances, one class will receive some of the interest and most of the principal while the other class will receive most of the interest and the remainder of the principal. STRIPS are unusually volatile in response to changes in interest rates. The yield to maturity on an IO class of STRIPS is extremely sensitive not only to changes in prevailing interest rates but also to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the underlying assets. A rapid rate of principal prepayments may have a measurably adverse effect on a Funds’ yield to maturity to the extent it invests in IOs. Conversely, POs tend to increase in value if prepayments are greater than anticipated and decline if prepayments are slower than anticipated. Thus, if the underlying assets experience greater than anticipated repayments of principal, a Fund may fail to fully recover its initial investment in these securities, even if the STRIPS were rated of the highest credit quality by Standard & Poor’s Corporation or Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. These risks are managed by investing in a variety of such securities and by using certain hedging techniques. In addition the secondary market for STRIPS may be less liquid than that of other mortgage-backed or asset-backed securities, potentially limiting a Fund’s ability to buy or sell those securities at any particular time.

11. MASTER NETTING AGREEMENTS

The Funds may enter into master netting agreements with their counterparties for the securities lending program, Repurchase Agreements, which provide the right, in the event of default (including bankruptcy or insolvency) for the non-defaulting party to liquidate the collateral and calculate net exposure to the defaulting party or request additional collateral. For financial reporting purposes, the Funds do not offset financial assets and financial liabilities that are subject to master netting agreements in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. For securities lending transactions, see Note 4.

 

 

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

The following table is a summary of the Funds’ open Repurchase Agreements that are subject to a master netting agreement as of December 31, 2017:

 

            Gross Amount Not Offset in the
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
        
Fund    Net Amounts of Assets
Presented in the Statement
of Assets and Liabilities
     Financial
Instruments
Collateral
     Cash Collateral
Received
     Net
Amount
 

Balanced

           

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc.

   $ 1,000,000      $ 1,000,000        —          —    

Daiwa Capital Markets America

     448,757        448,757        —          —    

State of Wisconsin Investment Board

     1,000,000        1,000,000        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Totals

   $ 2,448,757      $ 2,448,757        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Small Cap Value

           

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc.

   $ 169,425      $ 169,425        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

12. REGULATORY UPDATES

On October 13, 2016, the SEC amended existing rules intended to modernize reporting and disclosure of information. These amendments relate to Regulation S-X, which sets forth the form and content of financial statements. Effective August 1, 2017, the Funds have adopted these amendments and noted no significant impact on the financial statements and accompanying notes.

13. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

The Funds have determined that no material events or transactions occurred through the issuance date of the Funds’ financial statements, which require an additional disclosure in or adjustment of the Funds’ financial statements.

 

 

 

 

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

 

 

TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF AMG FUNDS AND AMG FUNDS II AND SHAREHOLDERS OF AMG CHICAGO EQUITY PARTNERS BALANCED FUND, AMG CHICAGO EQUITY PARTNERS SMALL CAP VALUE FUND, AMG MANAGERS AMUNDI INTERMEDIATE GOVERNMENT FUND, AND AMG MANAGERS AMUNDI SHORT DURATION GOVERNMENT FUND

Opinions on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities, including the schedules of portfolio investments, of AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund, AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund, AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund, and AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund (four of the funds constituting AMG Funds and AMG Funds II, hereafter collectively referred to as the “Funds”) as of December 31, 2017, the related statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2017, the statements of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of each of the Funds as of December 31, 2017, the results of each of their operations for the year then ended, the changes in each of their net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017 and each of the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinions

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Funds’ management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Funds’ financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Funds in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of December 31, 2017 by correspondence with the custodian and brokers; when replies were not received from brokers, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

February 27, 2018

We have served as the auditor of one or more investment companies in AMG Funds Family since 1993.

 

 

 

 

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Other Information

 

 

 

TAX INFORMATION

The AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund, AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund, AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund and AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund each hereby designates the maximum amount allowable of its net taxable income as qualified dividends as provided in the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. The 2017 Form 1099-DIV you receive for each Fund will show the tax status of all distributions paid to you during the year.

Pursuant to section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced Fund, AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund, AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund and AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government Fund each hereby designates $4,487,937, $635,008, $0, and $0 respectively, as a capital gain distribution with respect to the taxable year ended December 31, 2017, or if subsequently determined to be different, the net capital gains of such fiscal year.

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund previously announced the estimated sources of its distributions paid during the year ended December 31, 2017. AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government Fund has reclassified certain of those distributions previously announced as constituting ordinary income to distributions constituting return of capital. Pursuant to Rule 19a-1(e)

under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the information in the table below supersedes the Fund’s previously announced estimated sources of its distributions paid during the year ended December 31, 2017.

 

     Intermediate
Government
 
Distributions paid from:    2017  

Ordinary income

   $ 2,261,146  

Short-term capital gains

     —    

Long-term capital gains

     —    

Return of capital

     192,812  
  

 

 

 
     2,453,958  
  

 

 

 

Please note that the information in this table is for financial accounting purposes only. Form 1099-DIV received by shareholders for the calendar year specifies how shareholders should characterize and report distributions paid by the Fund during the year for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

 

 

 

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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers

 

 

 

The Trustees and Officers of the Trust, their business addresses, principal occupations for the past five years and ages are listed below. The Trustees provide broad supervision over the affairs of the Trust and the Funds. The Trustees are experienced executives who meet periodically throughout the year to oversee the Funds’ activities, review contractual arrangements with companies that provide services to the Funds, and

review the Funds’ performance. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each Trustee or Officer is the address of the Trust: 600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830.

There is no stated term of office for Trustees. Trustees serve until their resignation, retirement or removal in

 

accordance with the Trust’s organizational documents and policies adopted by the Board from time to time. The Chairman of the Trustees, President, Treasurer and Secretary of the Trust are elected by the Trustees annually. Other officers hold office at the pleasure of the Trustees.

 

 

Independent Trustees

The following Trustees are not “interested persons” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act:

 

Number of Funds

Overseen in Fund Complex

  

Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee

•  Trustee since 2012

   Bruce B. Bingham, 69

•  Oversees 61 Funds in Fund Complex

   Partner, Hamilton Partners (real estate development firm) (1987-Present); Director of The Yacktman Funds (2000-2012).

•  Trustee since 1999 - AMG Funds

•  Trustee since 2000 - AMG Funds II

•  Oversees 61 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Edward J. Kaier, 72

Attorney at Law and Partner, Teeters Harvey Marrone & Kaier LLP (2007-Present); Attorney at Law and Partner, Hepburn Willcox Hamilton & Putnam, LLP (1977-2007); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

•  Trustee since 2013

•  Oversees 63 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Kurt A. Keilhacker, 54

Managing Member, TechFund Capital (1997-Present); Managing Member, TechFund Europe (2000-Present); Board Member, 6wind SA, (2002-Present); Managing Member, Elementum Ventures (2013-Present); Trustee, Gordon College (2001-2016).

•  Trustee since 2004 - AMG Funds Trustee since 2000 - AMG Funds II Oversees 61 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Steven J. Paggioli, 67

Independent Consultant (2002-Present); Formerly Executive Vice President and Director, The Wadsworth Group (1986-2001); Executive Vice President, Secretary and Director, Investment Company Administration, LLC (1990-2001); Vice President, Secretary and Director, First Fund Distributors, Inc. (1991-2001); Trustee, Professionally Managed Portfolios (32 portfolios); Advisory Board Member, Sustainable Growth Advisors, LP; Independent Director, Chase Investment Counsel (2008–Present).

•  Trustee since 2013 Oversees 61 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Richard F. Powers III, 72

Adjunct Professor, U.S. Naval War College (2016); Adjunct Professor, Boston College (2010-2013); President and CEO of Van Kampen Investments Inc. (1998-2003).

•  Independent Chairman Trustee since 1999 - AMG Funds Trustee since 2000 - AMG Funds II Oversees 63 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Eric Rakowski, 59

Professor, University of California at Berkeley School of Law (1990-Present); Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

•  Trustee since 2013

•  Oversees 63 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Victoria L. Sassine, 52

Lecturer, Babson College (2007 – Present).

•  Trustee since 2004 - AMG Funds

•  Trustee since 2000 - AMG Funds II

•  Oversees 61 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Thomas R. Schneeweis, 70

Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts (2013-Present); Partner, S Capital Wealth Advisors (2015-Present); President, TRS Associates (1982-Present); Board Member, Chartered Alternative Investment Association (“CAIA”) (2002-Present); Director, CAIA Foundation (Education) (2010-Present); Director, Institute for GlobalAsset and Risk Management (Education) (2010-Present); Partner, S Capital Management, LLC (2007-2015); Director, CISDM at the University of Massachusetts, (1996-2013); President, Alternative Investment Analytics, LLC, (formerly Schneeweis Partners, LLC) (2001-2013); Professor of Finance, University of Massachusetts (1977-2013).

 

 

 

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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

 

Interested Trustees

Each Trustee in the following table is an “interested person” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act. Ms. Carsman is an interested person of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act by virtue of her position with, and interest in securities of, AMG.

 

Number of Funds

Overseen in Fund Complex

  

Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee

•  Trustee since 2011

   Christine C. Carsman, 65

•  Oversees 63 Funds in Fund Complex

   Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2017-Present); Director (2010-Present) and Chair of the Board of Directors (2015-Present), AMG Funds plc; Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2011-2016); Senior Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2007-2011); Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2004-2007); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2004-2011); Senior Counsel, Vice President and Director of Operational Risk Management and Compliance, Wellington Management Company, LLP (1995-2004).

 

Officers

Position(s) Held with Fund

and Length of Time Served

  

Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years

•  President since 2014

   Jeffrey T. Cerutti, 50

•  Principal Executive Officer since 2014 Chief Executive Officer since 2016

   Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2014-Present); Director, President and Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2014-Present); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Chief Executive Officer, President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Executive Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President, VP Distributors, (2011-2014); Executive Vice President, Head of Distribution, Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (2010-2014); Managing Director, Head of Sales, UBS Global Asset Management (2001-2010).

•  Chief Operating Officer since 2007

  

Keitha L. Kinne, 59

Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2007-Present); Chief Investment Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2008-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2012-2014); Managing Partner, AMG Funds LLC (2007-2014); President, AMG Funds (2012-2014); President, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2012-2014); Managing Director, Legg Mason & Co., LLC (2006-2007); Managing Director, Citigroup Asset Management (2004-2006).

•  Secretary since 2015

•  Chief Legal Officer since 2015

  

Mark J. Duggan, 53

Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Attorney, K&L Gates, LLP (2009-2015).

•  Chief Financial Officer since 2017

•  Treasurer since 2017

•  Principal Financial Officer since 2017

•  Principal Accounting Officer since 2017

  

Thomas G. Disbrow, 52

Vice President, Mutual Fund Treasurer & CFO, AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Managing Director - Global Head of Traditional Funds Product Control, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2015-2017); Managing Director - Head of North American Funds Treasury, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2011-2015).

•  Deputy Treasurer since 2017

   John A. Starace, 47
   Director, Mutual Fund Accounting, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Deputy Treasurer of Mutual Funds Services, AMG Funds LLC (2014-2017); Deputy Treasurer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Vice President, Citi Hedge Fund Services (2010-2014); Audit Senior Manager (2005-2010) and Audit Manager (2001-2005), Deloitte & Touche LLP.

•  Controller since 2017

   Christopher R. Townsend, 50
   Vice President, Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Head of Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Chief Financial Officer and Financial and Operations Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2016-Present); Controller, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management LLC (2016); Head of Finance and Accounting, Allianz Asset Management (2006-2015).

 

 

 

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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

 

 

Position(s) Held with Fund

and Length of Time Served

  

Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years

•  Chief Compliance Officer since 2016

  

Gerald F. Dillenburg, 51

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2016-2017); Chief Compliance Officer and Sarbanes Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); ChiefCompliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (1996-Present); Sarbanes-Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, AstonAsset Management, LLC (2006-2016); Chief Operating Officer, Aston Funds (2003-2016); Secretary, Aston Funds (1996-2015); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Funds(1997-2010); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2010); Treasurer, Aston Funds (1996-2010).

•  Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer since 2014

  

Patrick J. Spellman, 43

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2011-2017); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc., (2010-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Compliance Manager, Legal and Compliance, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2005-2011).

•  Assistant Secretary since 2016

  

Maureen A. Meredith, 32

Director, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Assistant Secretary, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Associate, Ropes & Gray LLP (2011-2015); Law Fellow, Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice (2010-2011).

 

 

 

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LOGO

 

 

 

Investment Manager and Administrator

AMG Funds LLC

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

Distributor

AMG Distributors, Inc.

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

Custodian

The Bank of New York Mellon

111 Sanders Creek Parkway

East Syracuse, NY 13057

Legal Counsel

Ropes & Gray LLP

Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston Street

Boston, MA 02199-3600

Transfer Agent

BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

Attn: AMG Funds

P.O. Box 9769

Providence, RI 02940

800.548.4539

This report is prepared for the Funds’ shareholders. It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by an effective prospectus. To receive a free copy of the prospectus or Statement of Additional Information, which includes additional information about Fund Trustees, please contact us by calling 800.835.3879. Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

Current net asset values per share for each Fund are available on the Funds’ website at amgfunds.com.

A description of the policies and procedures each Fund uses to vote its proxies is available: (i) without charge, upon request, by calling 800.835.3879, or (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) website at sec.gov. For information regarding each Fund’s proxy voting record for the 12-month period ended June 30, call 800.835.3879 or visit the SEC website at sec.gov.

Each Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Funds’ Forms N-Q are available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. A Fund’s Forms N-Q may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. To review a complete list of the Funds’ portfolio holdings, or to view the most recent quarterly holdings report, semiannual report, or annual report, please visit amgfunds.com.

 

 

 

amgfunds.com        |                                                               73                     


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LOGO

 

 

AFFILIATE SUBADVISED FUNDS

BALANCED FUNDS

 

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

AMG FQ Global Risk-Balanced

First Quadrant, L.P.

EQUITY FUNDS

 

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small     Cap Value

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

AMG FQ Tax-Managed U.S. Equity

AMG FQ Long-Short Equity

First Quadrant, L.P.

AMG Frontier Small Cap Growth

Frontier Capital Management Company,

    LLC

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap

AMG GW&K U.S. Small Cap Growth

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

AMG Renaissance International Equity

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth

The Renaissance Group LLC

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap

    Value

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap     Value II

AMG River Road Focused Absolute     Value

AMG River Road Long-Short

AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value

AMG River Road Small Cap Value

River Road Asset Management, LLC

AMG SouthernSun Small Cap

AMG SouthernSun Global     Opportunities

AMG SouthernSun U.S. Equity

SouthernSun Asset Management, LLC

AMG Systematic Mid Cap Value

Systematic Financial Management, L.P.

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets     Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare International Small

    Cap

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth

TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC

AMG Trilogy Emerging Markets Equity

AMG Trilogy Emerging Wealth Equity

Trilogy Global Advisors, L.P.

AMG Yacktman

AMG Yacktman Focused

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities

Yacktman Asset Management LP

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

 

AMG GW&K Core Bond

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced     Yield

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

 

OPEN-ARCHITECTURE FUNDS

ALTERNATIVE FUNDS

 

AMG Managers Lake Partners LASSO

    Alternative

Lake Partners, Inc.

BALANCED FUNDS

 

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell     Balanced

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

EQUITY FUNDS

 

AMG Managers Brandywine

AMG Managers Brandywine Advisors     Mid Cap Growth

AMG Managers Brandywine Blue

Friess Associates, LLC

AMG Managers Cadence Emerging     Companies

AMG Managers Cadence Mid Cap

Cadence Capital Management, LLC

AMG Managers CenterSquare Real     Estate

CenterSquare Investment Management,     Inc.

AMG Managers Emerging Opportunities

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

WEDGE Capital Management L.L.P.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC

RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc.

AMG Managers Essex Small/Micro Cap     Growth

Essex Investment Management Co.,     LLC

AMG Managers Fairpointe ESG Equity

AMG Managers Fairpointe Mid Cap

Fairpointe Capital LLC

AMG Managers Guardian Capital Global Dividend

Guardian Capital LP

AMG Managers LMCG Small Cap     Growth

LMCG Investments, LLC

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell     Growth

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Mid Cap Growth

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

AMG Managers Pictet International

Pictet Asset Management Limited

AMG Managers Silvercrest Small Cap

Silvercrest Asset Management Group     LLC

AMG Managers Skyline Special     Equities

Skyline Asset Management, L.P.

AMG Managers Special Equity

Ranger Investment Management, L.P.

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

Smith Asset Management Group, L.P.

Federated MDTA LLC

AMG Managers Value Partners Asia     Dividend

Value Partners Hong Kong Limited

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

 

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate     Government

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration

    Government

Amundi Pioneer Institutional Asset

    Management, Inc.

AMG Managers Doubleline Core Plus

    Bond

DoubleLine Capital LP

AMG Managers Global Income

    Opportunity

AMG Managers Loomis Sayles Bond

    Loomis, Sayles & Co., L.P.

 

 

 

 

amgfunds.com    |123117            AR009


Table of Contents
LOGO                 ANNUAL REPORT

 

 

AMG Funds

December 31, 2017

 

LOGO

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

Class N: MFDAX     |     Class I: MFDSX     |     Class C: MFDCX     |     Class Z: MFDYX

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Class N: GWMTX     |     Class I: GWMIX

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

Class N: GWMNX     |     Class I: GWMEX     |     Class Z: GWMZX

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

Class N: GWETX     |     Class I: GWEIX     |     Class Z: GWEZX

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

(formerly AMG GW&K Small Cap Growth Fund)

Class N: GWGVX     |     Class I: GWGIX     |     Class Z: GWGZX

 

 

amgfunds.com        |    123117            AR020


Table of Contents


Table of Contents

AMG Funds

Annual Report—December 31, 2017

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

   PAGE  

LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS

     2  

ABOUT YOUR FUND’S EXPENSES

     3  

PORTFOLIO MANAGER’S COMMENTS, FUND SNAPSHOTS AND SCHEDULES OF PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS

  

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

     5  

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

     11  

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

     20  

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

     26  

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

     32  

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

  

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

     39  

Balance sheets, net asset value (NAV) per share computations and cumulative undistributed amounts

  

Statement of Operations

     41  

Detail of sources of income, expenses, and realized and unrealized gains (losses) during the fiscal year

  

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

     42  

Detail of changes in assets for the past two fiscal years

  

Financial Highlights

     44  

Historical net asset values per share, distributions, total returns, income and expense ratios, turnover ratios and net assets

  

Notes to Financial Statements

     59  

Accounting and distribution policies, details of agreements and transactions with Fund management and affiliates, and descriptions of certain investment risks

  

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

     69  

OTHER INFORMATION

     70  

TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS

     71  

Nothing contained herein is to be considered an offer, sale or solicitation of an offer to buy shares of any series of the AMG Funds family of mutual funds. Such offering is made only by prospectus, which includes details as to offering price and other material information.

 


Table of Contents
LOGO        Letter to Shareholders

 

 

Dear Shareholder:

 

The last 12 months was a strong period for equity markets as the health of the global economy improved and positive investor sentiment helped extend the U.S. bull market into its ninth year. The S&P 500® Index, a widely followed barometer of the U.S. equity market, returned 21.83% during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. By comparison, small cap stocks underperformed large caps with a 14.65% return for the small cap Russell 2000® Index.

The S&P 500 Index has notched positive performance in every month since the U.S. presidential election amidst the backdrop of strong corporate earnings, improving global economic growth and the passage of sweeping tax reform. 2017 also marked a turning point for the broader global economy as growth accelerated in a more coordinated fashion around the world, global trade improved and commodities recovered. U.S. equity market volatility remained extremely low despite saber rattling in North Korea and a devastating hurricane season. In fact, the S&P 500 Index has not seen a pullback greater than 5% since the summer of 2016.

In total, all but two sectors of the S&P 500 Index were positive during the last 12 months; however, there was significant dispersion in performance across sectors. Information technology and materials stocks led the Index with returns of 38.87% and 23.25%, respectively, while companies within the energy and telecommunication services sectors were the laggards with returns of (1.11)% and (1.49)%, respectively. Growth stocks outperformed value during all four quarters of the year and ended 2017 with returns of 30.2% and 13.7% for the Russell 1000® Growth and Russell 1000® Value Indexes, respectively. International equities outperformed domestic equities for the first time since 2012 as the global economy picked up and international returns were boosted by a weaker U.S. Dollar with the MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index returning 27.19% during the year. Meanwhile, emerging markets had their strongest year since 2009 with a 37.3% return for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

The U.S. bond market produced modestly positive returns for the year, as measured by the 3.54% return for the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a broad measure of U.S. bond market performance. The yield curve flattened as the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) continued to normalize monetary policy and short-term interest rates rose more than longer-term rates. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note rose 69 basis points during the year to yield 1.89% while the 10-year U.S. Treasury note ended 2017 at a 2.40% yield, five basis points lower than where it started. Investment grade corporates outperformed Treasuries and securitized credits with returns of 6.42%, 2.31% and 2.51%, respectively. Bond investors willing to accept more credit risk were rewarded with higher returns as high yield bonds performed strongly and credit spreads tightened. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index ended the period with a 7.50% return.

AMG Funds appreciates the privilege of providing investment tools to you and your clients. Our foremost goal is to provide investment solutions that help our shareholders successfully reach their long-term investment goals. By partnering with AMG’s affiliated investment boutiques, AMG Funds provides access to a distinctive array of actively managed return-oriented investment strategies. Additionally, we oversee and distribute a number of complementary open-architecture mutual funds subadvised by unaffiliated investment managers. We thank you for your continued confidence and investment in AMG Funds. You can rest assured that under all market conditions our team is focused on delivering excellent investment management services for your benefit.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Jeffery Cerutti

President

AMG Funds

 

Average Annual Total Returns

   Periods ended December 31, 2017*  

Stocks:

        1 Year     3 Years     5 Years  

Large Caps

   (S&P 500® Index)      21.83     11.41     15.79

Small Caps

   (Russell 2000® Index)      14.65     9.96     14.12

International

   (MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index)      27.19     7.83     6.80

Bonds:

                       

Investment Grade

   (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index)      3.54     2.24     2.10

High Yield

   (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index)      7.50     6.35     5.78

Tax-exempt

   (Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index)      5.45     2.98     3.02

Treasury Bills

   (ICE BofAML 6-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index)      0.95     0.62     0.43

 

* Source: Factset. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
 

 

 

2


Table of Contents

About Your Fund’s Expenses

 

 

 

As a shareholder of a Fund, you may incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, which may include sales charges (loads) on purchase payments; redemption fees; and exchange fees; and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution (12b-1) fees; and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. The example is based on $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period as indicated below.

ACTUAL EXPENSES

The first line of the following table provides information about the actual account values and

actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

The second line of the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed annual rate of return of 5% before expenses, which is not the Fund’s

actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds by comparing this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads), redemption fees, or exchange fees. Therefore, the second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds.

 

 

Six Months Ended

December 31, 2017

   Expense
Ratio
for the
Period
    Beginning
Account
Value
07/01/17
     Ending
Account
Value
12/31/17
     Expenses
Paid
During
the
Period*
 

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

 

     

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

     

Class N

     .73   $ 1,000      $ 1,012      $ 3.70  

Class I

     .53   $ 1,000      $ 1,013      $ 2.69  

Class C

     1.48   $ 1,000      $ 1,009      $ 7.49  

Class Z

     .48   $ 1,000      $ 1,014      $ 2.44  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

     

Class N

     .73   $ 1,000      $ 1,022      $ 3.72  

Class I

     .53   $ 1,000      $ 1,023      $ 2.70  

Class C

     1.48   $ 1,000      $ 1,018      $ 7.53  

Class Z

     .48   $ 1,000      $ 1,023      $ 2.45  

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

 

     

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

     

Class N

     .72   $ 1,000      $ 1,007      $ 3.64  

Class I

     .38   $ 1,000      $ 1,009      $ 1.92  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

     

Class N

     .72   $ 1,000      $ 1,022      $ 3.67  

Class I

     .38   $ 1,000      $ 1,023      $ 1.94  

Six Months Ended

December 31, 2017

   Expense
Ratio
for the
Period
    Beginning
Account
Value
07/01/17
     Ending
Account
Value
12/31/17
     Expenses
Paid
During
the
Period*
 

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

 

  

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

     

Class N

     1.02   $ 1,000      $ 1,041      $ 5.25  

Class I

     .64   $ 1,000      $ 1,043      $ 3.30  

Class Z

     .59   $ 1,000      $ 1,043      $ 3.04  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

     

Class N

     1.02   $ 1,000      $ 1,020      $ 5.19  

Class I

     .64   $ 1,000      $ 1,022      $ 3.26  

Class Z

     .59   $ 1,000      $ 1,022      $ 3.01  

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

 

  

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

     

Class N

     1.32   $ 1,000      $ 1,098      $ 6.98  

Class I

     .95   $ 1,000      $ 1,100      $ 5.03  

Class Z

     .90   $ 1,000      $ 1,100      $ 4.76  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

     

Class N

     1.32   $ 1,000      $ 1,019      $ 6.72  

Class I

     .95   $ 1,000      $ 1,020      $ 4.84  

Class Z

     .90   $ 1,000      $ 1,021      $ 4.58  
 

 

 

3


Table of Contents

About Your Fund’s Expenses (continued)

 

 

 

Six Months Ended

December 31, 2017

   Expense
Ratio
for the
Period
    Beginning
Account
Value
07/01/17
     Ending
Account
Value
12/31/17
     Expenses
Paid
During
the
Period*
 

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

 

     

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

     

Class N

     1.10   $ 1,000      $ 1,066      $ 5.73  

Class I

     .94   $ 1,000      $ 1,066      $ 4.90  

Class Z

     .85   $ 1,000      $ 1,067      $ 4.43  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

     

Class N

     1.10   $ 1,000      $ 1,020      $ 5.60  

Class I

     .94   $ 1,000      $ 1,020      $ 4.79  

Class Z

     .85   $ 1,000      $ 1,021      $ 4.33  

 

* Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized expense ratio multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half-year (184), then divided by 365.
 

 

 

 

4


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

 

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund (Class N) (the Fund) returned 3.76% for the year ended December 31, 2017, compared to the return of 3.54% for the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (the Index).

At the start of 2017, fixed income markets were surprisingly quiet despite all of the headlines, as rapidly shifting fiscal and monetary policy narratives limited major moves in either direction. General improvement in the overall economy coupled with gradually increasing inflationary pressures prompted the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) to raise interest rates for the second time since the election. But this move was accompanied by unexpectedly dovish forward guidance that significantly muted the effects of the hike itself. Similarly, ambitious policy goals from the early days of the Trump administration provided a boost to risk markets on expectations of deregulation, tax reform, and infrastructure spending. But Congress’ failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act led to a stark reappraisal of the potential timing and success of future legislative efforts.

The second quarter saw strong returns, with markets benefiting from both lower interest rates and tighter spreads. The continued unwinding of the reflation trade was the most significant driver, as skepticism surrounding the stimulative effect of any legislation out of Washington weighed on growth and inflation expectations. Meanwhile, credit investors chose instead to focus on robust corporate earnings and an improving global economy, largely shrugging off news out of Washington and major geopolitical headlines (terrorist attacks, missile launches, crude oil prices). Interest rate volatility fell to its lowest level in years, leading some to wonder whether investors are becoming too complacent (the last time it was this low was in 2013—a month before the Taper Tantrum); others point to the resilience of risk markets and the lack of negative catalysts on the horizon.

Amid a combination of rising geopolitical tensions, policy uncertainty, and the expected start to the unwinding of the Fed balance sheet, the fixed income market, as measured by the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, delivered a

positive return in the third quarter of 2017. The first two months of the quarter were characterized by persistently weak inflation data, record shattering hurricanes, and provocative saber-rattling from North Korea that drove 10-year interest rates to their lows of the year. September brought renewed optimism on tax reform, a more hawkish sounding Fed, and the long-expected announcement regarding the tapering of the Fed’s balance sheet. Interest rates quickly reversed course leaving the 10-year Treasury essentially unchanged for the quarter. The market, once optimistically pricing in less than a 30% chance of a hike before year-end, promptly boosted those odds to a closer certainty of 70%.

Fixed income markets ended the fourth quarter on a relatively calm note following months of policy uncertainty and headline-driven volatility. Debates surrounding Fed policy, tax reform legislation, and the sustainability of record corporate profitability dominated trading at various points throughout the quarter. However, each of these questions was eventually resolved and investors gradually shifted their focus to 2018. Ironically, the absence of obvious risks on the horizon has been cited as a risk in itself, as investors point to record low volatility and broad consensus as evidence of complacency. We continue to closely monitor policy and economic developments while we watch for early signs of wage inflation, an uptick in the default rate, or any indication that we are approaching the late stages of the business cycle.

The yield curve experienced a significant flattening during the fourth quarter and the premium for owning longer bonds fell to its lowest level in a decade. Short rates rose steadily, first as confidence grew that the Fed would hike again in December and then amid calls for as many as four more hikes in 2018. Yields at the long end closed the year near their lowest level of the year, as inflation remained elusive and investors sought protection from the possibility that the Fed would go too far in raising rates.

The Fund slightly outperformed the benchmark for the full year. The yield curve had a negative effect on performance, given our preference for intermediate maturities over the long end. Our sector allocation decisions had a positive effect due to our overweight

of investment grade corporate bonds, which benefited from spread compression during the quarter. An underweight to Treasuries was also a strong contributor to the allocation effect. Our out-of-benchmark allocation to high yield corporate bonds also helped performance.

Now that tax reform has been passed, sentiment in 2018 promises to be driven in large part by the Fed and its influence on the shape of the yield curve. While upward pressure on the short end seems all but certain, the larger question remains what the impact will be on the long end. High funding requirements from the Treasury combined with the roll off of the Fed’s balance sheet could weigh on long rates, but benign inflation and strong demand from pension funds and overseas investors could serve as an anchor. In light of this uncertainty, we have kept the duration of the Fund neutral relative to its benchmark. In addition, we have kept our yield curve positioning close to neutral, with a slight bias away from the short end in favor of intermediate maturities. We believe the belly of the curve offers more attractive returns at this stage of the tightening cycle, given the carry and roll available for the interest rate risk being assumed.

We remain overweight corporate bonds, where we believe yields offer an attractive alternative to Treasuries and strong credit metrics are likely to limit spread widening. Default rates are low by historical standards and corporate profitability is strong. Additionally, we feel the sector is poised to benefit from a positive technical environment, as $4 trillion stashed overseas becomes available to fund capital spending and shareholder returns that otherwise might have been funded with debt. At the same time, we recognize the potential for an uptick in volatility and have opportunistically continued our up-in-quality shift in favor of higher-rated and less cyclical credits. In the mortgage-backed sector we continue to target lower duration pools, which offer protection in the event of spread widening and rate volatility that may occur as the Fed begins to unwind its balance sheet.

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, GW&K Investment Management, LLC as of December 31, 2017 , and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject to change without notice.

 

 

 

 

5


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class N shares on December 31, 2007, to a $10,000 investment made in the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund and the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

Average Annual Total Returns1   One
Year
    Five
Years
    Ten
Years
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6

 

   

Class N

    3.76     1.83     4.28     5.41     01/02/97  

Class I7

    4.03     2.01     —         2.03     11/30/12  

Class C8

    3.08     1.06     3.50     4.59     03/05/98  

Class Z9

    4.01     2.07     4.53     5.80     01/02/97  

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index10

    3.54     2.10     4.01     5.22     01/02/97  

 

 

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects the inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).
2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.
3  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in debt securities, such as default risk and fluctuations in the perception of the debtor’s ability to pay its creditors. Changing interest rates may adversely affect the value of an investment. An increase in interest rates typically causes the value of bonds and other fixed income securities to fall.
4  To the extent that the Fund invests in asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities, its exposure to prepayment and extension risks may be greater than investments in other fixed income securities.
5  High-yield bonds (also known as “junk bonds”) may be subject to greater levels of interest rate, credit, and liquidity risk than investments in higher rated securities. These securities are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments. The issuers of the Fund’s holdings may be involved in bankruptcy proceedings, reorganizations, or financial restructurings, and are not as strong financially as higher-rated issuers.
6  Investments in international securities are subject to certain risks of overseas investing including currency fluctuations and changes in political and economic conditions, which could result in significant market fluctuations. These risks are magnified in emerging markets.
7  February 27, 2017 Class S renamed to Class I.
8  Closed to new investments.
9  February 27, 2017 Class I renamed to Class Z.
10  The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index represents securities that are SEC-registered, taxable, and dollar denominated. The index covers the U.S. investment grade fixed rate bond market, with index components for government and corporate securities, mortgage pass-through securities, and asset-backed securities. Unlike the Fund, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

6


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

     % of  

Category

   Net Assets  

Corporate Bonds and Notes

     50.3  

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     39.2  

Municipal Bonds

     6.5  

Short-Term Investments*

     4.8  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (0.8

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.
** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

 

Rating

   % of
Market Value*
 

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     40.9  

Aaa

     1.1  

Aa

     11.7  

A

     12.8  

Baa

     20.7  

Ba

     11.8  

B

     1.0  

 

* Includes market value of fixed-income securities only.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

     % of  

Security Name

   Net Assets  

FNMA, 4.000%, 10/01/43

     6.9  

FNMA, 4.500%, 04/01/41

     4.8  

FHLMC Gold Pool, 5.000%, 10/01/36

     3.1  

United States Treasury Bonds, 4.500%, 02/15/36

     2.9  

United States Treasury Notes, 2.000%, 11/30/22

     2.9  

FNMA, 4.000%, 09/01/25

     2.5  

Apple, Inc., 1.903%, 02/09/22

     2.4  

Wells Fargo & Co., 2.343%, 02/11/22

     2.4  

FNMA, 3.500%, 11/01/42

     2.4  

FNMA, 4.500%, 05/01/39

     2.3  
  

 

 

 

Top Ten as a Group

     32.6  
  

 

 

 
 

 

Credit quality ratings shown above reflect the highest rating assigned by either Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) or Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”). These rating agencies are independent, nationally recognized statistical rating organizations and are widely used. Investment grade ratings are credit ratings of BBB/Baa or higher. Below investment grade ratings are credit ratings of BB/Ba or lower. Investments designated N/R are not rated by either rating agency. Unrated investments do not necessarily indicate low credit quality. Credit quality ratings are subject to change.

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 

 

7


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Corporate Bonds and Notes - 50.3%

     

Energy - 1.5%

 

  

Newfield Exploration Co. 5.750%, 01/30/22

   $ 675,000      $ 723,937  

Financials - 13.1%

 

  

American Tower Corp. 4.400%, 02/15/26

     453,000        477,160  

Bank of America Corp., MTN 3.875%, 08/01/25

     694,000        732,773  

CIT Group, Inc. 5.000%, 08/15/22

     440,000        467,500  

Crown Castle International Corp. 5.250%, 01/15/23

     435,000        476,831  

Host Hotels & Resorts LP, Series C 4.750%, 03/01/23

     457,000        486,678  

Morgan Stanley, GMTN 5.500%, 07/28/21

     409,000        447,745  

National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance

     

Corp., MTN 3.250%, 11/01/25

     455,000        464,364  

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. 6.125%, 02/15/33

     763,000        974,021  

Wells Fargo & Co.

     

(3-Month LIBOR plus 0.930%) 2.343%, 02/11/221

     1,163,000        1,178,031  

Weyerhaeuser Co. 8.500%, 01/15/25

     525,000        690,992  

Total Financials

        6,396,095  

Industrials - 35.7%

 

  

The ADT Corp. 6.250%, 10/15/21

     227,000        249,700  

American Airlines Group, Inc. 6.125%, 06/01/182

     245,000        248,981  

Andeavor Logistics LP / Tesoro Logistics Finance Corp. 5.500%, 10/15/19

     233,000        242,150  

Apple, Inc.

     

(3-Month LIBOR plus 0.500%) 1.903%, 02/09/221

     1,168,000        1,184,773  

ArcelorMittal (Luxembourg) 6.000%, 03/01/212

     225,000        244,125  

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. 3.375%, 09/15/25

     660,000        681,891  

Ball Corp. 5.250%, 07/01/25

     481,000        524,891  

Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC 6.150%, 05/01/37

     556,000        746,695  

CDW LLC / CDW Finance Corp. 5.500%, 12/01/24

     441,000        481,792  

Charter Communications Operating LLC / Charter Communications Operating Capital 4.908%, 07/23/25

     447,000        475,975  

Comcast Corp. 7.050%, 03/15/33

     345,000        480,769  

Concho Resources, Inc. 4.375%, 01/15/25

     225,000        234,563  

Crown Americas LLC / Crown Americas Capital Corp. IV 4.500%, 01/15/23

     475,000        483,312  

CSX Corp. 2.600%, 11/01/26

     511,000        488,583  

CVS Health Corp. 5.125%, 07/20/45

     405,000        465,961  

Diamondback Energy, Inc. 4.750%, 11/01/24

     400,000        403,500  

Georgia-Pacific LLC 8.000%, 01/15/24

     366,000        466,380  

HCA, Inc. 5.000%, 03/15/24

     456,000        475,380  

International Paper Co. 3.000%, 02/15/27

     504,000        489,617  

Kaiser Foundation Hospitals 3.150%, 05/01/27

     472,000        473,014  

Leidos Holdings, Inc. 4.450%, 12/01/20

     225,000        234,563  

Lennar Corp. 4.750%, 11/15/22

     454,000        478,403  

Masco Corp. 4.375%, 04/01/26

     483,000        512,221  

McDonald’s Corp., MTN 3.700%, 01/30/26

     450,000        469,870  

Microsoft Corp. 3.750%, 02/12/45

     484,000        511,197  

Molson Coors Brewing Co. 3.000%, 07/15/26

     488,000        478,536  

Murphy Oil USA, Inc. 6.000%, 08/15/23

     235,000        246,163  

Northrop Grumman Corp. 3.200%, 02/01/27

     476,000        478,692  

NuStar Logistics LP 6.750%, 02/01/21

     229,000        244,458  

Omnicom Group, Inc. 3.600%, 04/15/26

     467,000        473,274  

Oracle Corp. 3.800%, 11/15/37

     440,000        462,415  

Owens Corning 4.200%, 12/15/22

     470,000        493,344  

Penske Automotive Group, Inc. 3.750%, 08/15/20

     470,000        479,987  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

8


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Industrials - 35.7% (continued)

     

Toll Brothers Finance Corp.
4.375%, 04/15/232

   $ 236,000      $ 245,735  

6.750%, 11/01/19

     226,000        243,798  

United Continental Holdings, Inc.
6.375%, 06/01/182

     240,000        244,200  

Verizon Communications, Inc.
4.400%, 11/01/34

     470,000        480,342  

Vulcan Materials Co. 4.500%, 04/01/25

     336,000        358,582  

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.
3.450%, 06/01/26

     721,000        714,256  

Total Industrials

        17,392,088  

Total Corporate Bonds and Notes
(Cost $24,285,027)

        24,512,120  

Municipal Bonds - 6.5%

 

  

California State General Obligation, School

     

Improvements 7.550%, 04/01/39

     605,000        954,466  

JobsOhio Beverage System, Series B 3.985%, 01/01/29

     445,000        472,435  

Los Angeles Unified School District, School

     

Improvements 5.750%, 07/01/34

     565,000        722,019  

Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Transit

     

Improvement 6.668%, 11/15/39

     350,000        496,608  

New Jersey Economic Development Authority,

     

Pension Funding, Series A (National Insured) 7.425%, 02/15/293

     388,000        485,943  

Total Municipal Bonds
(Cost $3,013,050)

 

     3,131,471  

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations - 39.2%

 

  

Fannie Mae - 26.4%

 

  

FNMA,
3.500%, 11/01/42 to 03/01/46

     2,174,850        2,245,725  

4.000%, 09/01/25 to 10/01/43

     5,286,934        5,562,347  

4.500%, 05/01/39 to 04/01/41

     4,039,712        4,346,083  

FNMA,
5.000%, 08/01/35

     658,274        715,558  

Total Fannie Mae

        12,869,713  

Freddie Mac - 3.4%

 

  

FHLMC Gold Pool,
4.000%, 07/01/29

     110,551        114,801  

5.000%, 10/01/36

     1,404,967        1,523,661  

Total Freddie Mac

        1,638,462  

U.S. Treasury Obligations - 9.4%

 

  

United States Treasury Bonds,
3.500%, 02/15/39

     437,000        499,272  

4.500%, 02/15/36

     1,109,000        1,428,076  

6.250%, 08/15/23

     666,000        806,940  

United States Treasury Notes,
1.750%, 03/31/22

     470,000        462,362  

2.000%, 11/30/22

     1,405,000        1,392,377  

Total U.S. Treasury Obligations

        4,589,027  

Total U.S. Government and Agency Obligations
(Cost $19,208,994)

        19,097,202  

Short-Term Investments - 4.8%

     

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 1.5%4

 

  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.630% total to be received $759,259 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% -3.875%, 01/15/19 - 02/15/46, totaling $780,202)

     759,122        759,122  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 3.3%

 

  

Dreyfus Preferred Government Money Market Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.25%5

     1,589,487        1,589,487  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $2,348,609)

        2,348,609  

Total Investments - 100.8%
(Cost $48,855,680)

        49,089,402  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (0.8)%

 

     (365,726

Net Assets - 100.0%

      $ 48,723,676  

 

1  Variable rate security. The rate shown is based on the latest available information as of December 31, 2017.
2  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $739,043 or 1.5% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.
3  Security is backed by insurance of financial institutions and financial guaranty assurance agencies. At December 31, 2017, the value amounted to $485,943 or 1.0% of net assets.
4  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
5  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

FHLMC  Freddie Mac

FNMA    Fannie Mae

GMTN    Global Medium-Term Notes

LIBOR    London Interbank Offered Rate

MTN       Medium-Term Note

National Insured    National Public Finance Guarantee Corp.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

9


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Corporate Bonds and Notes

     —        $ 24,512,120        —        $ 24,512,120  

Municipal Bonds

     —          3,131,471        —          3,131,471  

U.S. Government and Agency Obligations

     —          19,097,202        —          19,097,202  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

     —          759,122        —          759,122  

Other Investment Companies

   $ 1,589,487        —          —          1,589,487  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 1,589,487      $ 47,499,915        —        $ 49,089,402  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  All corporate bonds and notes and U.S. government and agency obligations held in the Fund are Level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of corporate bonds and notes and U.S. government and agency obligations by major industry or agency classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.
All municipal bonds held in the Fund are Level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of municipal bonds by major classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

10


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

 

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund (Class N) (the Fund) returned 4.58%, underperforming its benchmark, the Bloomberg Barclays 10-Year Municipal Bond Index (the Index), which returned 5.83%.

Municipals posted solid returns in the first quarter amid a backdrop of uncertainty regarding U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) policy and the so-called reflation trade. Right out of the gates, retail investors favored the perceived haven of shorter municipal bonds, driving down yields at the front end of the curve, even while similar maturities in the Treasury market remained steady. It was a dynamic that played out over the quarter, the municipal bond curve steepening significantly, the Treasury curve modestly flattening. And while sentiment was cautious, that was actually an upgrade over the panic selling that followed November’s election and lasted into year-end. The heavy mutual fund outflows during that stretch reversed in January, removing a major source of selling pressure and helping to stabilize the market.

For the second quarter, Municipals posted impressive returns driven by favorable market technicals and a broad rethink of the Trump trade. Long-term yields had already started to decline in March as political turmoil in Washington cast doubt on the likelihood of large-scale fiscal stimulus emerging any time soon. And with last November’s messy selloff fading further into memory, new cash poured into the tax-exempt market. The increased demand was met by a scarcity of supply, with new issue volume down 18% for the quarter, a product of far fewer refunding transactions. The result was a powerful rally where municipal bonds outperformed even Treasuries, which also posted solid returns for the quarter. And it occurred despite troubling industry headlines, from Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy filing to Connecticut’s triple downgrades to Illinois’ severe budget crisis. In that way, it was technicals, rather than any improvement in credit fundamentals, that made municipals one of the top performers in the fixed income universe.

Municipals performed well in the third quarter despite a late period selloff that turned outsized gains into merely respectable returns. Through the first nine weeks of the quarter, interest rates declined in a steady fashion, establishing year-to-date lows in early September. Besides saber-rattling in North Korea and violence in Spain and Charlottesville, investors were responding to uncertainty surrounding healthcare policy, an

 

unusually active hurricane season and fears that a divided Washington would fail to raise the debt ceiling. In addition, inflation readings continued to undershoot the Fed’s target, casting doubt on the central bank’s forecast of future rate increases.

Municipal bonds posted mixed returns in the fourth quarter amid a significant flattening of the yield curve. Front-end rates pushed sharply higher, driven by further tightening of Fed policy and investor repositioning ahead of major tax reform. Long municipal bonds, meanwhile, rallied on benign inflation data and the expectation of a supply drought in the coming months. As a consequence, the slope of the municipal curve nearly halved over the quarter, from 1.84% to 0.98%, its lowest level since 2007.

At the start of the fourth quarter, there were few signs the market would experience any sort of upheaval before year end. Supply projections were modest, headline risks dormant and word out of Washington was that the municipal bond exemption would be fully shielded from tax reform. Instead, we had weeks of sloppy trading on record volume after the House of Representatives proposed, in early November, to strip the tax exemption from private activity bonds (PABs) and advance refunding transactions. These two areas collectively account for over a quarter of municipal supply. A week later, the Senate released a more municipal bond-friendly version, which protected PABs but kept advance refundings on the chopping block. Unsure of how the final bill would read, 501(c)(3) issuers, including hospitals and private universities, flooded the market with PABs in case the window closed. In addition, traditional issuers stuffed the remaining calendar with advance refunding deals. The result was a historic slate of issuance, with December volume breaking a single-month record set just before the Tax Reform Act of 1986 took effect.

On the demand side, buyers were just as anxious to transact while bonds were still available. Even though PABs ultimately survived in the final tax bill, advance refundings did not. Issuance is expected to drop dramatically in the first half of 2018 because so many borrowers rushed to market in the last six weeks of the year. To participate in the surge, many sold shorter bonds to raise cash, putting upward pressure on front-end yields, particularly in late November. As the record volume hit the street in mid-December, deals were taken down with only minimal concessions. In the final week of the year, after the new issue pipeline had largely dried up, municipal bonds rallied hard as opportunistic traders marked up bonds and resold them to a market

looking to get invested before origination became scarce. From a high of 2.21% in late November, the yield on 10-year municipal bonds dropped 23 basis points to close 2017 at 1.98%, essentially unchanged for the fourth quarter but down 33 basis points for the year as a whole.

For the fiscal year period, the Fund’s longer duration exposure in declining rates benefited performance. In addition, our extension trades in March and September of 2017 were a positive contributor, as was our underweight in Connecticut and insured Puerto Rico issues. The Fund’s underweight in BBB and single-A rated issues hurt performance for the year, due to our higher quality bias. An overweight to shorter than benchmark maturities was also a detractor.

Looking forward, it appears the municipal market has survived tax reform with only minor bumps and bruises. The most important takeaway is that the tax exemption remains in place. To be sure, there will be shifting sands ahead, requiring some adjustments to the way the market is traded. The loss of advance refundings means the end of newly minted prerefunded paper, an outcome that will lessen supply over the next couple of years. The lower marginal rate for corporations will likely reduce demand for municipal bonds from banks and insurance companies. The significant limitation of the state and local tax deduction will push tax-equivalent hurdles higher, making in-state bonds more attractive to resident investors. Potentially this could lead to wealth flight from high-tax jurisdictions, a development that bears watching. In the immediate future, however, the plunge in supply expected over the first half of 2018 should provide a technical tailwind that eclipses other factors. While much will depend on the movement of Treasury yields, municipal bonds look poised to start the new year from a position of strength.

The supply surge provided an opportunity to find value in the fourth quarter. For most of the year, credit spreads had been historically tight and drifting even tighter. As a result, our positioning has been relatively conservative, choosing to upgrade quality rather than reach for modest yield gains. That dynamic shifted when tax reform negotiations triggered a rush to market, particularly in the health care and higher education sectors. We sold ahead of the issuance, mostly in the five-year part of the curve.

As December progressed, deal flow ramped up to approximately three times the year-to-date average. We found high quality hospital names at spreads 15

 

 

 

 

11


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

 

 

to 20 basis points wider than where they were a few months prior. We bought aggressively and increased our exposure in the sector to just over 5%. Advance refunding deals were widespread across all sectors allowing us to sift through a vast variety of offerings and reinvest cash where we saw value. We

purchased maturities mainly in the ten-year area of the curve and, by year end, brought cash down below 2%, which was our goal all along given the strong technical environment expected in the first quarter of the new year.

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, GW&K Investment Management, LLC as of December 31, 2017, and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject to change without notice.

 

 

 

12


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class I (formerly Class S) shares on June 30, 2009, to a $10,000 investment made in the Bloomberg Barclays 10-Year Municipal Bond Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund and the Bloomberg Barclays 10-Year Municipal Bond Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

Average Annual Total Returns1    One
Year
    Five
Years
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund2, 3, 4, 5

 

 

Class N

     4.58     2.27     4.37     06/30/09  

Class I6

     4.90     2.72     4.86     06/30/09  

Bloomberg Barclays 10-Year Municipal Bond Index7

     5.83     3.13     5.02     06/30/09  

 

 

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

Date reflects the inception date of the Fund, not the index.
1 Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).
2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.
3  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in debt securities, such as default risk and fluctuations in the perception of the debtor’s ability to pay its creditors. Changing interest rates may adversely affect the value of an investment. An increase in interest rates typically causes the value of bonds and other fixed income securities to fall.
4  Factors unique to the municipal bond market may negatively affect the value in municipal bonds.
5  Investment income may be subject to certain state and local taxes, and depending on your tax status, the federal alternative minimum tax. Capital gains are not exempt from federal income tax.
6  Effective June 23, 2017 Class S shares were converted to Class I shares.
7  The Bloomberg Barclays 10-Year Municipal Bond Index is the 10 Year (8-12) component of the Municipal Bond index. It is a rules-based, market-value-weighted index engineered for the tax-exempt bond market. The Index tracks general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, insured bonds, and prerefunded bonds rated Baa3/BBB- or higher by at least two of the ratings agencies: Moody’s, S&P, Fitch. Unlike the Fund, the Bloomberg Barclays 10-Year Municipal Bond Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

13


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

     % of  

Category

   Net Assets  

General Obligation

     26.4

Transportation

     23.4

Utilities

     17.3

Public Services

     10.9

Healthcare

     8.0

Education

     7.0

Other

     3.4

Industrial Development

     1.2

Tax

     1.1

Other Assets & Liabilities

     1.3

 

Rating    % of
Market Value
 

Aaa

     37.2  

Aa

     50.8  

A

     10.8  

Baa

     1.2  

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

     % of  

Security Name

   Net Assets  

State of Maryland, Series B, General Obligation, 5.000%, 08/01/25

     2.3  

North Carolina State Limited Obligation, Series B, Revenue, 5.000%, 05/01/28

     1.7  

Iowa Finance Authority, Green Bond, Revenue, 5.000%, 08/01/30

     1.7  

Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority, Water Quality

  

Revenue, Series A, Revenue, 5.000%, 10/01/26

     1.7  

Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority, MTA Bridge And Tunnel,

  

Revenue, 5.000%, 11/15/27

     1.6  

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Federal Highway Grant

  

Anticipation Note Revenue, Subordinate Revenue, Series A,

  

Revenue, 5.000%, 06/15/24

     1.5  

State of Michigan, Revenue, 5.000%, 03/15/27

     1.4  

State of Maryland, Department of Transportation, Revenue, 5.000%, 09/01/29

     1.4  

Texas Transportation Commission Fund, Series A, General

  

Obligation, 5.000%, 04/01/27

     1.3  

State of Washington, Water Utility Improvements Revenue,

  

Series 2013 A, General Obligation, 5.000%, 08/01/25

     1.3  
  

 

 

 

Top Ten as a Group

     15.9  
  

 

 

 
 

 

Credit quality ratings shown above reflect the highest rating assigned by either Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) or Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”). These rating agencies are independent, nationally recognized statistical rating organizations and are widely used. Investment grade ratings are credit ratings of BBB/Baa or higher. Below investment grade ratings are credit ratings of BB/Ba or lower. Investments designated N/R are not rated by either rating agency. Unrated investments do not necessarily indicate low credit quality. Credit quality ratings are subject to change.

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 

 

14


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

 

     Principal Amount      Value  

Municipal Bonds - 98.5%

     

Arizona - 3.5%

     

Arizona Department of Transportation State Highway Fund Revenue 5.000%, 07/01/28

   $ 5,000,000      $ 6,153,300  

Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority, Water Quality Revenue, Series A 5.000%, 10/01/26

     15,000,000        18,003,600  

Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement & Power District, Salt River Project Electrical 5.000%, 01/01/29

     6,000,000        7,548,960  

Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement & Power District, Series A 5.000%, 12/01/24

     5,550,000        6,228,931  

Total Arizona

        37,934,791  

California - 5.0%

     

California Municipal Finance Authority, Community Medical Centers, Series A 5.000%, 02/01/27

     950,000        1,144,370  

California Municipal Finance Authority, Community Medical Centers, Series A 5.000%, 02/01/30

     1,620,000        1,913,884  

California Municipal Finance Authority, Community Medical Centers, Series A 5.000%, 02/01/31

     1,000,000        1,174,380  

California Municipal Finance Authority, Community Medical Centers, Series A 5.000%, 02/01/32

     1,855,000        2,168,736  

California State Tax Exempt General Obligation 5.000%, 03/01/24

     5,000,000        5,922,600  

California State University, Series A 5.000%, 11/01/29

     4,525,000        5,374,524  

State of California 5.000%, 09/01/25

     10,000,000        12,192,300  

State of California 5.000%, 09/01/29

     5,010,000        6,128,282  

State of California 5.000%, 08/01/29

     7,000,000        8,555,050  

State of California, Series C 5.000%, 09/01/26

     7,700,000        9,394,154  

Total California

        53,968,280  

Colorado - 1.3%

     

City & County of Denver CO. Airport System Revenue, Series A 5.000%, 11/15/23

     6,000,000        7,016,940  

Regional Transportation District County COPS, Series A 5.000%, 06/01/24

     6,000,000        6,938,700  

Total Colorado

        13,955,640  

Connecticut - 0.6%

     

State of Connecticut Special Tax Revenue, Transit Infrastructure 5.000%, 08/01/24

     5,340,000        6,215,386  

District of Columbia - 1.7%

     

District of Columbia Water & Sewer Authority Public Utility Revenue, Sub Lien, Series C 5.000%, 10/01/24

     5,475,000        6,260,115  

District of Columbia, Series A 5.000%, 06/01/24

     5,000,000        5,931,350  

District of Columbia, Series A 5.000%, 06/01/30

     5,025,000        6,074,170  

Total District of Columbia

        18,265,635  

Florida - 4.8%

     

Florida State Board of Education, Series D 5.000%, 06/01/24

     6,565,000        7,254,653  

Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, Department of Transportation, Series C 5.000%, 07/01/28

     7,075,000        8,626,760  

Orange County Health Facilities Authority, Series A 5.000%, 10/01/31

     4,515,000        5,289,187  

State of Florida, Capital Outlay, Series B 5.000%, 06/01/27

     9,045,000        10,771,871  

State of Florida, Capital Outlay, Series B 5.000%, 06/01/25

     5,970,000        6,773,801  

State of Florida, Capital Outlay, Series C 5.000%, 06/01/27

     5,555,000        6,868,258  

State of Florida, Department of Transportation, Fuel Sales Tax Revenue, Series B 5.000%, 07/01/26

     5,780,000        6,414,066  

Total Florida

        51,998,596  

Georgia - 3.6%

     

Atlanta Water & Wastewater Revenue 5.000%, 11/01/25

     5,100,000        6,164,982  

Georgia State University & College Improvements, Series A 5.000%, 07/01/24

     5,000,000        5,708,700  

Georgia State University & College Improvements, Series A 5.000%, 07/01/27

     5,450,000        6,207,332  

Georgia State University & College Improvements, Series A -Tranche 2 5.000%, 02/01/26

     5,435,000        6,618,091  

State of Georgia, Series C 5.000%, 09/01/23

     5,000,000        5,731,450  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

15


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal Amount      Value  

Georgia - 3.6% (continued)

     

State of Georgia, Series F 5.000%, 01/01/26

   $ 7,015,000      $ 8,661,841  

Total Georgia

        39,092,396  

Idaho - 0.6%

     

Idaho Housing & Finance Association 5.000%, 07/15/23

     5,770,000        6,672,428  

Illinois - 3.9%

     

Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Series B 5.000%, 01/01/28

     10,580,000        12,408,436  

Illinois State Finance Authority Revenue, Clean Water Initiative Revenue 5.000%, 07/01/27

     11,000,000        13,291,410  

Illinois State Finance Authority Revenue, University of Chicago, Series A 5.000%, 10/01/23

     5,005,000        5,830,625  

Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, Series A 5.000%, 12/01/31

     9,260,000        10,862,165  

Total Illinois

        42,392,636  

Indiana - 0.6%

     

Indiana Finance Authority, Indiana University Health Revenue, Series A 5.000%, 12/01/23

     5,115,000        5,966,392  

Iowa - 2.2%

     

Iowa Finance Authority, Green Bond 5.000%, 08/01/30

     15,000,000        18,579,750  

State of Iowa, Series A 5.000%, 06/01/25

     4,000,000        4,838,000  

Total Iowa

        23,417,750  

Kentucky - 0.6%

     

Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Government, Norton Healthcare Inc., Series A 5.000%, 10/01/29

     5,020,000        5,948,298  

Maryland - 5.8%

     

State of Maryland, Department of Transportation 5.000%, 05/01/23

     8,720,000        10,179,641  

State of Maryland, Department of Transportation 5.000%, 09/01/29

     11,895,000        14,908,598  

State of Maryland, Series B 5.000%, 08/01/25

     20,000,000        24,466,800  

University System of Maryland, University & College Improvements, Series A 5.000%, 04/01/23

     5,475,000        6,359,815  

University System of Maryland, University & College Improvements, Series A 5.000%, 04/01/24

     5,100,000        6,056,352  

Total Maryland

        61,971,206  

Massachusetts - 7.6%

     

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Federal Highway Grant Anticipation Note Revenue, Subordinate Revenue, Series A 5.000%, 06/15/24

     13,770,000        16,047,558  

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Series A 5.000%, 07/01/25

     7,700,000        9,348,108  

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Series B 5.000%, 07/01/23

     5,000,000        5,844,900  

Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, Partners Healthcare System 5.000%, 07/01/28

     8,000,000        9,774,880  

Massachusetts School Building Authority, Series A 5.000%, 08/15/25

     5,035,000        5,738,390  

Massachusetts State Development Finance Agency, Boston College, Series S 5.000%, 07/01/23

     5,700,000        6,650,133  

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Series C 5.000%, 08/01/24

     10,300,000        11,471,110  

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Series C 5.000%, 08/01/26

     4,025,000        4,983,111  

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Series C 5.000%, 08/01/31

     6,000,000        7,254,480  

The Massachusetts Clean Water Trust 5.000%, 08/01/25

     4,640,000        4,883,275  

Total Massachusetts

        81,995,945  

Michigan - 3.7%

     

Michigan Finance Authority, Henry Ford Health System 5.000%, 11/15/29

     9,950,000        11,700,603  

Michigan Finance Authority, Hospital Trinity Health Credit 5.000%, 12/01/34

     5,150,000        6,119,642  

Michigan State Building Authority Revenue, Series I 5.000%, 04/15/27

     5,700,000        6,849,348  

State of Michigan 5.000%, 03/15/27

     12,640,000        15,501,949  

Total Michigan

        40,171,542  

Minnesota - 1.1%

     

Minneapolis-St Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission, Series A 5.000%, 01/01/25

     5,000,000        6,010,700  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

16


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal Amount      Value  

Minnesota - 1.1% (continued)

     

Minnesota State General Obligation, Series A 5.000%, 08/01/23

   $ 5,300,000      $ 6,057,052  

Total Minnesota

        12,067,752  

Missouri - 1.7%

     

Missouri Highway & Transportation Commission,

     

Fuel Sales Tax Revenue, Series B 5.000%, 05/01/23

     10,330,000        12,030,524  

University of Missouri, Series A 5.000%, 11/01/26

     5,495,000        6,569,163  

Total Missouri

        18,599,687  

New Jersey - 2.7%

     

New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority, RWJ Barnabas Health Obligation 5.000%, 07/01/29

     6,570,000        7,780,391  

New Jersey State Turnpike Authority Revenue, Series 2012B 5.000%, 01/01/24

     2,790,000        3,194,522  

New Jersey State Turnpike Authority Revenue, Series A 5.000%, 01/01/33

     10,270,000        12,199,220  

New Jersey State Turnpike Authority Revenue, Series A 5.000%, 01/01/24

     355,000        403,834  

New Jersey State Turnpike Authority Revenue, Series B 5.000%, 01/01/28

     4,000,000        4,947,320  

Total New Jersey

        28,525,287  

New York - 16.1%

     

Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Climate Bond Certified Green Bond 5.000%, 11/15/33

     5,000,000        6,101,550  

Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Fuel Sales Tax Revenue, Series A 5.000%, 11/15/24

     5,000,000        6,004,000  

Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Transit Revenue, Series F 5.000%, 11/15/24

     4,950,000        5,704,776  

Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Transit Revenue, Series F 5.000%, 11/15/27

     5,000,000        5,722,150  

Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Transit Revenue, Series F 5.000%, 11/15/28

     5,000,000        5,962,300  

Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Variable, Series A-1, REMK 06/1 1.250%, 11/01/31 1

     10,500,000        10,500,000  

New York City General Obligation, Series C 5.000%, 08/01/24

     5,000,000        5,957,500  

New York City General Obligation, Series C 5.000%, 08/01/26

     5,510,000        6,763,084  

New York City General Obligation, Series G 5.000%, 08/01/23

     5,000,000        5,831,000  

New York City General Obligation, Series I 5.000%, 08/01/24

     11,485,000        13,060,397  

New York City Transitional Finance Authority, Future Tax Secured Revenue, Series A-2 5.000%, 08/01/34

     5,000,000        6,035,050  

New York City Transitional Finance Authority, Future Tax Secured Revenue, Series B 5.000%, 02/01/24

     5,015,000        5,493,331  

New York City Transitional Finance Authority, Future Tax Secured Revenue, Series C 5.000%, 11/01/23

     5,000,000        5,872,250  

New York City Transitional Finance Authority, Future Tax Secured Revenue, Series C 5.000%, 11/01/26

     5,200,000        6,274,008  

New York City Water & Sewer System Revenue, Series FF 5.000%, 06/15/25

     7,940,000        8,582,028  

New York City Water & Sewer System Revenue, Series FF 5.000%, 06/15/30

     5,370,000        6,397,925  

New York State Dormitory Authority, Series A 5.000%, 12/15/25

     8,645,000        9,984,888  

New York State Dormitory Authority, Series A 5.000%, 12/15/27

     5,640,000        6,502,582  

New York State Dormitory Authority, Series D 5.000%, 02/15/27

     5,800,000        7,129,592  

New York State Dormitory Authority, Series D 5.000%, 02/15/27

     5,395,000        6,079,248  

New York State Dormitory Authority, Series E 5.000%, 03/15/32

     8,370,000        10,027,930  

New York State Urban Development Corp., Personal Income Tax Revenue, Series A 5.000%, 03/15/24

     5,000,000        5,915,200  

Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority, MTA Bridge And Tunnel 5.000%, 11/15/27

     13,845,000        17,476,267  

Total New York

        173,377,056  

North Carolina - 4.6%

     

North Carolina Municipal Power Agency No. 1, Electric, Power and Light Revenue, Series A 5.000%, 01/01/27

     5,025,000        6,047,236  

North Carolina State Limited Obligation, Series A 5.000%, 06/01/26

     10,515,000        13,083,919  

North Carolina State Limited Obligation, Series B 5.000%, 05/01/28

     15,010,000        18,607,747  

North Carolina State Limited Obligation, Series C 5.000%, 05/01/23

     5,020,000        5,840,820  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

17


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal Amount      Value  

North Carolina - 4.6% (continued)

     

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, Carolinas Healthcare System 5.000%, 01/15/25

   $ 5,000,000      $ 5,997,700  

Total North Carolina

        49,577,422  

Ohio - 3.5%

     

Ohio State General Obligation, Cleveland Clinic Health 5.000%, 01/01/28

     3,520,000        4,389,229  

Ohio State General Obligation, Series A 5.000%, 09/01/26

     7,040,000        8,730,656  

Ohio State General Obligation, University & College Improvements, Series C 5.000%, 11/01/26

     5,000,000        6,025,100  

Ohio Water Development Authority, Water Pollution Control Loan Fund 5.000%, 06/01/23

     5,035,000        5,870,608  

Ohio Water Development Authority, Water Pollution Control Loan Fund, Series 2015A 5.000%, 06/01/25

     10,050,000        12,194,067  

Total Ohio

        37,209,660  

Oklahoma - 1.4%

     

Grand River Dam Authority, Series A 5.000%, 06/01/28

     7,820,000        9,575,825  

Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, Series A 5.000%, 01/01/26

     5,000,000        5,462,850  

Total Oklahoma

        15,038,675  

Pennsylvania - 0.8%

     

Lancaster County Hospital Authority, University of Pennsylvania Health Revenue 5.000%, 08/15/26

     6,730,000        8,202,322  

Tennessee - 0.8%

     

State of Tennessee Fuel Sales Tax Revenue, Series B 5.000%, 09/01/26

     7,365,000        8,843,156  

Texas - 10.2%

     

Central Texas Turnpike System Transportation Commission, Series C 5.000%, 08/15/31

     11,175,000        12,802,639  

City of Austin TX Water & Wastewater System Revenue 5.000%, 11/15/26

     5,085,000        6,290,755  

City of San Antonio TX Electric & Gas Systems Revenue 5.000%, 02/01/26

     9,300,000        11,386,920  

Humble Independent School District, Series B 5.000%, 02/15/23

     5,610,000        6,474,725  

Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Series A 5.000%, 11/01/24

     5,000,000        5,966,800  

North Texas Municipal Water District Water System Revenue, Refunding And Improvement 5.000%, 09/01/29

     5,035,000        6,083,740  

North Texas Tollway Authority Revenue, Special Projects System, 1st Tier, Series A 5.000%, 01/01/25

     6,370,000        7,444,492  

North Texas Tollway Authority, 2nd Tier, Series B 5.000%, 01/01/31

     2,000,000        2,353,940  

North Texas Tollway Authority, 2nd Tier, Series B 5.000%, 01/01/32

     4,000,000        4,751,400  

North Texas Tollway Authority, Series A 5.000%, 01/01/26

     7,775,000        9,076,924  

State of Texas, Transportation Commission Highway Improvements Revenue 5.000%, 04/01/25

     4,950,000        5,603,004  

Texas A&M University, Financing System, Series E 5.000%, 05/15/28

     8,740,000        10,876,405  

Texas Transportation Commission Fund, Series A 5.000%, 04/01/27

     12,550,000        14,161,671  

The University of Texas System, Series H 5.000%, 08/15/26

     5,045,000        6,241,876  

Total Texas

        109,515,291  

Virginia - 1.7%

     

Virginia College Building Authority, Series B 5.000%, 09/01/23

     5,350,000        6,245,430  

Virginia Public Building Authority, Series B 5.000%, 08/01/25

     9,750,000        11,827,627  

Total Virginia

        18,073,057  

Washington - 7.2%

     

City of Seattle WA Municipal Light & Power Revenue, Series B 5.000%, 02/01/23

     4,620,000        4,929,910  

County of King WA Sewer Revenue, Series B 5.000%, 01/01/24

     3,085,000        3,377,211  

Energy Northwest Electric Revenue, Bonneville Power 5.000%, 07/01/25

     10,000,000        12,148,100  

State of Washington School Improvements, Series C 5.000%, 02/01/28

     5,940,000        7,198,864  

State of Washington, Series R-2015C 5.000%, 07/01/28

     10,000,000        11,941,900  

State of Washington, Water Utility Improvements Revenue, Series 2013 A 5.000%, 08/01/25

     11,925,000        13,588,895  

University of Washington, University & College Improvements Revenue, Series A 5.000%, 12/01/32

     5,760,000        6,949,785  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

18


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal Amount      Value  

Washington - 7.2% (continued)

     

University of Washington, University & College Improvements Revenue, Series C 5.000%, 07/01/27

   $     7,270,000      $     8,338,981  

Washington Health Care Facilities Authority Multicare Health System, Series B 5.000%, 08/15/23

     3,940,000        4,578,556  

Washington Health Care Facilities Authority Providence Health & Services, Series A 5.000%, 10/01/26

     3,435,000        3,926,377  

Total Washington

        76,978,579  

Wisconsin - 1.2%

     

Wisconsin State Revenue, Department of Transportation, Series 1 5.000%, 07/01/25

     2,370,000        2,755,623  

Wisconsin State Revenue, Department of Transportation, Series A 5.000%, 07/01/24

     5,000,000        5,963,000  

Wisconsin State, Series 2 5.000%, 05/01/24

     3,570,000        4,037,134  

Total Wisconsin

        12,755,757  

Total Municipal Bonds (Cost $1,052,404,795)

        1,058,730,622  
     Shares         

Short-Term Investments - 0.1%

     

Other Investment Companies - 0.1%

     

Dreyfus Preferred Government Money Market Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.25% 2

     688,075        688,075  

Total Short-Term Investments (Cost $688,074)

        688,075  

Total Investments - 98.6% (Cost $1,053,092,869)

        1,059,418,697  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - 1.4%

        15,493,010  

Net Assets - 100.0%

      $ 1,074,911,707  

 

1  Certain variable rate securities are not based on a published reference rate and spread but are determined by the issuer or agent and are based on current market conditions. These securities do not indicate a reference rate and spread in their description above.
2  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

COPS     Certificates of Participation

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Municipal Bonds

     —         $ 1,058,730,622        —         $ 1,058,730,622  

Short-Term Investments

   $ 688,075        —           —           688,075  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 688,075      $ 1,058,730,622        —         $ 1,059,418,697  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  All municipal bonds held in the Fund are Level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of municipal bonds by major classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

19


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

 

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund (Class N) (the Fund) returned 9.51%, modestly outperforming the Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond BAA Index, which returned 8.74%.

Municipals posted solid returns in the first quarter amid a backdrop of uncertainty regarding U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) policy and the so-called reflation trade. Right out of the gates, retail investors favored the perceived haven of shorter municipal bonds, driving down yields at the front end of the curve, even while similar maturities in the Treasury market remained steady. It was a dynamic that played out over the quarter, the municipal bond curve steepening significantly, the Treasury curve modestly flattening. And while sentiment was cautious, that was actually an upgrade over the panic selling that followed November’s election and lasted into year-end. The heavy mutual fund outflows during that stretch reversed in January, removing a major source of selling pressure and helping to stabilize the market.

For the second quarter, Municipals posted impressive returns driven by favorable market technicals and a broad rethink of the Trump trade. Long-term yields had already started to decline in March as political turmoil in Washington cast doubt on the likelihood of large-scale fiscal stimulus emerging any time soon. And with last November’s messy selloff fading further into memory, new cash poured into the tax-exempt market. The increased demand was met by a scarcity of supply, with new issue volume down 18% for the quarter, a product of far fewer refunding transactions. The result was a powerful rally where municipal bonds outperformed even Treasuries, which also posted solid returns for the quarter. And it occurred despite troubling industry headlines, from Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy filing to Connecticut’s triple downgrades to Illinois’ severe budget crisis. In that way, it was technicals, rather than any improvement in credit fundamentals, that made municipals one of the top performers in the fixed income universe.

Municipals performed well in the third quarter despite a late period selloff that turned outsized gains into merely respectable returns. Through the first nine weeks of the quarter, interest rates declined in a steady fashion, establishing year-to-date lows in early September. Besides saber-rattling in North Korea and violence in Spain and Charlottesville, investors were responding to uncertainty surrounding healthcare policy, an unusually active hurricane season and fears that a

divided Washington would fail to raise the debt ceiling. In addition, inflation readings continued to undershoot the Fed’s target, casting doubt on the central bank’s forecast of future rate increases.

Municipal bonds posted mixed returns in the fourth quarter amid a significant flattening of the yield curve. Front-end rates pushed sharply higher, driven by further tightening of Fed policy and investor repositioning ahead of major tax reform. Long municipal bonds, meanwhile, rallied on benign inflation data and the expectation of a supply drought in the coming months. As a consequence, the slope of the municipal curve nearly halved over the quarter, from 1.84% to 0.98%, its lowest level since 2007.

At the start of the fourth quarter, there were few signs the market would experience any sort of upheaval before year end. Supply projections were modest, headline risks were dormant and word out of Washington was that the municipal bond exemption would be fully shielded from tax reform. Instead, we had weeks of sloppy trading on record volume after the House of Representatives proposed, in early November, to strip the tax exemption from private activity bonds (PABs) and advance refunding transactions. These two areas collectively account for over a quarter of municipal supply. A week later, the Senate released a more municipal-bond-friendly version, which protected PABs but kept advance refundings on the chopping block. Unsure of how the final bill would read, 501(c)(3) issuers, including hospitals and private universities, flooded the market with PABs in case the window closed. In addition, traditional issuers stuffed the remaining calendar with advance refunding deals. The result was a historic slate of issuance, with December volume breaking a single-month record set just before the Tax Reform Act of 1986 took effect.

On the demand side, buyers were just as anxious to transact while bonds were still available. Even though PABs ultimately survived in the final tax bill, advance refundings did not. Issuance is expected to drop dramatically in the first half of 2018 because so many borrowers rushed to market in the last six weeks of the year. To participate in the surge, many sold shorter bonds to raise cash, putting upward pressure on front-end yields, particularly in late November. As the record volume hit the street in mid-December, deals were taken down with only minimal concessions. In the final week of the year, after the new issue pipeline had largely dried up, municipal bonds rallied hard as opportunistic traders marked up bonds and resold them to a market looking to get invested before origination became

scarce. From a high of 2.21% in late November, the yield on 10-year municipal bonds dropped 23 basis points to close 2017 at 1.98%, essentially unchanged for the fourth quarter but down 33 basis points for the year as a whole.

PERFORMANCE

The Fund outperformed its benchmark for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. An overweight to longer maturities was a positive as interest rates declined and the yield curve flattened during the year. Credit spreads tightened, which negatively impacted the Fund’s relative performance. The Fund has over 40% of its holdings in credits rated A or higher, which underperformed the BBB rated bonds in the Index.

Looking forward, it appears the municipal market has survived tax reform with only minor bumps and bruises. The most important takeaway is that the tax exemption remains in place. To be sure, there will be shifting sands ahead, requiring some adjustments to the way the market is traded. The loss of advance refundings means the end of newly minted prerefunded paper, an outcome that will lessen supply over the next couple of years. The lower marginal rate for corporations will likely reduce demand for municipal bonds from banks and insurance companies. The significant limitation of the state and local tax deduction will push tax-equivalent hurdles higher, making in-state bonds more attractive to resident investors. Potentially this could lead to wealth flight from high-tax jurisdictions, a development that bears watching. In the immediate future, however, the plunge in supply expected over the first half of 2018 should provide a technical tailwind that eclipses other factors. While much will depend on the movement of Treasury yields, municipal bonds look poised to start the new year from a position of strength.

FUND PORTFOLIO

We remain active on the long end of the yield curve in the Fund with over 80% invested in maturities greater than 20 years. The volume was primarily focused on relative value trading as opposed to curve trades that you would see more in an intermediate bond fund, as the yield curve is relatively flat in the 25–30 year range. We continue to avoid local general obligation bonds (GOs) and focus on the hospital and transportation sectors.

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, GW&K Investment Management, LLC as of December 31, 2017, and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject to change without notice.

 

 

 

 

20


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class I (formerly Class S) shares on December 31, 2007, to a $10,000 investment made in the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Municipal Bond BAA Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund and the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Municipal Bond BAA Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

Average Annual Total Returns1    One
Year
    Five
Years
    Ten
Years
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

 

       

Class N

     9.51     4.04     -          7.14     07/27/09  

Class I8

     9.79     4.51     5.76     4.95     12/30/05  

Class Z

     -          -          -          8.23     02/24/17  

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Municipal Bond BAA Index9

     8.74     3.87     4.33     3.99     12/30/05  

 

 

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects the inception date of the Fund, not the index.
1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).
2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.
3  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in debt securities, such as default risk and fluctuations in the perception of the debtor’s ability to pay its creditors. Changing interest rates may adversely affect the value of an investment. An increase in interest rates typically causes the value of bonds and other fixed income securities to fall. High-yield bonds (also known as “junk bonds”) may be subject to greater levels of interest rate, credit, and liquidity risk than investments in higher rated securities. These securities are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments. The issuers of the Fund’s holdings may be involved in bankruptcy proceedings, reorganizations, or financial restructurings, and are not as strong financially as higher-rated issuers.
4  The use of leverage in a Fund’s strategy, such as futures and forward commitment transactions, can magnify relatively small market movements into relatively larger losses for the Fund.
5  Factors unique to the municipal bond market may negatively affect the value in municipal bonds.
6  Investment income may be subject to certain state and local taxes, and depending on your tax status, the federal alternative minimum tax. Capital gains are not exempt from federal income tax.
7  The performance shown includes that of the predecessor Fund, the BNY Hamilton Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund, a series of BNY Hamilton Funds, Inc., which was reorganized into the GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund, a series of AMG Funds, as of the close of business on November 7, 2008.
8  Effective June 23, 2017 Class S shares were converted to Class I shares.
9  The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Municipal Bond BAA Index is a subset of the Boomberg Barclays U.S. Municipal Bond Index with an index rating of Baa1, Baa2, or Baa3. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Municipal Bond Index is a rules-based, market-value-weighted index engineered for the long-term, tax-exempt bond market. Unlike the Fund, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Municipal Bond BAA Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

21


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

     % of  

Category

   Net Assets  

Healthcare

     31.2

Transportation

     31.0

Utilities

     6.8

General Obligation

     6.4

Education

     5.4

Tax

     4.9

Public Services

     3.9

Other

     3.4

State and Non-State Appropriated Tobacco

     2.3

Industrial Development

     2.0

Other Assets & Liabilities

     2.7

Rating

   % of
Market Value*
 

Aa

     9.8  

A

     39.2  

Baa

     46.0  

Ba

     5.0  

 

* Includes market value of fixed-income securities only.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name

   % of
Net Assets
 

New York Transportation Development Corp., Laguardia Airport Terminal B, Revenue, 5.000%, 07/01/46

     3.7  

New Hampshire Health and Education Facilities Authority Act, Partners Healthcare System, Revenue, 5.000%, 07/01/41

     3.5  

Central Texas Turnpike System, Series C, Revenue, 5.000%, 08/15/42

     3.3  

Alachua County Health Facilities Authority, Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics, Series A, Revenue, 5.000%, 12/01/44

     3.1  

Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority Revenue, McCormick Place Expansion Project, Series B, Revenue, 5.000%, 06/15/52

     2.6  

Michigan Finance Authority, Henry Ford Health System, Revenue, 5.000%, 11/15/41

     2.6  

State of California, General Obligation, 5.000%, 11/01/47

     2.5  

Railsplitter Tobacco Settlement Authority, Revenue, 5.000%, 06/01/26

     2.5  

North Texas Tollway Authority, Second Tier, Series B, Revenue, 5.000%, 01/01/48

     2.5  

Miami Beach Health Facilities Authority, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Revenue, 5.000%, 11/15/39

     2.4  
  

 

 

 

Top Ten as a Group

     28.7  
  

 

 

 
 

Credit quality ratings shown above reflect the highest rating assigned by either Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) or Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”). These rating agencies are independent, nationally recognized statistical rating organizations and are widely used. Investment grade ratings are credit ratings of BBB/Baa or higher. Below investment grade ratings are credit ratings of BB/Ba or lower. Investments designated N/R are not rated by either rating agency. Unrated investments do not necessarily indicate low credit quality. Credit quality ratings are subject to change.

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 

 

22


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

     Principal Amount      Value  

Municipal Bonds - 97.3%

     

California - 8.0%

     

California Municipal Finance Authority, Community Medical Centers, Series A 5.000%, 02/01/47

   $     4,000,000      $     4,580,840  

California Municipal Finance Authority, Community Medical Centers, Series A 5.000%, 02/01/42

     2,500,000        2,862,625  

M-S-R Energy Authority, Natural Gas Revenue, Series C 6.500%, 11/01/39

     3,660,000        5,376,320  

State of California 5.000%, 11/01/47

     5,000,000        6,010,600  

Total California

        18,830,385  

Colorado - 1.8%

     

Public Authority for Colorado Energy Natural Gas Purchase Revenue, Series 2008 6.500%, 11/15/38

     2,915,000        4,207,598  

Florida - 11.6%

     

Alachua County Health Facilities Authority,

     

Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics, Series A 5.000%, 12/01/44

     6,570,000        7,337,770  

County of Miami - Dade FL Aviation Revenue 5.000%, 10/01/41

     2,000,000        2,349,260  

County of Miami - Dade FL Aviation Revenue, Series B 5.000%, 10/01/40

     2,000,000        2,352,360  

Martin County Health Facilities Authority, Martin Memorial Medical Center 5.500%, 11/15/42

     4,430,000        4,899,536  

Miami Beach Health Facilities Authority, Mt. Sinai Medical Center 5.000%, 11/15/39

     5,220,000        5,713,969  

Orange County Health Facilities Authority,

     

Orlando Health Inc., Series A 5.000%, 10/01/39

     4,035,000        4,618,824  

Total Florida

        27,271,719  

Illinois - 14.5%

     

Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Refunding

     

General Senior Lien, Series B 5.000%, 01/01/41

     2,000,000        2,303,940  

Illinois State General Obligation 5.500%, 07/01/38

     3,275,000        3,553,801  

Illinois State General Obligation, Series D 5.000%, 11/01/26

     5,000,000        5,493,350  

Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, Series B 5.000%, 01/01/40

     1,675,000        1,932,129  

Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority

     

Revenue, McCormick Place Expansion Project, Series 2012 A 5.000%, 06/15/42

     4,990,000        5,260,109  

Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority

     

Revenue, McCormick Place Expansion Project, Series B 5.000%, 06/15/52

     5,910,000        6,207,627  

Railsplitter Tobacco Settlement Authority 5.000%, 06/01/26

     5,000,000        5,815,050  

Railsplitter Tobacco Settlement Authority 5.000%, 06/01/27

     3,000,000        3,484,170  

Total Illinois

        34,050,176  

Kentucky - 1.2%

     

Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Government, Norton Healthcare Inc. 5.000%, 10/01/33

     2,500,000        2,909,675  

Louisiana - 2.6%

     

Louisiana Public Facilities Authority, Ochsner Clinic Foundation 5.000%, 05/15/47

     3,385,000        3,793,739  

New Orleans Aviation Board, General Airport North Terminal, Series B 5.000%, 01/01/48

     2,000,000        2,297,980  

Total Louisiana

        6,091,719  

Massachusetts - 3.4%

     

Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, UMass Boston Student Housing 5.000%, 10/01/48

     5,000,000        5,540,650  

Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, UMass Boston Student Housing 5.000%, 10/01/41

     2,250,000        2,496,870  

Total Massachusetts

        8,037,520  

Michigan - 4.6%

     

Michigan Finance Authority, Henry Ford Health System 5.000%, 11/15/41

     5,315,000        6,021,948  

Michigan Finance Authority, Hospital Trinity Health Credit 5.000%, 12/01/37

     4,000,000        4,718,960  

Total Michigan

        10,740,908  

Nebraska - 1.6%

     

Central Plains Energy Project, Project #3, Series A 5.000%, 09/01/42

     3,000,000        3,867,810  

New Hampshire - 3.5%

     

New Hampshire Health and Education Facilities Authority Act, Partners Healthcare System 5.000%, 07/01/41

     7,000,000        8,254,190  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

23


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Principal
Amount
     Value  

New Jersey - 9.0%

     

New Jersey Economic Development Authority, Series DDD 5.000%, 06/15/42

   $ 3,350,000      $ 3,674,950  

New Jersey Economic Development Authority, School Facilities Construction 5.000%, 03/01/25

     5,205,000        5,688,701  

New Jersey Economic Development Authority, UMM Energy Partners, Series 2012 A 5.125%, 06/15/43

     4,450,000        4,666,937  

New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority, RWJ Barnabas Health Obligation 5.000%, 07/01/43

     4,605,000        5,284,514  

New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority,

     

Federal Highway Reimbursement Notes 5.000%, 06/15/27

     1,695,000        1,946,351  

Total New Jersey

        21,261,453  

New York - 6.0%

     

New York State Dormitory Authority, The New School Project, Series A 5.000%, 07/01/46

     3,000,000        3,467,370  

New York Transportation Development Corp., Laguardia Airport Terminal B 5.000%, 07/01/46

     8,000,000        8,798,880  

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Special Project, JFK International Air Terminal LLC Project, Series 2010 6.000%, 12/01/42

     1,580,000        1,758,303  

Total New York

        14,024,553  

Rhode Island - 2.3%

     

Tobacco Settlement Financing Corp., Series A 5.000%, 06/01/35

     2,000,000        2,186,100  

Tobacco Settlement Financing Corp., Series A 5.000%, 06/01/40

     3,045,000        3,283,058  

Total Rhode Island

        5,469,158  

Texas - 15.7%

     

Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority 5.000%, 01/01/46

     3,750,000        4,248,263  

Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority 5.000%, 01/01/40

     4,550,000        5,175,261  

Central Texas Turnpike System, Series C 5.000%, 08/15/42

     6,915,000        7,730,348  

Grand Parkway Transportation Corp., 1st Tier Toll Revenue, Series A 5.500%, 04/01/53

     3,960,000        4,523,548  

North Texas Tollway Authority, Second Tier, Series B 5.000%, 01/01/48

     5,000,000        5,800,300  

Texas Municipal Gas Acquisition & Supply Corp., Gas Supply Revenue, Senior Lien Series 2008 D 6.250%, 12/15/26

     2,135,000        2,567,209  

Texas Private Activity Bond Surface Transportation Corp., Senior Lien-Blueridge Transport 5.000%, 12/31/40

     2,400,000        2,679,288  

Texas Private Activity Bond Surface Transportation Corp., Senior Lien-Blueridge Transport 5.000%, 12/31/45

     3,790,000        4,216,981  

Total Texas

        36,941,198  

Virginia - 6.3%

     

Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel District, First Tier General Resolution Revenue 5.000%, 07/01/46

     4,755,000        5,387,225  

Chesapeake City Expressway Toll Road Revenue, Series 2012 A 5.000%, 07/15/47

     3,010,000        3,279,335  

Virginia Small Business Financing Authority, Transform 66 P3 Project 5.000%, 12/31/49

     2,500,000        2,826,500  

Virginia Small Business Financing Authority, Transform 66 P3 Project 5.000%, 12/31/52

     3,000,000        3,365,910  

Total Virginia

        14,858,970  

West Virginia - 2.4%

     

West Virginia Hospital Finance Authority, WV United Health System Obligation 5.500%, 06/01/44

     5,000,000        5,672,050  

Wisconsin - 2.8%

     

Wisconsin Health & Educational Facilities Authority, Ascension Health Credit Group 5.000%, 11/15/39

     1,305,000        1,519,895  

Wisconsin Health & Educational Facilities Authority, ProHealth Care Obligation Group 5.000%, 08/15/39

     4,635,000        5,197,179  

Total Wisconsin

        6,717,074  

Total Municipal Bonds (Cost $221,249,401)

        229,206,156  
     Shares         

Short-Term Investments - 1.3%

 

  

Other Investment Companies - 1.3%

 

  

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.18% 1

     3,096,849        3,096,849  

Total Short-Term Investments (Cost $3,096,849)

        3,096,849  

Total Investments - 98.6% (Cost $224,346,250)

        232,303,005  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - 1.4%

 

   $ 3,270,854  

Net Assets - 100.0%

      $ 235,573,859  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

24


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

1  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.
 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Municipal Bonds

     —        $ 229,206,156        —        $ 229,206,156  

Short-Term Investments

   $ 3,096,849        —          —          3,096,849  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 3,096,849      $ 229,206,156        —        $ 232,303,005  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  All municipal bonds held in the Fund are Level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of municipal bonds by major classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

25


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

 

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund (Class N) (the Fund) returned 20.32%, outperforming the Russell 2000® Index, which returned 14.65%.

When pop star and self-proclaimed future presidential candidate Kanye West gifts shares of stock to his beloved wife for Christmas, you know that equities are most certainly in vogue. Sure enough, the headline from the Wall Street Journal’s year-end review stated: “U.S. Stocks Wrap Up Strong 2017.” Strong is certainly one adjective to describe the equity markets but it doesn’t fully capture the environment. One would have to mention descriptors like resilient, consistent or unidirectional to reflect the fact that the S&P 500® Index rose every month of 2017, a feat that has never before happened. One would have to mention how quiet the markets were, scraping record low volatility measures for a good portion of the year. And one would have to mention how a few narrow groups, like FANG (Facebook, Apple, Netflix & Google) stocks in large caps, or biotech and software in small caps, delivered particularly strong performance. These were all important characteristics of the U.S. equity market in 2017, but they don’t speak to the overall health of the market and the likelihood that 2018 and beyond will or won’t offer attractive returns. The answer to this question comes from the fundamental backdrop for the economy, corporate profits, inflation, interest rates and investor psychology. Is there enough good news in these areas that investors will continue to buy equities? Or will Kim Kardashian and other equity investors consider their 2017 gifts to more closely resemble lumps of coal than thoughtfully wrapped packages? After reviewing performance for the quarter and year, we will attempt to explain why we think the risk reward is still favorable for small cap equities as we look out over the next three to five years.

The Russell 2000® Index finished up 3.3% for the fourth quarter, marking its seventh consecutive positive quarterly return. For the full year the Index was up 14.7%. The last meaningful drawdown the Index experienced was in the third quarter of 2015, nearly two and a half years ago. On a style basis, Growth beat Value during the quarter (4.6% vs. 2.1%) and trounced it over the full year (22.2% vs. 7.8%) as measured by the Russell 2000® Growth and Russell 2000® Value Indices, respectively.

Results were mixed between high and low quality factors for both the quarter and year. For the quarter, larger small caps outperformed microcaps and high

return on equity (ROE) stocks outperformed those with low ROE. However, negative equity stocks outperformed, as did those in the highest debt and earnings variability quintiles. For the year, results were even a bit skewed toward low quality stocks, although with many mixed signals from the data. The most visible themes for the year emerged from the outperformance of non-earners, negative ROE, and high beta low quality groups.

On a sector basis, growth styles and cyclical acceleration generally led the Index while more stable and yield-oriented sectors lagged the market. This was particularly true earlier in the year and waned a bit during the fourth quarter. For the year, health care was the best performing sector, driven by the aforementioned strength in biotech. Industrials, information technology and materials also performed well. Energy was the only negative sector, but laggards included consumer staples, telecommunication services, real estate and financials.

For the quarter, consumer discretionary and consumer staples led the way, followed by a rebounding energy sector and industrials. Telecommunications services, real estate, information technology and utilities were the worst performers for the period. The most interesting change in the quarter, relative to the full year, was the flip of energy to the top and information technology to the bottom, as investors had exhausted themselves from either loving or hating each earlier in the year.

The Fund had strong outperformance relative to the benchmark during the year. By any account, this was a very strong year on both a relative and absolute level. It goes without saying that many things in the stock selection column went well for us and it would be a far shorter list to describe where we faltered. Four sectors delivered over 100 basis points of outperformance, including information technology which generated 280 basis points. The selection was so good in this sector that only two of our 13 full year holdings did not outperform the benchmark and only one had a negative return. Five holdings were up close to 50% or greater, one of which more than doubled during the year. Industrials, consumer discretionary and financials all contributed meaningfully, and again, broadly good stock selection was the driver. Energy and consumer staples also added 100 basis points between them, which was impressive given that combined they accounted for less than 5% of the Fund. On the

negative side, our cash position was a drag of about 30 basis points, as was modest underperformance in the materials sector. The only significant issue during the year came from health care, which was a detractor to the tune of 140 basis points. The strong performance of and our lack of exposure to biotech (-170 basis points) caused all the damage.

Regardless of whether you are Kim Kardashian or any other normal equity investor, you have read all the headlines about record highs in the various indices, extended valuations and elongated market upcycles. A rational investor would ask whether the future holds potential for more risk than reward, as over the last five years small caps have compounded at a 14% annual rate and the S&P 500® Index was up over 15.5% annualized. However, we would point out the strength of the current macroeconomic cycle, which is visible in the employment data, industrial production, consumer spending and the various Institute for Supply Management (ISM) survey data. In addition, we are about to pile on tax cuts and further business optimism resulting from lower taxes and deregulation. Two factors are likely to sustain the cycle even further: 1) that the cycle thus far has been a very slow and much doubted climb off the 2009 bottom, and 2) many facets of the economy have yet to be touched by the recovery. In fact, if wage growth and tax cuts occur simultaneously, we could see it self-reinforce in 2018 and into 2019. We believe the most prudent expectation is for corporate earnings growth in the mid-teens and equity returns in the high single digits for 2018. Which, of course, means this will decidedly NOT be the outcome. Risks remain both to the upside and downside. In our opinion, the greatest risk to the downside comes from complacency and the firmly held consensus view that the economy is accelerating and inflation and interest rates will remain in check. The rate increases the Fed has executed and plans to execute could have an unforeseen impact on the capital markets. Yet upside risks are perhaps more likely, as an accelerating economy combines with tax cuts and improving growth prospects outside the U.S. If Kayne wants to give us some gift wrapped stock certificates at Christmas next year, we will be very grateful and be sure to send a thank you note.

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, GW&K Investment Management, LLC as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject to change without notice.

 

 

 

 

26


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class N shares on December 31, 2007, to a $10,000 investment made in the Russell 2000® Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund and the Russell 2000® Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

Average Annual Total Returns1    One
Year
    Five
Years
    Ten
Years
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund2, 3, 4

 

   

Class N

     20.32     14.63     9.49     8.60     12/10/96  

Class I5

     20.79     15.12     —         16.03     07/27/09  

Class Z

     —         —         —         14.87     02/24/17  

Russell 2000® Index6

     14.65     14.12     8.71     8.54     12/10/96  

 

 

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects the inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).
2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.
3  The Fund inception dates and returns for all periods beginning prior to November 7, 2008 reflects performance of the predecessor Fund, The BNY Hamilton Multi-Cap Equity Fund, a series of BNY Hamilton Funds, Inc.
4  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in small-capitalization companies, such as erratic earnings patterns, competitive conditions, limited earnings history, and a reliance on one or a limited number of products.
5  Effective June 23, 2017 Class S shares were converted to Class I shares.
6  The Russell 2000® Index is composed of the 2,000 smallest stocks in the Russell 3000® Index and is widely regarded in the industry as the premier measure of small-cap stock performance. Unlike the Fund, the Russell 2000® Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

The Russell Indices are trademarks of the London Stock Exchange Group companies.

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

27


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

     % of  

Sector

   Net Assets  

Information Technology

     17.5  

Health Care

     16.8  

Industrials

     16.5  

Financials

     15.9  

Consumer Discretionary

     13.4  

Real Estate

     6.3  

Materials

     4.7  

Energy

     3.0  

Utilities

     2.6  

Consumer Staples

     2.1  

Short-Term Investments*

     5.8  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (4.6
  

 

 

 

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.
** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

     % of  

Security Name

   Net Assets  

Grand Canyon Education, Inc.

     3.0  

ICU Medical, Inc.

     2.7  

LogMeIn, Inc.

     2.5  

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

     2.2  

Lithia Motors, Inc., Class A

     2.0  

Globus Medical, Inc., Class A

     2.0  

Matador Resources Co.

     1.9  

EPAM Systems, Inc.

     1.9  

Texas Roadhouse, Inc.

     1.9  

Cathay General Bancorp

     1.9  
  

 

 

 

Top Ten as a Group

     22.0  
  

 

 

 
 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 

 

28


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 98.8%

     

Consumer Discretionary - 13.4%

     

Five Below, Inc.*

     139,773      $ 9,269,745  

Grand Canyon Education, Inc.*

     181,727        16,270,018  

Helen of Troy, Ltd.*

     39,739        3,828,853  

Hibbett Sports, Inc.*,1

     93,866        1,914,867  

Installed Building Products, Inc.*

     65,573        4,980,269  

Lithia Motors, Inc., Class A

     93,142        10,580,000  

Oxford Industries, Inc.

     68,143        5,123,672  

Texas Roadhouse, Inc.

     193,351        10,185,731  

Tupperware Brands Corp.

     70,316        4,408,813  

Wolverine World Wide, Inc.

     166,936        5,321,920  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        71,883,888  

Consumer Staples - 2.1%

     

Performance Food Group Co.*

     232,602        7,699,126  

WD- 40 Co.1

     28,832        3,402,176  

Total Consumer Staples

        11,101,302  

Energy - 3.0%

     

Dril- Quip, Inc.*

     56,069        2,674,491  

Forum Energy Technologies, Inc.*

     194,466        3,023,947  

Matador Resources Co.*,1

     328,770        10,234,610  

Total Energy

        15,933,048  

Financials - 15.9%

     

Ameris Bancorp

     166,579        8,029,108  

AMERISAFE, Inc.

     93,792        5,777,587  

Cathay General Bancorp

     240,434        10,139,102  

Cohen & Steers, Inc.

     132,333        6,258,028  

Glacier Bancorp, Inc.

     206,487        8,133,523  

IBERIABANK Corp.

     66,828        5,179,170  

Meridian Bancorp, Inc.

     134,290        2,766,374  

PRA Group, Inc.*,1

     106,698        3,542,374  

ProAssurance Corp.

     102,400        5,852,160  

Stifel Financial Corp.

     129,366        7,705,039  

Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc.*

     102,246        9,089,669  

United Bankshares, Inc.

     151,835        5,276,266  

Webster Financial Corp.

     135,028        7,583,172  

Total Financials

        85,331,572  

Health Care - 16.8%

     

Cambrex Corp.*

     61,810        2,966,880  

Cantel Medical Corp.

     75,804        7,797,958  

Catalent, Inc.*

     201,727        8,286,945  

Cotiviti Holdings, Inc.*,1

     167,261        5,387,477  

Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc.*

     243,137        4,879,760  
     Shares      Value  

Globus Medical, Inc., Class A*

     256,458      $ 10,540,424  

ICU Medical, Inc.*

     68,217        14,734,872  

Impax Laboratories, Inc.*

     270,214        4,499,063  

INC Research Holdings, Inc., Class A*

     149,894        6,535,378  

Medidata Solutions, Inc.*

     110,503        7,002,575  

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

     118,312        11,673,845  

Wright Medical Group, N.V. (Netherlands)*,1

     269,921        5,992,246  

Total Health Care

        90,297,423  

Industrials - 16.5%

     

Alamo Group, Inc.

     45,585        5,145,179  

Healthcare Services Group, Inc.

     160,272        8,449,540  

Heartland Express, Inc.

     279,842        6,531,512  

HEICO Corp.1

     33,953        3,203,466  

HEICO Corp., Class A

     75,998        6,007,642  

ICF International, Inc.*

     72,481        3,805,252  

John Bean Technologies Corp.

     50,969        5,647,365  

Mobile Mini, Inc.

     113,982        3,932,379  

Patrick Industries, Inc.*

     93,762        6,511,771  

Primoris Services Corp.

     212,416        5,775,591  

RBC Bearings, Inc.*

     59,389        7,506,770  

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Inc. (Canada)1

     208,440        6,238,609  

Sun Hydraulics Corp.

     118,986        7,697,204  

Universal Forest Products, Inc.

     183,873        6,917,302  

US Ecology, Inc.

     102,966        5,251,266  

Total Industrials

        88,620,848  

Information Technology - 17.5%

     

Blackbaud, Inc.

     90,727        8,572,794  

Callidus Software, Inc.*

     206,640        5,920,236  

EPAM Systems, Inc.*

     95,029        10,208,965  

ExlService Holdings, Inc.*

     105,046        6,339,526  

HubSpot, Inc.*,1

     113,708        10,051,787  

LogMeIn, Inc.

     117,350        13,436,575  

MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc.*

     155,991        5,075,947  

Power Integrations, Inc.

     88,881        6,537,198  

Proofpoint, Inc.*

     58,001        5,151,069  

Rogers Corp.*

     31,643        5,123,635  

Silicon Laboratories, Inc.*

     87,100        7,690,930  

Tyler Technologies, Inc.*

     55,617        9,846,990  

Total Information Technology

        93,955,652  

Materials - 4.7%

     

Balchem Corp.

     67,503        5,440,742  

Compass Minerals International, Inc.1

     56,089        4,052,430  

KapStone Paper and Packaging Corp.

     176,474        4,004,195  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

29


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Materials - 4.7% (continued)

     

PolyOne Corp.

     171,235      $ 7,448,722  

Silgan Holdings, Inc.

     151,681        4,457,905  

Total Materials

        25,403,994  

Real Estate - 6.3%

     

Education Realty Trust, Inc., REIT

     202,138        7,058,658  

National Health Investors, Inc., REIT

     75,700        5,706,266  

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, REIT 1

     174,830        6,498,431  

QTS Realty Trust, Inc., Class A, REIT

     132,742        7,189,307  

STAG Industrial, Inc., REIT

     260,098        7,108,478  

Total Real Estate

        33,561,140  

Utilities - 2.6%

     

IDACORP, Inc.

     70,257        6,418,680  

NorthWestern Corp.

     128,516        7,672,405  

Total Utilities

        14,091,085  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $396,085,147)

        530,179,952  
     Principal Amount         

Short - Term Investments - 5.8%

 

  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 4.9%2

 

  

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.410% total to be received $6,279,631 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 8.500%, 01/31/18 - 06/20/63, totaling $6,404,220)

   $ 6,278,647        6,278,647  

Daiwa Capital Markets America, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.430% total to be received $6,279,645 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 6.500%, 01/11/18 - 12/01/51, totaling $6,404,220)

     6,278,647        6,278,647  

 

* Non - income producing security.
1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $25,730,349 or 4.8% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.
2  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
     Principal Amount      Value  

HSBC Securities USA, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.380% total to be received $6,279,610 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 0.375%, 05/15/18 - 08/15/46, totaling $6,404,273)

   $ 6,278,647      $ 6,278,647  

Jefferies LLC, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.500% total to be received $1,320,919 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 1.750%, 09/13/18 - 04/30/22, totaling $1,347,113)

     1,320,699        1,320,699  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.630% total to be received $6,279,784 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% - 3.875%, 01/15/19 - 02/15/46, totaling $6,453,002)

     6,278,647        6,278,647  

Total Joint Repurchase Agreements

        26,435,287  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 0.9%

     

Dreyfus Preferred Government Money Market Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.25%3

     4,595,414        4,595,414  

Total Short - Term Investments
(Cost $31,030,701)

        31,030,701  

Total Investments - 104.6%
(Cost $427,115,848)

 

     561,210,653  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (4.6)%

 

     (24,865,711

Net Assets - 100.0%

      $ 536,344,942  

 

 

 

3 Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

REIT    Real Estate Investment Trust

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

30


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

   $ 530,179,952        —          —        $ 530,179,952  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

     —        $ 26,435,287        —          26,435,287  

Other Investment Companies

     4,595,414        —          —          4,595,414  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 534,775,366      $ 26,435,287        —        $ 561,210,653  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  All common stocks held in the Fund are Level 1 securities. For a detailed breakout of common stocks by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

31


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

 

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund (Class I) (the Fund) returned 15.44%, underperforming the Russell 2500® Index, which returned 16.81%. The Fund’s former benchmark, the Russell 2000® Growth Index, returned

22.17% over the same period.

Effective February 27, 2017, the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies changed from a small cap growth investment approach to one that primarily invests in common stock and preferred stock of U.S. small- and mid-capitalization companies with either growth or value-oriented characteristics. The Fund’s name changed from AMG GW&K Small Cap Growth Fund to AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund and the Fund’s primary benchmark changed from the Russell 2000 Index to the Russell 2500 Index.

When pop star and self-proclaimed future presidential candidate Kanye West gifts shares of stock to his beloved wife for Christmas, you know that equities are most certainly in vogue. Sure enough, the headline from the Wall Street Journal’s year-end review stated: “U.S. Stocks Wrap Up Strong 2017.” Strong is certainly one adjective to describe the equity markets but it doesn’t fully capture the environment. One would have to mention descriptors like resilient, consistent or unidirectional to reflect the fact that the S&P 500® Index rose every month of 2017, a feat that has never before happened. One would have to mention how quiet the markets were, scraping record low volatility measures for a good portion of the year. And one would have to mention how a few narrow groups, like FANG (Facebook, Apple, Netflix & Google) stocks in large caps, or biotech and software in small caps, delivered particularly strong performance. These were all important characteristics of the U.S. equity market in 2017, but they don’t speak to the overall health of the market and the likelihood that 2018 and beyond will or won’t offer attractive returns. The answer to this question comes from the fundamental backdrop for the economy, corporate profits, inflation, interest rates and investor psychology. Is there enough good news in these areas that investors will continue to buy equities? Or will Kim Kardashian and other equity investors consider their 2017 gifts to more closely resemble lumps of coal than thoughtfully wrapped packages? After reviewing performance for the quarter and year, we will attempt to explain why we think the risk reward is still favorable for small/mid cap equities as we look out over the next three to five years.

The Russell 2500® Index finished up 5.2% for the fourth quarter, marking its ninth consecutive positive quarterly return. For the full year the Index was

up 16.8%. The last meaningful drawdown the Index experienced was in the third quarter of 2015, nearly two and a half years ago. On a style basis, Growth beat Value during the quarter (6.4% vs. 4.3%) and trounced it over the full year (24.5% vs. 10.4%) as measured by the Russell 2500® Growth and Value Indices , respectively.

Results were mixed between high and low quality factors for both the quarter and year. For the quarter, larger small caps outperformed microcaps and high return on equity (ROE) stocks outperformed those with low ROE. However, stocks with higher earnings variability outperformed as well. For the year, results were quite similar to the fourth quarter. So while perhaps the market showed a bias to higher quality stocks, the results had a modest impact on performance and were more varied than usual.

On a sector basis, growth styles and cyclical acceleration generally led the Index while more stable and yield-oriented sectors lagged the market. This was particularly true earlier in the year and waned a bit during the fourth quarter. For the year, health care was the best performing sector, driven by the aforementioned strength in biotech. Information technology, materials and industrials also performed well. Energy was the only negative sector, but laggards included, telecommunication services, consumer staples, real estate and financials.

2017 was a very strong year on an absolute basis but the Fund modestly trailed the benchmark on a relative level. On the positive side of the ledger, information technology and financials were our stock selection leaders. Three portfolio holdings in technology were up over 40% and we outperformed broadly in four of the five industry groups. Our outperformance in financials was driven by stock selection in the bank industry, as SVB Financial, Western Alliance Bancorp, Glacier Bancorp and Texas Capital Bancshares all returned a double-digit percentage compared to less than 4% for the Index group. Also in health care, we overcame a headwind from an underweight to the biotechnology industry with strong performers in the healthcare equipment industry, where one stock more than doubled and three others were up over 20%. Our relative performance was held back in materials, consumer staples and industrials. In materials, we were flat footed in the chemicals industry, where the Index added over 29% but we languished as our largest holding, RPM International, was essentially flat. RPM’s results were disappointing this year, but we believe the company is now back on track for steady growth.

Compass Minerals, which was sold during the year, declined over 11% during our holding period, as results in both their salt and plant nutrition businesses lagged expectations. . TreeHouse Foods impacted the full year results and drove our underperformance in the consumer staples sector as the company missed on earnings, guided lower and lost a key executive. We subsequently sold the stock, as our thesis of an immediate recovery proved to be too optimistic and we lacked conviction that management has the ability to execute the turnaround plan. In industrials, we saw WageWorks, Ritchie Brothers and Westinghouse Air Brake each lag a strong group and offset good stock selection elsewhere in the sector. Westinghouse Air Brake and Ritchie Brothers were each digesting large acquisitions this past year, which we think led to a temporary setback in earnings growth. We continue to own these stocks in the Fund.

Regardless of whether you are Kim Kardashian or any other normal equity investor, you have read all the headlines about record highs in the various indices, extended valuations and elongated market upcycles. A rational investor would ask whether the future holds potential for more risk than reward, as over the last five years small/mid caps have compounded at a 14.3% annual rate and the S&P 500 Index was up over 15.7% annualized. However, we would point out the strength of the current macroeconomic cycle, which is visible in the employment data, industrial production, consumer spending and the various Institute for Supply Management (ISM) survey data. In addition, we are about to pile on tax cuts and further business optimism resulting from lower taxes and deregulation. Two factors are likely to sustain the cycle even further: 1) the cycle thus far has been a very slow and much doubted climb off the 2009 bottom, and 2) many facets of the economy have yet to be touched by the recovery. In fact, if wage growth and tax cuts occur simultaneously, we could see it self-reinforce in 2018 and into 2019. We believe the most prudent expectation is for corporate earnings growth in the mid-teens and equity returns in the high single digits for 2018—which, of course, means this will decidedly NOT be the outcome. Risks remain both to the upside and downside. In our opinion, the greatest risk to the downside comes from complacency and the firmly held consensus view that the economy is accelerating and inflation and interest rates will remain in check. The rate increases the Fed has executed and plans to execute could have an unforeseen impact on the capital

 

 

 

 

32


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

 

 

markets. Yet upside risks are perhaps more likely as an accelerating economy combines with tax cuts and improving growth prospects outside the U.S. If Kayne wants to give us some gift wrapped stock certificates at Christmas next year, we will be very grateful and be sure to send a thank you note.

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, GW&K Investment Management, LLC as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject

to change without notice.

 

 

 

 

33


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class I shares on December 31, 2007, to a $10,000 investment made in the Russell 2500® Index and the Russell 2000® Growth Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund and the Russell 2500® Index and Russell 2000® Growth Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

Average Annual Total Returns1    One
Year
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

      

Class N

     —         9.17     02/24/17  

Class I

     15.44     5.07     06/30/15  

Class Z

     —         9.34     02/24/17  

Russell 2500® Index8

     16.81     10.10     06/30/15  

Russell 2000® Growth Index9

     22.17     8.74     06/30/15  

 

 

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects the inception date of the Fund, not the index
1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain
  distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).
2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.
3  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in small-capitalization companies, such as erratic earnings patterns, competitive conditions, limited earnings history, and a reliance on one or a limited number of products.
4  The Fund invests in growth stocks, which may be more sensitive to market movements because their prices tend to reflect future investor expectations rather than just current profits.
5  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in mid-capitalization companies such as greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than the stocks of larger, more established companies.
6  The Fund invests in value stocks, which may perform differently from the market as a whole and may be undervalued by the market for a long period of time.
7  Effective February 27, 2017, The Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies changed from a small cap growth investment strategy to one that primarily invests in common stock and preferred stock of U.S. small- and Mid- capitalization companies with either growth- or value- oriented characteristics.
8  The Russell 2500™ Index is composed of the 2500 smallest stocks in the Russell 3000® Index and is widely regarded in the industry as the premier measure of small/mid cap stock performance.
9  The Russell 2000® Growth Index measures the performance of the Russell 2,000 companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. Unlike the Fund, the Russell 2000® Growth Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

The Russell Indices are trademarks of the London Stock Exchange Group companies.

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

34


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

     % of  

Sector

   Net Assets  

Information Technology

     18.3  

Industrials

     15.7  

Financials

     15.3  

Consumer Discretionary

     11.9  

Health Care

     11.2  

Real Estate

     8.3  

Materials

     4.8  

Energy

     3.2  

Utilities

     2.0  

Consumer Staples

     1.3  

Short-Term Investments*

     11.5  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (3.5

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.
** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

 

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

     % of  

Security Name

   Net Assets  

MarketAxess Holdings, Inc.

     2.5  

SVB Financial Group

     2.3  

RPM International, Inc.

     2.1  

Gartner, Inc.

     2.0  

Zebra Technologies Corp., Class A

     1.8  

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

     1.8  

CoStar Group, Inc.

     1.8  

Tyler Technologies, Inc.

     1.6  

Cognex Corp.

     1.6  

Exponent, Inc.

     1.6  
  

 

 

 

Top Ten as a Group

     19.1  
  

 

 

 
 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 

 

35


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 92.0%

     

Consumer Discretionary - 11.9%

 

  

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc.

     6,240      $ 227,136  

Burlington Stores, Inc.*

     4,062        499,748  

Carter’s, Inc.

     2,918        342,836  

Cavco Industries, Inc.*

     2,403        366,698  

Dorman Products, Inc.*

     5,524        337,737  

Five Below, Inc.*

     5,175        343,206  

Horizon Global Corp.*,1

     10,023        140,522  

Lithia Motors, Inc., Class A1

     3,003        341,111  

The Michaels Cos, Inc.*

     11,820        285,926  

Polaris Industries, Inc.1

     3,063        379,781  

Pool Corp.

     1,920        248,928  

Tupperware Brands Corp.

     3,088        193,618  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        3,707,247  

Consumer Staples - 1.3%

     

PriceSmart, Inc.

     4,823        415,260  

Energy - 3.2%

     

Callon Petroleum Co.*,1

     28,440        345,546  

Dril-Quip, Inc.*,1

     2,400        114,480  

Matador Resources Co.*

     10,242        318,834  

QEP Resources, Inc.*

     12,325        117,950  

Superior Energy Services, Inc.*

     10,715        103,185  

Total Energy

        999,995  

Financials - 15.3%

     

Artisan Partners Asset Management, Inc., Class A

     5,190        205,005  

BankUnited, Inc.

     8,005        325,964  

Glacier Bancorp, Inc.

     7,553        297,513  

James River Group Holdings, Ltd. (Bermuda)

     8,005        320,280  

MarketAxess Holdings, Inc.

     3,835        773,711  

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc.

     4,286        284,162  

ProAssurance Corp.

     6,175        352,901  

Signature Bank*

     3,382        464,213  

SVB Financial Group*

     3,126        730,765  

Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc.*

     3,769        335,064  

Webster Financial Corp.

     6,415        360,266  

Western Alliance Bancorp*

     5,624        318,431  

Total Financials

        4,768,275  

Health Care - 11.2%

     

Acadia Healthcare Co., Inc.*,1

     6,595        215,195  

Align Technology, Inc.*

     1,126        250,186  

Alkermes PLC (Ireland)*

     5,425        296,910  

Catalent, Inc.*

     10,555        433,599  
     Shares      Value  

ICU Medical, Inc.*

     2,166      $ 467,856  

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc.*

     1,754        274,291  

Impax Laboratories, Inc.*

     9,901        164,852  

K2M Group Holdings, Inc.*,1

     8,660        155,880  

Premier, Inc., Class A*

     8,085        236,001  

STERIS PLC (United Kingdom)

     5,240        458,343  

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

     5,638        556,301  

Total Health Care

        3,509,414  

Industrials - 15.7%

     

Exponent, Inc.

     7,108        505,379  

Gardner Denver Holdings, Inc.*

     14,354        487,031  

Graco, Inc.

     7,417        335,397  

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.

     3,769        345,165  

The Middleby Corp.*,1

     2,278        307,416  

Nordson Corp.

     2,892        423,389  

RBC Bearings, Inc.*

     3,915        494,856  

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Inc. (Canada)1

     10,720        320,850  

Schneider National, Inc., Class B1

     12,727        363,483  

The Toro Co.

     7,361        480,158  

Wabtec Corp. 1

     5,291        430,846  

WageWorks, Inc.*

     6,601        409,262  

Total Industrials

        4,903,232  

Information Technology - 18.3%

     

ANSYS, Inc.*

     2,318        342,114  

Blackbaud, Inc.

     3,849        363,692  

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp.

     11,385        434,110  

Cognex Corp.

     8,316        508,607  

CoStar Group, Inc.*

     1,831        543,715  

Gartner, Inc.*

     5,165        636,070  

LogMeIn, Inc.

     3,818        437,161  

Power Integrations, Inc.

     3,608        265,368  

Silicon Laboratories, Inc.*

     3,658        323,001  

SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc.

     10,640        430,707  

Tyler Technologies, Inc.*

     2,877        509,373  

The Ultimate Software Group, Inc.*

     1,658        361,825  

Zebra Technologies Corp., Class A*

     5,437        564,361  

Total Information Technology

        5,720,104  

Materials - 4.8%

     

AptarGroup, Inc.

     2,505        216,131  

Eagle Materials, Inc.

     2,893        327,777  

Quaker Chemical Corp.

     2,071        312,286  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

36


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

     Shares      Value  

Materials - 4.8% (continued)

     

RPM International, Inc.

     12,275      $ 643,456  

Total Materials

        1,499,650  

Real Estate - 8.3%

     

American Campus Communities, Inc., REIT 1

     11,920        489,078  

CoreSite Realty Corp., REIT

     3,114        354,685  

Easterly Government Properties, Inc., REIT

     15,435        329,383  

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc., REIT

     2,846        286,194  

Physicians Realty Trust, REIT

     20,260        364,477  

Summit Hotel Properties, Inc., REIT

     24,450        372,373  

Sun Communities, Inc., REIT

     4,369        405,356  

Total Real Estate

        2,601,546  

Utilities - 2.0%

     

OGE Energy Corp.

     8,720        286,975  

Portland General Electric Co.

     7,495        341,622  

Total Utilities

        628,597  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $26,963,011)

        28,753,320  
     Principal
Amount
        

Short-Term Investments - 11.5%

     

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 5.5%2

 

  

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.410% total to be received $1,000,157 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 8.500%, 01/31/18 - 06/20/63, totaling $1,020,000)

   $ 1,000,000        1,000,000  
     Principal
Amount
     Value  

Daiwa Capital Markets America, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.430% total to be received $726,963 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 6.500%, 01/11/18 - 12/01/51, totaling $741,385)

   $ 726,848      $ 726,848  

Total Joint Repurchase Agreements

        1,726,848  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 6.0%

 

  

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.18%3

     1,882,670        1,882,670  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $3,609,518)

        3,609,518  

Total Investments - 103.5%
(Cost $30,572,529)

        32,362,838  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (3.5)%

        (1,106,665

Net Assets - 100.0%

      $ 31,256,173  
 

 

*  Non-income producing security.
1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $1,681,424 or 5.4% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.
2  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
3  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

REIT    Real Estate Investment Trust

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

37


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

   $ 28,753,320        —          —        $ 28,753,320  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

     —        $ 1,726,848        —          1,726,848  

Other Investment Companies

     1,882,670        —          —          1,882,670  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 30,635,990      $ 1,726,848        —        $ 32,362,838  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  All common stocks held in the Fund are Level 1 securities. For a detailed breakout of common stocks by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

38


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

     AMG GW&K
Enhanced
Core Bond
Fund#
     AMG GW&K
Municipal Bond
Fund#
     AMG GW&K
Municipal
Enhanced Yield
Fund#
     AMG GW&K
Small Cap Core
Fund#
     AMG GW&K
Small/Mid
Cap Fund#
 

Assets:

              

Investments at Value* (including securities on loan valued at $739,043, $0, $0, $25,730,349, and $1,681,424, respectively)

   $ 49,089,402      $ 1,059,418,697      $ 232,303,005      $ 561,210,653      $ 32,362,838  

Receivable for investments sold

     —          —          1,395,030        —          —    

Dividend, interest and other receivables

     453,787        12,694,603        2,453,310        987,791        43,892  

Receivable for Fund shares sold

     200,771        5,933,718        670,904        1,613,564        1,328,852  

Receivable from affiliate

     10,266        81,072        18,669        5,147        8,552  

Prepaid expenses

     27,232        24,034        24,153        29,307        16,171  

Total assets

     49,781,458        1,078,152,124        236,865,071        563,846,462        33,760,305  

Liabilities:

              

Payable upon return of securities loaned

     759,122        —          —          26,435,287        1,726,848  

Payable for investments purchased

     —          40,386        899,978        —          641,317  

Payable for Fund shares repurchased

     179,047        2,645,843        174,585        534,804        75,000  

Accrued expenses:

              

Investment advisory and management fees

     12,304        188,330        89,722        321,887        15,213  

Administrative fees

     6,152        135,674        29,907        68,976        3,511  

Distribution fees

     7,294        6,170        1,907        5,291        2  

Shareholder service fees

     953        47,754        20,112        39,071        1,972  

Professional fees

     48,927        62,326        42,415        40,303        31,018  

Trustee fees and expenses

     519        11,186        2,473        5,694        267  

Other

     43,464        102,748        30,113        50,207        8,984  

Total liabilities

     1,057,782        3,240,417        1,291,212        27,501,520        2,504,132  

Net Assets

   $ 48,723,676      $ 1,074,911,707      $ 235,573,859      $ 536,344,942      $ 31,256,173  

*     Investments at cost

   $ 48,855,680      $ 1,053,092,869      $ 224,346,250      $ 427,115,848      $ 30,572,529  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

39


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (continued)

 

 

 

    

AMG GW&K

Enhanced
Core Bond
Fund#

   

AMG GW&K

Municipal Bond
Fund#

    

AMG GW&K

Municipal
Enhanced Yield
Fund#

   

AMG GW&K

Small Cap Core
Fund#

    

AMG GW&K

Small/Mid
Cap Fund#

 

Net Assets Represent:

            

Paid-in capital

   $ 52,818,368     $ 1,068,275,232      $ 228,137,519     $ 391,250,428      $ 29,495,290  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss) from investments

     (4,328,414     310,647        (520,415     10,999,709        (29,426

Net unrealized appreciation on investments

     233,722       6,325,828        7,956,755       134,094,805        1,790,309  

Net Assets

   $ 48,723,676     $ 1,074,911,707      $ 235,573,859     $ 536,344,942      $ 31,256,173  

Class N:

            

Net Assets

   $ 16,027,453     $ 29,512,967      $ 8,827,761     $ 24,988,623      $ 10,920  

Shares outstanding

     1,633,138       2,544,777        881,350       891,057        979  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

   $ 9.81     $ 11.60      $ 10.02     $ 28.04      $ 11.15  

Class I:

            

Net Assets

   $ 6,864,480     $ 1,045,398,740      $ 226,637,907     $ 403,309,101      $ 24,265,613  

Shares outstanding

     696,851       89,669,335        22,645,980       14,193,364        2,176,569  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

   $ 9.85     $ 11.66      $ 10.01     $ 28.42      $ 11.15  

Class C:

            

Net assets per class

   $ 4,560,822       —          —         —          —    

Shares outstanding

     465,034       —          —         —          —    

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

   $ 9.81       —          —         —          —    

Class Z:

            

Net Assets

   $ 21,270,921       —        $ 108,191     $ 108,047,218      $ 6,979,640  

Shares outstanding

     2,160,919       —          10,810       3,801,611        625,800  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

   $ 9.84       —        $ 10.01     $ 28.42      $ 11.15  

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, the Funds’ share classes were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

40


Table of Contents

Statement of Operations

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

 

 

 

     AMG GW&K
Enhanced Core
Bond Fund#
    AMG GW&K
Municipal
Bond Fund
    AMG GW&K
Municipal
Enhanced
Yield Fund
    AMG GW&K
Small Cap
Core Fund
    AMG GW&K
Small/Mid
Cap Fund
 

Investment Income:

          

Interest income

   $ 1,894,053     $ 20,145,744     $ 8,388,736     $ 414       —    

Dividend income

     7,832       172,027       57,180       5,665,492 1     $ 153,066 2  

Securities lending income

     1,655       —         —         152,797       2,872  

Foreign withholding tax

     —         —         —         (24,350     (510

Total investment income

     1,903,540       20,317,771       8,445,916       5,794,353       155,428  

Expenses:

          

Investment advisory and management fees

     215,219       2,102,015       1,047,912       3,467,084       84,418  

Administrative fees

     97,134       1,510,886       343,518       735,672       19,393  

Distribution fees - Class N

     40,593       81,542       21,323       78,257       22  

Distribution fees - Class C

     59,207       —         —         —         —    

Shareholder servicing fees - Class N

     —         39,211       14,153       49,235       —    

Shareholder servicing fees - Class S##

     —         121,098       6,293       12,807       —    

Shareholder servicing fees - Class I

     19,656       387,765       89,662       184,662       8,378  

Professional fees

     53,474       122,074       58,599       70,692       37,320  

Registration fees

     70,972       108,079       77,141       81,773       39,781  

Transfer agent fees

     22,524       42,493       12,205       21,863       522  

Custodian fees

     18,262       77,770       22,242       34,215       13,458  

Reports to shareholders

     23,239       72,650       15,850       45,202       —    

Trustee fees and expenses

     5,484       67,636       15,623       30,337       694  

Miscellaneous

     7,968       24,429       7,725       11,732       202  

Repayment of prior reimbursements

     —         —         —         1,317       —    

Total expenses before offsets

     633,732       4,757,648       1,732,246       4,824,848       204,188  

Expense reimbursements

     (185,809     (703,359     (232,286     (51,380     (85,512

Expense reductions

     —         —         —         (24,071     (14

Fee waivers

     —         (77,768     —         —         —    

Net expenses

     447,923       3,976,521       1,499,960       4,749,397       118,662  

Net investment income

     1,455,617       16,341,250       6,945,956       1,044,956       36,766  

Net Realized and Unrealized Gain:

          

Net realized gain on investments

     261,715       2,781,551       1,907,278       39,398,970       416,050  

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     1,012,966       27,347,353       12,463,029       52,180,026       1,558,779  

Net realized and unrealized gain

     1,274,681       30,128,904       14,370,307       91,578,996       1,974,829  

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

   $ 2,730,298     $ 46,470,154     $ 21,316,263     $ 92,623,952     $ 2,011,595  

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, the Funds’ share classes were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to Financial Statements.
##  Effective June 23, 2017, Class S shares were converted into Class I Shares.
1  Includes non-recurring dividends of $1,076,397.
2  Includes non-recurring dividends of $32,003.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

41


Table of Contents

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

For the fiscal years ended December 31

 

 

 

     AMG
GW&K Enhanced
Core Bond Fund
    AMG
GW&K Municipal
Bond Fund
 
     2017#     2016#     2017#     2016#  

Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Resulting From Operations:

        

Net investment income

   $ 1,455,617     $ 2,792,209     $ 16,341,250     $ 13,478,865  

Net realized gain on investments

     261,715       837,864       2,781,551       11,765,887  

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     1,012,966       (777,068     27,347,353       (37,153,635

Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations

     2,730,298       2,853,005       46,470,154       (11,908,883

Distributions to Shareholders:

        

From net investment income:

        

Class N

     (365,057     (414,745     (424,272     (337,669

Class S##

     —         (777,513     (1,030,308     (2,154,034

Class I

     (449,908     (1,453,169     (14,934,133     (11,028,510

Class C

     (86,218     (137,712     —         —    

Class Z

     (563,837     —         —         —    

From net realized gain on investments:

        

Class N

     —         —         (28,908     (579,320

Class S##

     —         —         —         (3,103,417

Class I

     —         —         (1,027,689     (13,370,506

Total distributions to shareholders

     (1,465,020     (2,783,139     (17,445,310     (30,573,456

Capital Share Transactions:1

        

Net increase (decrease) from capital share transactions

     (65,807,448     27,097,678       122,965,822       153,597,847  

Total increase (decrease) in net assets

     (64,542,170     27,167,544       151,990,666       111,115,508  

Net Assets:

        

Beginning of year

     113,265,846       86,098,302       922,921,041       811,805,533  

End of year

   $ 48,723,676     $ 113,265,846     $ 1,074,911,707     $ 922,921,041  

End of year undistributed net investment income

     —       $ 9,070       —         —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, and February 27, 2017 the Funds’ share classes were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
##  Effective June 23, 2017, Class S shares were converted into Class I Shares.
1  See Note 1(g) of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

42


Table of Contents

Statements of Changes in Net Assets (continued)

For the fiscal years ended December 31,

 

 

 

     AMG
GW&K Municipal
Enhanced Yield Fund
    AMG
GW&K Small
Cap Core Fund
    AMG
GW&K Small/Mid
Cap Fund
 
     2017#     2016#     2017#     2016#     2017#     2016#  

Increase in Net Assets Resulting From Operations:

            

Net investment income (loss)

   $ 6,945,956     $ 7,155,225     $ 1,044,956     $ 1,422,759     $ 36,766     $ (6,439

Net realized gain (loss) on investments

     1,907,278       6,721,972       39,398,970       14,201,155       416,050       (28,503

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     12,463,029       (13,050,976     52,180,026       49,509,033       1,558,779       252,237  

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

     21,316,263       826,221       92,623,952       65,132,947       2,011,595       217,295  

Distributions to Shareholders:

            

From net investment income:

            

Class N

     (234,480     (141,532     —         —         —         —    

Class S##

     (193,559     (483,507     —         (32,695     —         —    

Class I

     (6,539,305     (6,534,101     (817,532     (1,399,673     (26,217     (1,135

Class Z

     (2,693     —         (263,165     —         (10,595     —    

From net realized gain on investments:

            

Class N

     —         (189,462     (1,290,786     (1,490,651     (144     —    

Class S##

     —         (751,847     —         (721,953     —         —    

Class I

     —         (9,105,322     (20,845,694     (15,063,218     (294,502     —    

Class Z

     —         —         (5,500,223     —         (92,029     —    

Total distributions to shareholders

     (6,970,037     (17,205,771     (28,717,400     (18,708,190     (423,487     (1,135

Capital Share Transactions:1

            

Net increase (decrease) from capital share transactions

     5,434,557       (1,420,098     51,017,083       185,281       27,436,973       841,781  

Total increase (decrease) in net assets

     19,780,783       (17,799,648     114,923,635       46,610,038       29,025,081       1,057,941  

Net Assets:

            

Beginning of year

     215,793,076       233,592,724       421,421,307       374,811,269       2,231,092       1,173,151  

End of year

   $ 235,573,859     $ 215,793,076     $ 536,344,942     $ 421,421,307     $ 31,256,173     $ 2,231,092  

End of year undistributed net investment income

     —         —         —         —         —         —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, and February 27, 2017 the Funds’ share classes were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
##  Effective June 23, 2017, Class S shares were converted into Class I Shares.
1  See Note 1(g) of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

43


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class N    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 9.67     $ 9.58     $ 10.22     $ 9.96     $ 11.24  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.21       0.22       0.29       0.29       0.24  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.15       0.09       (0.64     0.26       (0.21

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.36       0.31       (0.35     0.55       0.03  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.22     (0.22     (0.29     (0.29     (0.26

Net realized gain on investments

     —         —         —         —         (1.05

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.22     (0.22     (0.29     (0.29     (1.31

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 9.81     $ 9.67     $ 9.58     $ 10.22     $ 9.96  

Total Return2

     3.76 %3       3.26     (3.51 )%      5.58 %3       0.29 %3  

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.75     0.84     0.84     0.84     0.86 %4  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     1.04     1.05     1.07     1.09     1.08 %4  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     2.19     2.27     2.87     2.82     2.14 %4  

Portfolio turnover

     39     88     57     22     43

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 16,027     $ 16,115     $ 20,203     $ 27,444     $ 32,009  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

44


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class I    2017##     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 9.70     $ 9.62     $ 10.26     $ 9.99     $ 11.28  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.23       0.24       0.30       0.31       0.26  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.16       0.08       (0.63     0.27       (0.22

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.39       0.32       (0.33     0.58       0.04  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.24     (0.24     (0.31     (0.31     (0.28

Net realized gain on investments

     —         —         —         —         (1.05

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.24     (0.24     (0.31     (0.31     (1.33

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 9.85     $ 9.70     $ 9.62     $ 10.26     $ 9.99  

Total Return2,3

     4.03     3.31     (3.30 )%      5.84     0.41

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.61     0.69     0.67     0.65     0.69 %4 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     0.90     0.90     0.90     0.90     0.91 %4 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     2.32     2.39     2.96     3.00     2.31 %4 

Portfolio turnover

     39     88     57     22     43

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 6,864     $ 37,952     $ 7,463     $ 2,480     $ 1,563  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

45


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class C    2017     2016     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 9.66     $ 9.57     $ 10.20     $ 9.94     $ 11.22  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.14       0.15       0.21       0.21       0.15  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.16       0.08       (0.63     0.26       (0.20

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.30       0.23       (0.42     0.47       (0.05

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.15     (0.14     (0.21     (0.21     (0.18

Net realized gain on investments

     —         —         —         —         (1.05

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.15     (0.14     (0.21     (0.21     (1.23

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 9.81     $ 9.66     $ 9.57     $ 10.20     $ 9.94  

Total Return2

     3.08 %3      2.40 %3      (4.15 )%      4.79 %3       (0.50 )% 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     1.50     1.59     1.59     1.59     1.61 %4  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     1.79     1.80     1.82     1.84     1.83 %4  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     1.43     1.53     2.12     2.07     1.38 %4  

Portfolio turnover

     39     88     57     22     43

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 4,561     $ 7,842     $ 11,031     $ 15,927     $ 20,793  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

46


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class Z    2017##     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 9.70     $ 9.61     $ 10.25     $ 9.99     $ 11.28  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.24       0.25       0.31       0.31       0.27  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.15       0.09       (0.63     0.27       (0.22

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.39       0.34       (0.32     0.58       0.05  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.25     (0.25     (0.32     (0.32     (0.29

Net realized gain on investments

     —         —         —         —         (1.05

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.25     (0.25     (0.32     (0.32     (1.34

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 9.84     $ 9.70     $ 9.61     $ 10.25     $ 9.99  

Total Return2

     4.01 %3       3.52     (3.15 )%3      5.85 %3       0.46 %3  

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.50     0.59     0.59     0.59     0.61 %4  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     0.79     0.80     0.82     0.84     0.83 %4  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     2.43     2.51     3.10     3.05     2.39 %4  

Portfolio turnover

     39     88     57     22     43

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 21,271     $ 51,357     $ 47,402     $ 41,968     $ 59,182  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, the Investor Class, Service Class and Institutional Class were renamed Class N, Class S and Class I, respectively.
##  Effective February 27, 2017, Class I shares were renamed Class Z and Class S shares were renamed Class I.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
4  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.021%, 0.016%, 0.021% and 0.020% of average net assets for the Class N, Class I, Class C and Class Z, respectively.
5  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 

 

47


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class N    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 11.25     $ 11.70     $ 11.61     $ 11.02     $ 11.52  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.15       0.13       0.15       0.18       0.18  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.36       (0.25     0.24       0.63       (0.47

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.51       (0.12     0.39       0.81       (0.29

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.15     (0.12     (0.15     (0.18     (0.17

Net realized gain on investments

     (0.01     (0.21     (0.15     (0.04     (0.04

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.16     (0.33     (0.30     (0.22     (0.21

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 11.60     $ 11.25     $ 11.70     $ 11.61     $ 11.02  

Total Return2

     4.58 %3       (1.05 )%3      3.36 %3       7.39 %3       (2.51 )% 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.71     0.71     0.82     0.80     0.81 %4  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     0.78     0.95     1.13     1.12     1.17 %4  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     1.31     1.08     1.28     1.55     1.56 %4  

Portfolio turnover

     27     66     78     31     28

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 29,513     $ 31,406     $ 27,362     $ 23,572     $ 28,655  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

48


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class I    2017##     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 11.31     $ 11.77     $ 11.67     $ 11.08     $ 11.58  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.19       0.17       0.21       0.23       0.23  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.36       (0.25     0.24       0.63       (0.47

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.55       (0.08     0.45       0.86       (0.24

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.19     (0.17     (0.20     (0.23     (0.22

Net realized gain on investments

     (0.01     (0.21     (0.15     (0.04     (0.04

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.20     (0.38     (0.35     (0.27     (0.26

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 11.66     $ 11.31     $ 11.77     $ 11.67     $ 11.08  

Total Return2,3

     4.90     (0.70 )%      3.94     7.80     (2.02 )% 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.37     0.34     0.34     0.34     0.36 %4  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     0.45     0.58     0.65     0.66     0.72 %4  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     1.64     1.45     1.76     2.00     2.01 %4  

Portfolio turnover

     27     66     78     31     28

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 1,045,399     $ 728,365     $ 655,760     $ 393,581     $ 204,711  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, the Investor Class, Service Class and Institutional Class were renamed Class N, Class S and Class I, respectively.
##  Effective June 23, 2017, Class S shares were converted to Class I shares.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
4  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.021% and 0.020% of average net assets for the Class N and Class I, respectively.
5  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 

 

49


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class N    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 9.40     $ 10.08     $ 10.16     $ 8.98     $ 10.24  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.26       0.25       0.30       0.34       0.35  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.62       (0.23     0.05       1.18       (1.18

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.88       0.02       0.35       1.52       (0.83

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.26     (0.25     (0.30     (0.34     (0.36

Net realized gain on investments

     —         (0.45     (0.13     —         (0.07

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.26     (0.70     (0.43     (0.34     (0.43

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 10.02     $ 9.40     $ 10.08     $ 10.16     $ 8.98  

Total Return2

     9.51 %3      0.10 %3      3.57 %3      17.14 %3      (8.27 )% 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     1.01     1.14     1.07     1.00     1.12 %4 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     1.11     1.30     1.25     1.19     1.30 %4 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     2.67     2.38     2.98     3.46     3.58 %4 

Portfolio turnover

     67     172     120     83     52

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 8,828     $ 4,184     $ 5,500     $ 8,507     $ 8,030  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

50


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class I    2017##     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 9.40     $ 10.07     $ 10.14     $ 8.97     $ 10.22  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.30       0.30       0.34       0.37       0.39  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     0.61       (0.22     0.07       1.17       (1.17

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     0.91       0.08       0.41       1.54       (0.78

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.30     (0.30     (0.35     (0.37     (0.40

Net realized gain on investments

     —         (0.45     (0.13     —         (0.07

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.30     (0.75     (0.48     (0.37     (0.47

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 10.01     $ 9.40     $ 10.07     $ 10.14     $ 8.97  

Total Return2,3

     9.79     0.70     4.15     17.45     (7.80 )% 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.64     0.64     0.64     0.64     0.66 %4  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     0.74     0.80     0.82     0.83     0.84 %4  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     3.05     2.89     3.42     3.83     4.08 %4  

Portfolio turnover

     67     172     120     83     52

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 226,638     $ 195,193     $ 212,057     $ 226,284     $ 201,161  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

51


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal period ended
December 31,
 
Class Z    2017*  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 9.49  

Income from Investment Operations:

  

Net investment income1,2

     0.25  

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

     0.52  

Total income from investment operations

     0.77  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

  

Net investment income

     (0.25

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.25

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 10.01  

Total Return2

     8.23 %3,6 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.59 %7 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     0.69 %7 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     3.07 %7 

Portfolio turnover

     67

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 108  
  

 

 

 

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, the Investor Class, Service Class and Institutional Class were renamed Class N, Class S and Class I, respectively.
##  Effective June 23, 2017, Class S shares were converted to Class I shares.
*  Commencement of operations was on February 27, 2017.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
4  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.024% and 0.023% of average net assets for the Class N and Class l, respectively.
5  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)
6 Not annualized.
7  Annualized.

 

 

 

52


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class N    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 24.57     $ 21.80     $ 23.39     $ 24.34     $ 17.72  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income (loss)1,2

     (0.06 )3       0.00 4,5       (0.06 )6       (0.07 )7       (0.07 )8  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     5.06       3.81       (0.64     0.46       7.56  

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     5.00       3.81       (0.70     0.39       7.49  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net realized gain on investments

     (1.53     (1.04     (0.89     (1.34     (0.87

Total distributions to shareholders

     (1.53     (1.04     (0.89     (1.34     (0.87

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 28.04     $ 24.57     $ 21.80     $ 23.39     $ 24.34  

Total Return2,9

     20.32     17.44     (3.02 )%      1.53     42.26

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets10

     1.32     1.33     1.35     1.42     1.37 %11 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets12

     1.33     1.42     1.46     1.53     1.50 %11 

Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets2

     (0.21 )%      0.01     (0.24 )%      (0.28 )%      (0.32 )%11 

Portfolio turnover

     23     19     16     26     19

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 24,989     $ 35,760     $ 35,691     $ 37,995     $ 69,992  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

53


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class I    2017##     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 24.84     $ 22.04     $ 23.61     $ 24.49     $ 17.76  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.07 3       0.10 5       0.04 6       0.07 7       0.02 8  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     5.10       3.86       (0.65     0.44       7.58  

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     5.17       3.96       (0.61     0.51       7.60  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.06     (0.10     (0.05     (0.04     —    

Net realized gain on investments

     (1.53     (1.06     (0.91     (1.35     (0.87

Total distributions to shareholders

     (1.59     (1.16     (0.96     (1.39     (0.87

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 28.42     $ 24.84     $ 22.04     $ 23.61     $ 24.49  

Total Return2

     20.79 %9       17.90 %9       (2.63 )%9       2.04 %9       42.81

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets10

     0.95     0.94     0.95     0.95     0.97 %11  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets12

     0.96     1.03     1.06     1.07     1.10 %11  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.24     0.43     0.17     0.30     0.07 %11  

Portfolio turnover

     23     19     16     26     19

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 403,309     $ 367,972     $ 302,381     $ 291,301     $ 168,854  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

54


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal period ended December 31,  
Class Z    2017*  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 26.13  

Income from Investment Operations:

  

Net investment income1,2

     0.14 3  

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

     3.75  

Total income from investment operations

     3.89  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

  

Net investment income

     (0.07

Net realized gain on investments

     (1.53

Total distributions to shareholders

     (1.60

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 28.42  

Total Return2,9

     14.87 %13 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets10

     0.90 %14  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets12

     0.91 %14  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.56 %14  

Portfolio turnover

     23

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 108,047  
  

 

 

 

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, the Investor Class, Service Class and Institutional Class were renamed Class N, Class S and Class I, respectively.
##  Effective June 23, 2017, Class S shares were converted to Class I shares.
* Commencement of operations was on February 27, 2017.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per class would have been $(0.12), $0.01, and $0.09 for Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
4  Rounds to less than $0.01 per share.
5  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per share would have been $(0.06) and $0.04 for the Class N, and Class l, respectively.
6  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per share would have been $(0.05) and $0.05 for the Class N, and Class l, respectively.
7  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per share would have been $(0.11) and $0.03 for Class N, and Class l shares, respectively.
8  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per share would have been $(0.09) and $0.00 for the Class N, and Class l respectively.
9  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
10  Includes reduction from broker recapture amounting to less than 0.01% for fiscal year ended 2017.
11  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.015% and 0.018% of average net assets for the Class N and Class I, respectively.
12  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)
13  Not annualized.
14  Annualized.

 

 

 

55


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal period ended  
Class N    December 31, 2017*  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 10.35  

Income from Investment Operations:

  

Net investment income1,2

     0.01 3  

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

     0.94  

Total income from investment operations

     0.95  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

  

Net realized gain on investments

     (0.15

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.15

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 11.15  

Total Return2,4

     9.17 %5 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets6

     1.10 %7 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets8

     1.71 %7 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.12 %7 

Portfolio turnover

     38

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 11  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

56


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal years ended
December 31,
    For the fiscal period ended
December 31, 2015**
 
Class I    2017     2016#    

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 9.80     $ 8.95     $ 10.00  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

      

Net investment income (loss)1,2

     0.03 3       (0.03     (0.02

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     1.48       0.89       (1.03

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     1.51       0.86       (1.05

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

      

Net investment income

     (0.01     (0.01     —    

Net realized gain on investments

     (0.15     —         —    

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.16     (0.01     —    

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 11.15     $ 9.80     $ 8.95  

Total Return2

     15.44% 4       9.55%       (10.50 )%4,5 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets6

     0.94%       0.95%       0.95% 7  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets8

     1.62%       4.60%       11.39% 7  

Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets2

     0.26%       (0.38 )%      (0.39 )%7 

Portfolio turnover

     38%       48%       41% 5  

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 24,266     $ 2     $ 1  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

57


Table of Contents

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

 

 

     For the fiscal period ended  
Class Z    December 31, 2017*  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

   $ 10.35  

Income from Investment Operations:

  

Net investment income1,2

     0.03 3  

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

     0.94  

Total income from investment operations

     0.97  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

  

Net investment income

     (0.02

Net realized gain on investments

     (0.15

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.17

Net Asset Value, End of Period

   $ 11.15  

Total Return2,4

     9.34 %5 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets6

     0.85 %7 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets8

     1.46 %7 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.37 %7 

Portfolio turnover

     38

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

   $ 6,980  
  

 

 

 

 

* Commencement of operations was on February 27, 2017.
#  Effective October 1, 2016, Institutional Class was renamed Class I.
** Commencement of operations was on June 30, 2015.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per class would have been $(0.01), $0.00, and $0.01 for Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
4  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
5  Not annualized.
6  Includes reduction from broker recapture amounting to less than 0.01% for fiscal year ended 2017.
7  Annualized.
8  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 

 

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Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

AMG Funds and AMG Funds II (the “Trusts”) are open-end management investment companies, organized as Massachusetts business trusts, and registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Currently, the Trusts consist of a number of different funds, each having distinct investment management objectives, strategies, risks, and policies. Included in this report are AMG Funds: AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund (“Municipal Bond”), AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund (“Municipal Enhanced”), AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund (“Small Cap Core”) and AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund (“Small/Mid Cap”) (formerly AMG GW&K Small Cap Growth Fund) and AMG Funds II: AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund (“Enhanced Core Bond”), each a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds.”

Each Fund offers different classes of shares, which, effective October 1, 2016 were renamed. Enhanced Core Bond, Municipal Bond, Municipal Enhanced and Small Cap Core previously offered Investor Class shares, Service Class shares, and Institutional Class shares which were renamed to Class N, Class S and Class I, respectively; Small/Mid Cap previously offered Institutional Class shares which were renamed Class I. Effective February 27, 2017, Enhanced Core Bond Class I shares were renamed Class Z and Class S shares were renamed Class I; Municipal Enhanced Yield and Small Cap Core added Class Z shares and Small/Mid Cap added Class N and Class Z shares. Effective June 23, 2017, Municipal Bond, Municipal Enhanced Yield and Small Cap Core Class S shares were converted to Class I shares. Additionally, Enhanced Core Bond offers Class C shares. Each class represents an interest in the same assets of the respective Fund. Although all share classes generally have identical voting rights, each share class votes separately when required by law. Different share classes may pay different distribution amounts to the extent the net asset value per share and/or the expenses of such share classes differ. Each share class has its own expense structure. Please refer to a current prospectus for additional information on each share class.

Effective February 27, 2017, the Small/Mid Cap Principal Investment Strategies changed from a small cap growth investment strategy to one that primarily invests in common stock and preferred stock of U.S. small- and mid-capitalization companies with either growth- or value- oriented characteristics.

Class C shares of Enhanced Core Bond were closed to all new investors and will no longer be available for purchase by existing shareholders. Shareholders who redeem Class C shares of the Fund will continue to be subject to the deferred sales charges described in the prospectus. Small Cap Core was closed to new investors. Please refer to Enhanced Core Bond’s and Small Cap Core’s current prospectus for additional information.

The Funds’ financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”), including accounting and reporting guidance pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 applicable to investment companies. U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates and such differences could be material. The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Funds in the preparation of their financial statements:

a. VALUATION OF INVESTMENTS

Equity securities traded on a national securities exchange or reported on the NASDAQ national market system (“NMS”) are valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, if applicable, the NASDAQ official closing price or the official closing price of the relevant exchange or, lacking any sales, at the last quoted bid price or the mean between the last quoted bid and ask prices (the “exchange mean price”). Equity securities traded in the over-the-counter market (other than NMS securities) are valued at the exchange mean price. Foreign equity securities (securities principally traded in markets other than U.S. markets) are valued at the official closing price on the primary exchange or, for markets that either do not offer an official closing price or where the official closing price may not be representative of the overall market, the last quoted sale price.

Fixed income securities purchased with a remaining maturity exceeding 60 days are valued at the evaluated bid price or the mean price provided by an authorized pricing service or, if an evaluated price is not available, by reference to other securities which are considered comparable in credit rating, interest rate, due date and other features (generally referred to as “matrix pricing”) or other similar pricing methodologies. Investments in certain mortgage-backed and stripped mortgage-backed securities, preferred stocks, convertible securities, derivatives and other debt securities not traded on an organized securities market are valued on the basis of valuations provided by dealers or by a pricing service which uses information with respect to transactions in such securities and various relationships between such securities and yield to maturity in determining value.

Fixed income securities purchased with a remaining maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost, provided that the amortized cost value is approximately the same as the fair value of the security valued without the use of amortized cost. Investments in other open-end regulated investment companies are valued at their end of day net asset value per share.

The Funds’ portfolio investments are generally valued based on independent market quotations or prices or, if none, “evaluative” or other market based valuations provided by third party pricing services approved by the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”). Under certain circumstances, the value of certain Fund portfolio investments may be based on an evaluation of fair value, pursuant to procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Board. The Valuation Committee, which is comprised of the Independent Trustees of the Board, and the Pricing Committee, which is comprised of representatives from AMG Funds LLC (the “Investment Manager”) are the committees appointed by the Board to make fair value determinations. Each Fund may use the fair value of a portfolio investment to calculate its net asset value (“NAV”) in the event that the market quotation, price or market based valuation for the portfolio investment is not readily available or otherwise not determinable pursuant to the Board’s valuation procedures, if the Investment Manager or the Pricing Committee believes the quotation, price or market based valuation to be unreliable, or in certain other circumstances. When determining the fair value of an investment, the Pricing Committee and, if required under the Trusts’ securities valuation procedures, the Valuation Committee, seeks to determine the price that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from current sale of that portfolio investment in an arms-length transaction. Fair value determinations shall be based upon consideration of all available facts and information, including, but not limited to (i) attributes specific to the investment; (ii) fundamental and analytical data relating to the investment; and (iii) the value of other comparable securities or relevant financial instruments, including derivative securities, traded on other markets or among dealers.

 

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

The values assigned to fair value portfolio investments are based on available information and do not necessarily represent amounts that might ultimately be realized in the future, since such amounts depend on future developments inherent in long-term investments. Because of the inherent uncertainty of valuation, those estimated values may differ significantly from the values that would have been used had a ready market for the investments existed, and the differences could be material. The Board will be presented with a quarterly report showing as of the most recent quarter end, all outstanding securities fair valued by the Fund, including a comparison with the prior quarter end and the percentage of the Fund that the security represents at each quarter end.

With respect to foreign equity securities and certain foreign fixed income securities, the Board has adopted a policy that securities held in a Fund that can be fair valued by the applicable fair value pricing service are fair valued on each business day provided that each individual price exceeds a pre-established confidence level.

U.S. GAAP defines fair value as the price that a fund would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. U.S. GAAP also establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and a three level hierarchy for fair value measurements based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability. Inputs may be observable or unobservable and refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Funds. Unobservable inputs reflect the Funds’ own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. Each investment is assigned a level based upon the observability of the inputs which are significant to the overall valuation.

The three-tier hierarchy of inputs is summarized below:

Level 1 – inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical investments (e.g., equity securities, open-end investment companies)

Level 2 – other observable inputs (including, but not limited to: quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in markets that are active, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets or liabilities (such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks and default rates) or other market corroborated inputs) (e.g., debt securities, government securities, foreign currency exchange contracts, foreign securities utilizing international fair value pricing, fair valued securities with observable inputs)

Level 3 – inputs are significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions used to determine the fair value of investments) (e.g., fair valued securities with unobservable inputs)

Changes in inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may result in a transfer in or out of levels within the fair value hierarchy. The inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may not necessarily be an indication of the risk associated with investing in those investments. Transfers between different levels of the fair value disclosure hierarchy are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.

b. SECURITY TRANSACTIONS

Security transactions are accounted for as of trade date. Realized gains and losses on securities sold are determined on the basis of identified cost.

c. INVESTMENT INCOME AND EXPENSES

Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date. Dividends from foreign securities are recorded on the ex-dividend date, and if after the fact, as soon as the Funds become aware of the ex-dividend date. Interest income, which includes amortization of premium and accretion of discount on debt securities, is accrued as earned. Dividend and interest income on foreign securities is recorded gross of any withholding tax. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are reported at the fair market value of the securities received. Upon notification from issuers, distributions received from a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) may be redesignated as a reduction of cost of investments and/or realized gain. Other income and expenses are recorded on an accrual basis. Expenses that cannot be directly attributed to a Fund are apportioned among the funds in the Trusts and other trusts within the AMG Funds family of mutual funds (collectively the “AMG Funds Family”) based upon their relative average net assets or number of shareholders. Investment income, realized and unrealized capital gains and losses, the common expenses of each Fund, and certain fund level expense reductions, if any, are allocated on a pro-rata basis to each class based on the relative net assets of each class to the total net assets of each Fund.

The following Funds had certain portfolio trades directed to various brokers under a brokerage recapture program. Credits received from the brokerage recapture program are earned and paid on a monthly basis, and are recorded as expense offsets, which serve to reduce the Funds’ overall expense ratio. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the impact on the expense ratios, if any, were as follows: Small Cap Core - $24,071 or less than 0.01% and Small/Mid Cap - $14 or less than 0.01%.

d. DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

Fund distributions resulting from either net investment income or realized net capital gains, if any, will normally be declared and paid at least annually in December. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Distributions are determined in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which may differ from net investment income and net realized capital gains for financial statement purposes (U.S. GAAP). Differences may be permanent or temporary. Permanent differences are reclassified among capital accounts in the financial statements to reflect their tax character. Permanent book and tax basis differences, if any, relating to shareholder distributions will result in reclassifications to paid-in capital. Temporary differences arise when certain items of income, expense and gain or loss are recognized in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes; these differences will reverse at some time in the future. Permanent differences are primarily due to current year redesignation of dividends paid by the fund. Temporary differences are primarily due to differences between book and tax treatment of losses for excise tax purposes and wash sales.

 

 

 

 

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Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 were as follows:

 

     Enhanced Core Bond      Municipal Bond*      Municipal Enhanced**  
Distributions paid from:    2017      2016      2017      2016      2017      2016  

Ordinary income

   $ 1,465,020      $ 2,783,139      $ 16,341,250      $ 13,518,971      $ 6,970,037      $ 7,158,615  

Short-term capital gains

     —          —          —          10,894,944        —          5,596,273  

Long-term capital gains

     —          —          1,104,060        6,159,541        —          4,450,883  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
   $ 1,465,020      $ 2,783,139      $ 17,445,310      $ 30,573,456      $ 6,970,037      $ 17,205,771  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

* The ordinary income distributions paid by Municipal Bond which were tax-exempt for the periods 2017 and 2016 were $16,185,749 and $13,518,971, respectively.
** The ordinary income distributions paid by Municipal Enhanced which were tax-exempt for the periods 2017 and 2016 were $6,915,538 and $7,153,068, respectively.

 

     Small Cap Core      Small/Mid Cap  
Distributions paid from:    2017      2016      2017      2016  

Ordinary income

   $ 1,075,896      $ 1,432,368      $ 36,742      $ 764  

Short-term capital gains

     823,117        —          261,774        371  

Long-term capital gains

     26,818,387        17,275,822        124,971        —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
   $ 28,717,400      $ 18,708,190      $ 423,487      $ 1,135  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

As of December 31, 2017, the components of distributable earnings (excluding unrealized appreciation/depreciation) on tax basis consisted of:

 

     Enhanced
Core Bond
     Municipal
Bond
     Municipal
Enhanced
     Small Cap
Core
     Small/
Mid Cap
 

Capital loss carryforward

   $ 4,328,230        —        $ 273,380        —          —    

Undistributed ordinary income

     —          —          —          —          —    

Undistributed short-term capital gains

     —          —          —        $ 351,412        —    

Undistributed long-term capital gains

     —        $ 310,654        —          11,007,991        —    

Late-year loss deferral

     —          —          —          —        $ 13,357  

At December 31, 2017, the approximate cost of investments and the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation for federal income tax were as follows:

 

Fund    Cost      Appreciation      Depreciation     Net  

Enhanced Core Bond

   $ 48,855,864      $ 621,702      $ (388,164   $ 233,538  

Municipal Bond

     1,053,092,876        11,945,284        (5,619,463     6,325,821  

Municipal Enhanced

     224,593,285        8,349,185        (639,465     7,709,720  

Small Cap Core

     427,475,542        153,891,102        (20,155,991     133,735,111  

Small/Mid Cap

     30,588,598        2,264,893        (490,653     1,774,240  

 

e. FEDERAL TAXES

Each Fund currently qualifies as an investment company and intends to comply with the requirements under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and to distribute substantially all of its taxable income and gains to its shareholders and to meet certain diversification and income requirements with respect to investment companies. Therefore, no provision for federal income or excise tax is included in the accompanying financial statements.

Additionally, based on each Fund’s understanding of the tax rules and rates related to income, gains and transactions for the foreign jurisdictions in which it invests, each Fund will provide for foreign taxes, and where appropriate, deferred foreign taxes.

Management has analyzed the Funds’ tax positions taken on federal income tax returns as of December 31, 2017, and for all open tax years (generally, the three prior taxable years), and has concluded that no provision for federal income tax is required in the Funds’ financial statements. Additionally, Management is not aware of any tax position for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change materially in the next twelve months.

Net capital losses incurred may be carried forward for an unlimited time period, and retain their tax character as either short-term or long-term capital losses.

 

 

 

 

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f. CAPITAL LOSS CARRYOVERS AND DEFERRALS

As of December 31, 2017, the following Funds had accumulated net realized capital loss carryovers from securities transactions for federal income tax purposes as

shown in the following chart. These amounts may be used to offset future realized capital gains, if any, for an unlimited time period.

 

     Capital Loss  
     Carryover Amounts  
Fund    Short-Term      Long-Term  

Enhanced Core Bond

   $ 1,599,857      $ 2,728,373  

Municipal Enhanced

     273,380        —    

 

    Capital Loss Carryover        
    Utilized        
Fund   Short-Term     Long-Term  

Enhanced Core Bond

    —       $ 689,967  

As of December 31, 2017, Municipal Bond, Small Cap Core and Small/Mid Cap had no accumulated net realized capital loss carryovers from securities transactions for federal income tax purposes. Should the Funds incur net capital losses for the year ending December 31, 2017, such amounts may be used to offset future realized capital gains, for an unlimited time period.

g. CAPITAL STOCK

The Trusts’ Declaration of Trust authorizes for each Fund the issuance of an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest, without par value. Each Fund records sales and repurchases of its capital stock on the trade date.

 

 

For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the capital stock transactions by class for the Funds were as follows:

 

    Enhanced Core Bond     Municipal Bond  
    December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016     December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016  
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  

Class N:

               

Proceeds from sale of shares

    545,254     $ 5,338,004       385,257     $ 3,795,029       1,383,931     $ 15,924,408       1,647,974     $ 19,577,982  

Reinvestment of distributions

    25,331       247,785       27,286       268,301       37,952       438,882       75,000       856,921  

Cost of shares repurchased

    (604,413     (5,915,824     (853,785     (8,384,944     (1,667,771     (19,328,676     (1,270,324     (14,901,658
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

    (33,828   $ (330,035     (441,242   $ (4,321,614     (245,888   $ (2,965,386     452,650     $ 5,533,245  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class S:

               

Proceeds from sale of shares

    —         —         —         —         3,078,878     $ 35,271,698       10,232,475     $ 121,026,163  

Reinvestment of distributions

    —         —         —         —         53,728       615,132       291,662       3,354,153  

Cost of shares repurchased

    —         —         —         —         (3,952,625     (45,334,584     (7,024,704     (81,937,500

Share Conversion

    —         —         —         —         (13,649,760     (160,111,684     —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

    —         —         —         —         (14,469,779   $ (169,559,438     3,499,433     $ 42,442,816  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class I:

               

Proceeds from sale of shares

    499,155     $ 4,874,509       3,892,108     $ 38,388,245       34,230,051     $ 396,585,461       32,007,506     $ 379,279,837  

Reinvestment of distributions

    44,098       430,918       77,281       766,271       1,264,901       14,708,302       2,035,999       23,482,851  

Cost of shares repurchased

    (3,757,375     (36,918,527     (834,296     (8,310,804     (23,820,377     (275,914,801     (25,376,090     (297,140,902

Share Conversion

    —         —         —         —         13,603,372       160,111,684       —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

    (3,214,122   $ (31,613,100     3,135,093     $ 30,843,712       25,277,947     $ 295,490,646       8,667,415     $ 105,621,786  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class C:

               

Proceeds from sale of shares

    1,278     $ 12,466       2,517     $ 24,694       —         —         —         —    

Reinvestment of distributions

    6,466       63,151       9,536       93,552       —         —         —         —    

Cost of shares repurchased

    (354,502     (3,456,425     (353,217     (3,475,625     —         —         —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net decrease

    (346,758   $ (3,380,808     (341,164   $ (3,357,379     —         —         —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

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    Enhanced Core Bond     Municipal Bond  
    December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016     December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016  
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  

Class Z:

               

Proceeds from sale of shares

    420,620     $ 4,105,961       2,391,953     $ 23,618,757       —         —         —         —    

Reinvestment of distributions

    55,590       545,034       145,492       1,436,923       —         —         —         —    

Cost of shares repurchased

    (3,611,083     (35,134,500     (2,172,562     (21,122,721     —         —         —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

    (3,134,873   $ (30,483,505     364,883     $ 3,932,959       —         —         —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
    Municipal Enhanced     Small Cap Core  
    December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016     December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016  
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  

Class N:

               

Proceeds from sale of shares

    854,262     $ 8,245,287       569,848     $ 5,963,684       164,219     $ 4,353,577       171,093     $ 3,879,355  

Reinvestment of distributions

    24,014       234,148       33,790       329,552       43,445       1,224,282       55,106       1,367,178  

Cost of shares repurchased

    (441,848     (4,333,836     (704,478     (7,269,369     (771,984     (20,688,735     (407,888     (9,392,744
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

    436,428     $ 4,145,599       (100,840   $ (976,133     (564,320   $ (15,110,876     (181,689   $ (4,146,211
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class S:

               

Proceeds from sale of shares

    319,509     $ 3,059,584       1,219,602     $ 12,565,944       14,465     $ 373,459       86,671     $ 2,032,563  

Reinvestment of distributions

    20,245       193,539       127,122       1,234,918       —         —         29,980       750,402  

Cost of shares repurchased

    (891,675     (8,586,630     (1,192,382     (12,156,404     (67,690     (1,761,714     (1,074,660     (25,613,152

Share Conversion

    (1,192,488     (11,722,161     —         —         (660,652     (17,976,373     —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

    (1,744,409   $ (17,055,668     154,342     $ 1,644,458       (713,877   $ (19,364,628     (958,009   $ (22,830,187
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class I:

               

Proceeds from sale of shares

    5,135,104     $ 49,798,634       6,118,953     $ 63,716,957       4,400,525     $ 118,884,418       2,961,740     $ 68,702,616  

Reinvestment of distributions

    334,730       3,259,308       835,430       8,132,689       708,864       20,238,054       613,419       15,384,553  

Cost of shares repurchased

    (4,794,481     (46,538,170     (7,243,382     (73,938,069     (6,389,413     (183,987,173     (2,480,898     (56,925,490

Share Conversion

    1,194,920       11,722,161       —         —         658,716       17,976,373       —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

    1,870,273     $ 18,241,933       (288,999   $ (2,088,423     (621,308   $ (26,888,328     1,094,261     $ 27,161,679  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class Z:1

               

Proceeds from sale of shares

    10,535     $ 100,000       —         —         4,253,757     $ 125,555,645       —         —    

Reinvestment of distributions

    275       2,693       —         —         201,870       5,763,389       —         —    

Cost of shares repurchased

    —         —         —         —         (654,016     (18,938,119     —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase

    10,810     $ 102,693       —         —         3,801,611     $ 112,380,915       —         —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

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     Small/Mid Cap  
     December 31, 2017      December 31, 2016  
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  

Class N:1

           

Proceeds from sale of shares

     966      $ 10,000        —          —    

Reinvestment of distributions

     13        144        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net increase

     979      $ 10,144        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Class I:

           

Proceeds from sale of shares

     1,961,796      $ 20,991,750        148,293      $ 1,303,687  

Reinvestment of distributions

     28,697        320,262        114        1,126  

Cost of shares repurchased

     (41,659      (452,348      (51,818      (463,032
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net increase

     1,948,834      $ 20,859,664        96,589      $ 841,781  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Class Z:1

           

Proceeds from sale of shares

     618,470      $ 6,484,063        —          —    

Reinvestment of distributions

     9,195        102,624        —          —    

Cost of shares repurchased

     (1,865      (19,522      —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net increase

     625,800      $ 6,567,165        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

1  Commencement of operations was February 27, 2017.

 

At December 31, 2017, certain unaffiliated shareholders of record, individually or collectively held greater than 10% of the net assets of the Funds as follows: Small/Mid Cap - one owns 15%. Transactions by this shareholder may have a material impact on the Fund.

h. REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS AND JOINT REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS

The Funds may enter into third-party repurchase agreements for temporary cash management purposes and third-party joint repurchase agreements for reinvestment of cash collateral on securities lending transactions under the securities lending program offered by The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) (the “Program”) (collectively, “Repurchase Agreements”). The value of the underlying collateral, including accrued interest, must equal or exceed the value of the Repurchase Agreements during the term of the agreement. For joint repurchase agreements, the Funds participate on a pro rata basis with other clients of BNYM in its share of the underlying collateral under such joint repurchase agreements and in its share of proceeds from any repurchase or other disposition of the underlying collateral. The underlying collateral for all Repurchase Agreements is held in safekeeping by the Funds’ custodian or at the Federal Reserve Bank. If the seller defaults and the value of the collateral declines, or if bankruptcy proceedings commence with respect to the seller of the security, realization of the collateral by the Funds may be delayed or limited. Pursuant to the Program, the Funds are indemnified for such losses by BNYM on joint repurchase agreements.

At December 31, 2017, the market value of Repurchase Agreements outstanding for Enhanced Core, Small Cap Core and Small/Mid Cap were $759,122, $26,435,287 and $1,726,848, respectively.

i. DELAYED DELIVERY TRANSACTIONS AND WHEN-ISSUED SECURITIES

The Funds may enter into securities transactions on a delayed delivery or when issued basis. Payment and delivery may take place after the customary settlement period for that security. The price of the underlying securities and the date when the securities will be delivered and paid for are fixed at the time the transaction is negotiated. During the time a delayed delivery sell is outstanding, the contract is marked to market daily and equivalent deliverable securities are held for the transaction. The value of the securities purchased on a delayed delivery or when-issued basis are identified as such in the Funds’ Schedules of Portfolio Investments. With respect to purchase commitments, the Funds identify securities as segregated in their records with a value at least equal to the amount of the commitment. Delayed delivery or when-issued securities that have been purchased from and sold to different brokers are reflected as an investment in securities and a forward sale commitment in the Fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities. For financial reporting purposes, the Funds does offset the receivable and payable for delayed delivery and when-issued securities that were purchased or sold. Losses may arise due to changes in the value of the underlying securities or if the counterparty does not perform under the contract, or if the issuer does not issue the securities due to political, economic, or other factors.

2. AGREEMENTS AND TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

For each of the Funds, the Trusts have entered into an investment advisory agreement under which the Investment Manager, a subsidiary and the U.S. retail distribution arm of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (“AMG”), serves as investment manager to the Funds and is responsible for the Funds’ overall administration and operations. The Investment Manager selects one or more subadvisers for the

 

 

 

 

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Funds (subject to Board approval) and monitors each subadviser’s investment performance, security holdings and investment strategies. Each Fund’s investment portfolio is managed by GW&K Investment Management, LLC, (“GW&K”) who serves pursuant to a subadvisory agreement with the Investment Manager. AMG indirectly owns a majority interest in GW&K.

Investment management fees are paid directly by the Funds to the Investment Manager based on average daily net assets. The Funds’ investment management fees are paid at the following annual rate of each Fund’s respective average daily net assets:

 

Enhanced Core Bond*

     0.30

Municipal Bond**

  

on first $25 million

     0.35

on next $25 million

     0.30

on next $50 million

     0.25

on balance over $100 million

     0.20

Municipal Enhanced *

     0.45

Small Cap Core*

     0.70

Small/Mid Cap*

     0.65

 

* Prior to February 27, 2017, the annual rate for the investment management fees were 0.45%, 0.50%, 0.75% and 0.75% of the average daily net assets for Enhanced Core Bond, Municipal Enhanced, Small Cap Core and Small/Mid Cap, respectively.
** Effective October 1, 2016, Municipal Bond changed to a tiered management fee structure. Prior to October 1, 2016, the annual rate for Municipal Bond’s investment management fee was 0.35% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

The Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2018, to waive management fees and/or reimburse fund expenses in order to limit total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), shareholder servicing fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses) of Enhanced Core Bond, Municipal Bond, Municipal Enhanced, Small Cap Core and Small/Mid Cap to 0.48%, 0.34%, 0.59%, 0.90% and 0.85%, respectively, of each Fund’s average daily net assets subject to later reimbursement by the Funds in certain circumstances. Prior to February 27, 2017, the expense cap was 0.59%, 0.64%, 0.95% and 0.95% of the average daily net assets for Enhanced Core Bond, Municipal Enhanced, Small Cap Core and Small/Mid Cap, respectively.

The contractual expense limitation may only be terminated in the event the Investment Manager or a successor ceases to be the investment manager of the Fund or a successor fund, by mutual agreement between the Investment Manager and the Board, or in the event of the Fund’s liquidation unless the Fund is reorganized or is a party to a merger in which the surviving entity is successor to the accounting and performance information of the Fund.

In general, for a period of up to 36 months, the Investment Manager may recover from each Fund fees waived and expenses paid pursuant to this contractual agreement, provided that such repayment would not cause the Fund’s total annual operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of

the items noted in the parenthetical above) to exceed the contractual expense limitation amount.

At December 31, 2017, the Funds’ expiration of recoupment is as follows:

 

Expiration Period    Enhanced
Core Bond
     Municipal
Bond
 

Less than 1 year

   $ 208,328      $ 2,123,295  

Within 2 years

     249,870        2,293,974  

Within 3 years

     185,809        703,359  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Amount Subject to Recoupment

   $ 644,007      $ 5,120,628  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

Expiration Period    Municipal
Enhanced
     Small
Cap Core
 

Less than 1 year

   $ 205,861      $ 405,914  

Within 2 years

     222,096        314,503  

Within 3 years

     232,286        51,380  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Amount Subject to Recoupment

   $ 660,243      $ 771,797  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

Expiration Period    Small/
Mid Cap
 

Less than 1 year

   $ 48,523  

Within 2 years

     57,742  

Within 3 years

     85,512  
  

 

 

 

Total Amount Subject to Recoupment

   $ 191,777  
  

 

 

 

The Trusts, on behalf of the Funds, have entered into an amended and restated Administration Agreement under which the Investment Manager serves as the Funds’ administrator (the “Administrator”) and is responsible for all non-portfolio management aspects of managing the Funds’ operations, including administration and shareholder services to each Fund. Each Fund pays a fee to the Administrator at the rate of 0.15% per annum of the Fund’s average daily net assets for this service. Prior to October 1, 2016, Enhanced Core Bond, Municipal Bond, Municipal Enhanced, Small Cap Core and Small/Mid Cap paid an administration fee under a similar contract at an annual rate of 0.20%, 0.25%, 0.25%, 0.25% and 0.25%, respectively, of each Fund’s average daily net assets.

The Funds are distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Investment Manager. The Distributor serves as the distributor and underwriter for each Fund and is a registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). Shares of each Fund will be continuously offered and will be sold directly to prospective purchasers and through brokers, dealers or other financial intermediaries who have executed selling agreements with the Distributor. Generally the Distributor bears all or a portion of the expenses of providing services pursuant to the distribution agreement, including the payment of the expenses relating to the distribution of prospectuses for sales purposes and any advertising or sales literature.

The Trust have adopted a distribution and service plan (the “Plan”) with respect to the Class N shares of each Fund and Class C shares of Enhanced Core Bond, in accordance with the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act and the requirements of the applicable rules of FINRA regarding asset based sales

 

 

 

 

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charges. Pursuant to the Plan, each Fund may make payments to the Distributor for its expenditures in financing any activity primarily intended to result in the sale of each Fund’s Class N shares and Enhanced Core Bond Class C shares and for maintenance and personal service provided to existing shareholders of that class. The Plan authorizes payments to the Distributor up to 0.25% and 1.00% annually of each Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to the Class N shares and Enhanced Core Bond Class C shares, respectively.

For Enhanced Core Bond’s Class I shares and for each of the Class N and Class I shares of Municipal Bond, Municipal Enhanced and Small Cap Core, the Board has approved reimbursement payments to the Investment Manager for shareholder servicing expenses (“shareholder servicing fees”) incurred. Shareholder servicing fees include payments to financial intermediaries, such as broker-dealers (including fund supermarket platforms), banks, and trust companies who provide shareholder recordkeeping, account servicing and other services. Class N and Class I shares may reimburse the Investment Manager for the actual amount incurred up to a maximum annual rate of each Class’s average daily net assets as shown in the table below. The Investment Manager has voluntarily agreed, through at least May 1, 2018, to waive 0.01% of the shareholder servicing fees authorized to be paid by Class I shares of Municipal Bond.

The impact on the annualized expense ratios for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

Fund    Maximum Annual
Amount
Approved
    Actual
Amount
Incurred
 

Enhanced Core Bond

    

Class I

     0.10     0.10

Municipal Bond

    

Class N

     0.15     0.12

Class I**

     0.05     0.04

Municipal Enhanced

    

Class N*

     0.25     0.17

Class I**

     0.05     0.04

Small Cap Core

    

Class N*

     0.25     0.16

Class I**

     0.05     0.04

Small/Mid Cap

    

Class N

     0.15      

Class I**

     0.10     0.08

 

* Effective February 27, 2017, Class N maximum annual amount was reduced to 0.15%.
** Prior to February 27, 2017, Class I shares did not incur shareholder servicing fees.

The Board provides supervision of the affairs of the Trust and other trusts within the AMG Funds family. The Trustees of the Trust who are not affiliated with an Investment Manager receive an annual retainer and per meeting fees for regular, special and telephonic meetings, and they are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses incurred while carrying out their duties as Board members. The Chairman of the Board and the Audit Committee Chair receive additional annual

retainers. Certain Trustees and Officers of the Funds are Officers and/or Directors of the Investment Manager, AMG and/or the Distributor.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) granted an exemptive order that permits the Funds to lend and borrow money for certain temporary purposes directly to and from other eligible funds in the AMG Funds family. Participation in this interfund lending program is voluntary for both the borrowing and lending funds, and an interfund loan is only made if it benefits each participating fund. The Administrator manages the program according to procedures approved by the Board, and the Board monitors the operation of the program. An interfund loan must comply with certain conditions set out in the exemptive order, which are designed to assure fairness and protect all participating funds. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, Municipal Bond lent a maximum of $1,222,106 for 5 days earning interest in the amount of $130, Municipal Enhanced lent a maximum of $2,317,301 for 5 days earning interest of $595, and Small Cap Core lent a maximum of $6,200,680 for 5 days earning interest in the amount of $414. The interest income amount is included in the Statement of Operations as interest income. Enhanced Core Bond borrowed a maximum of $4,417,211 for 42 days paying interest of $2,274, and Small Cap Core borrowed a maximum of $2,317,301 for 4 days paying interest of $527. The interest expense amount is included in the Statement of Operations as miscellaneous expense. For the year ended December 31, 2017, Small/Mid Cap neither borrowed from nor lent to other Funds in the AMG Funds family. At December 31, 2017, the Funds had no interfund loans outstanding.

3. PURCHASES AND SALES OF SECURITIES

Purchases and sales of securities (excluding short-term securities) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Long Term Securities  
Fund    Purchases      Sales  

Enhanced Core Bond

   $ 21,050,854      $ 59,862,559  

Municipal Bond

     395,142,506        260,986,720  

Municipal Enhanced

     149,550,829        147,888,572  

Small Cap Core

     134,380,832        109,776,702  

Small/Mid Cap

     29,469,356        4,886,393  
     U.S. Government Obligations  
Fund    Purchases      Sales  

Enhanced Core Bond

   $ 4,507,337      $ 25,931,191  

4. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES LOANED

The Funds participate in the Program providing for the lending of securities to qualified brokers. Securities lending income includes earnings of such temporary cash investments, plus or minus any rebate to a borrower. These earnings (after any rebate) are then divided between BNYM, as a fee for its services under the Program, and the Funds, according to agreed-upon rates. Collateral on all securities loaned is accepted in cash and is maintained at a minimum level of 102% (105% in the case of certain foreign securities) of the market value, plus interest, if applicable, of investments on loan. It is the Funds’ policy to obtain additional collateral from or return excess collateral to the borrower by the end of the next business day, following the valuation date of the securities loaned. Therefore, the value of the collateral held may be temporarily less than the value of the securities on loan. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to the Funds if and

 

 

 

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

to the extent that the market value of the securities loaned were to increase and the borrower did not increase the collateral accordingly, and the borrower fails to return the securities. Under the terms of the Program, the Funds are indemnified for such losses by BNYM. Cash collateral is held in a separate omnibus account managed by BNYM, who is authorized to exclusively enter into joint repurchase agreements. BNYM bears the risk of any deficiency in the amount of the cash collateral available for return to the borrower due to any loss on the collateral invested.

The value of securities loaned on positions held and cash collateral received at December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

Fund    Securities
Loaned
     Cash
Collateral
Received
 

Enhanced Core Bond

   $ 739,043      $ 759,122  

Small Cap Core

     25,730,349        26,435,287  

Small/Mid Cap

     1,681,424        1,726,848  

5. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Under the Trusts’ organizational documents, its trustees and officers are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties

to the Trusts. In addition, in the normal course of business, the Funds may enter into contracts and agreements that contain a variety of representations and warranties, which provide general indemnifications. The maximum exposure to the Funds under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against a Fund that have not yet occurred. However, based on experience, the Funds had no prior claims or losses and expect the risks of loss to be remote.

6. MASTER NETTING AGREEMENTS

The Funds may enter into master netting agreements with their counterparties for the securities lending program, and Repurchase Agreements, which provide the right, in the event of default (including bankruptcy or insolvency) for the non-defaulting party to liquidate the collateral and calculate net exposure to the defaulting party or request additional collateral. For financial reporting purposes, the Funds do not offset financial assets and financial liabilities that are subject to master netting agreements in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. For securities lending transactions, see Note 4.

 

The following table is a summary of the Funds’ open Repurchase Agreements that are subject to a master netting agreement as of December 31, 2017:

 

            Gross Amount Not Offset in the
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
        
Fund    Net Amounts of Assets
Presented in the Statement
of Assets and Liabilities
     Financial
Instruments
Collateral
     Cash Collateral
Received
     Net Amount  

Enhanced Core Bond

           

State of Wisconsin Investment Board

   $ 759,122      $ 759,122        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

       

Small Cap Core

           

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc.

   $ 6,278,647      $ 6,278,647        —          —    

Daiwa Capital Markets America

     6,278,647        6,278,647        —          —    

HSBC Securities USA, Inc.

     6,278,647        6,278,647        —          —    

Jefferies LLC

     1,320,699        1,320,699        —          —    

State of Wisconsin Investment Board

     6,278,647        6,278,647        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Totals

   $ 26,435,287      $ 26,435,287        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Small/Mid Cap

           

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc.

   $ 1,000,000      $ 1,000,000        —          —    

Daiwa Capital Markets America

     726,848        726,848        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Totals

   $ 1,726,848      $ 1,726,848        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

7. REGULATORY UPDATES

On October 13, 2016, the SEC amended existing rules intended to modernize reporting and disclosure of information. These amendments relate to Regulation

S-X, which sets forth the form and content of financial statements. Effective August 1, 2017, the Funds have adopted these amendments and noted no significant impact on the financial statements and accompanying notes.

 

 

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

 

8. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

The Funds have determined that no material events or transactions occurred through the issuance date of the Funds’ financial statements, which require an additional disclosure in or adjustment of the Funds’ financial statements.

 

 

 

 

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

 

 

TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF AMG FUNDS AND AMG FUNDS II AND SHAREHOLDERS OF AMG GW&K ENHANCED CORE BOND FUND, AMG GW&K MUNICIPAL BOND FUND, AMG GW&K MUNICIPAL ENHANCED YIELD FUND, AMG GW&K SMALL CAP CORE FUND AND AMG GW&K SMALL/MID CAP FUND (FORMERLY AMG GW&K SMALL CAP GROWTH FUND)

Opinions on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities, including the schedules of portfolio investments, of AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund, AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund, AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund, AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund, AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund (formerly AMG GW&K Small Cap Growth Fund) (five of the funds constituting AMG Funds and AMG Funds II, hereafter collectively referred to as the “Funds”) as of December 31, 2017, the related statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2017, the statements of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of each of the Funds as of December 31, 2017, the results of each of their operations for the year then ended, the changes in each of their net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017 and each of the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinions

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Funds’ management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Funds’ financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Funds in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of December 31, 2017 by correspondence with the custodian and brokers; when replies were not received from brokers, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

February 27, 2018

We have served as the auditor of one or more investment companies in AMG Funds Family since 1993.

 

 

 

 

 

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Other Information

 

 

 

TAX INFORMATION

 

The AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund, AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund, AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund, AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund and AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund each hereby designates the maximum amount allowable of its net taxable income as qualified dividends as provided in the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. The 2017 Form 1099-DIV you receive for each Fund will show the tax status of all distributions paid to you during the year.

Pursuant to section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond Fund, AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund, AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund, AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund and AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund each hereby designates $0, $1,104,060, $0, $26,818,387, and $124,971, respectively, as a capital gain distribution with respect to the taxable year ended December 31, 2017, or if subsequently determined to be different, the net capital gains of such fiscal year.

 

 

 

 

 

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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers

 

 

 

The Trustees and Officers of the Trust, their business addresses, principal occupations for the past five years and ages are listed below. The Trustees provide broad supervision over the affairs of the Trust and the Funds. The Trustees are experienced executives who meet periodically throughout the year to oversee the Funds’ activities, review contractual arrangements with companies that provide services to the Funds, and

review the Funds’ performance. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each Trustee or Officer is the address of the Trust: 600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830.

There is no stated term of office for Trustees. Trustees serve until their resignation, retirement or removal in

accordance with the Trust’s organizational documents and policies adopted by the Board from time to time. The Chairman of the Trustees, President, Treasurer and Secretary of the Trust are elected by the Trustees annually. Other officers hold office at the pleasure of the Trustees.

 

 

Independent Trustees

The following Trustees are not “interested persons” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act:

 

Number of Funds     

Overseen in Fund Complex

  

Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee

•  Trustee since 2012

   Bruce B. Bingham, 69

•  Oversees 61 Funds in Fund Complex

   Partner, Hamilton Partners (real estate development firm) (1987-Present); Director of The Yacktman Funds (2000-2012).

•  Trustee since 1999-AMG Funds

•  Trustee since 2000-AMG Fund II

•  Oversees 61 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Edward J. Kaier, 72

Attorney at Law and Partner, Teeters Harvey Marrone & Kaier LLP (2007-Present); Attorney at Law and Partner, Hepburn Willcox Hamilton & Putnam, LLP (1977-2007); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

•  Trustee since 2013

•  Oversees 63 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Kurt A. Keilhacker, 54

Managing Member, TechFund Capital (1997-Present); Managing Member, TechFund Europe (2000-Present); Board Member, 6wind SA, (2002-Present); Managing Member, Elementum Ventures (2013-Present); Trustee, Gordon College (2001-2016).

•  Trustee since 2004-AMG Funds

•  Trustee since 2000-AMG Fund II

•  Oversees 61 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Steven J. Paggioli, 67

Independent Consultant (2002-Present); Formerly Executive Vice President and Director, The Wadsworth Group (1986-2001); Executive Vice President, Secretary and Director, Investment Company Administration, LLC (1990-2001); Vice President, Secretary and Director, First Fund Distributors, Inc. (1991-2001); Trustee, Professionally Managed Portfolios (32 portfolios); Advisory Board Member, Sustainable Growth Advisors, LP; Independent Director, Chase Investment Counsel (2008–Present).

•  Trustee since 2013

•  Oversees 61 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Richard F. Powers III, 72

Adjunct Professor, U.S. Naval War College (2016); Adjunct Professor, Boston College (2010-2013); President and CEO of Van Kampen Investments Inc. (1998-2003).

•  Trustee since 1999-AMG Funds

•  Trustee since 2000-AMG Fund II

•  Oversees 61 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Eric Rakowski, 59

Professor, University of California at Berkeley School of Law (1990-Present); Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

•  Trustee since 2013

   Victoria L. Sassine, 52

•  Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

   Lecturer, Babson College (2007 – Present).

Complex

  

•  Trustee since 2004-AMG Funds

•  Trustee since 2000-AMG Fund II

•  Oversees 61 Funds in Fund Complex

  

Thomas R. Schneeweis, 70

Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts (2013-Present); Partner, S Capital Wealth Advisors (2015-Present); President, TRS Associates (1982-Present); Board Member, Chartered Alternative Investment Association (“CAIA”) (2002-Present); Director, CAIA Foundation (Education) (2010-Present); Director, Institute for GlobalAsset and Risk Management (Education) (2010-Present); Partner, S Capital Management, LLC (2007-2015); Director, CISDM at the University of Massachusetts, (1996-2013); President, Alternative Investment Analytics, LLC, (formerly Schneeweis Partners, LLC) (2001-2013); Professor of Finance, University of Massachusetts (1977-2013).

 

 

 

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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

 

 

 

Interested Trustees

Each Trustee in the following table is an “interested person” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act. Ms. Carsman is an interested person of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act by virtue of her position with, and interest in securities of, AMG.

 

Number of Funds

Overseen in Fund Complex

  

Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee

•  Trustee since 2011

   Christine C. Carsman, 65

•  Oversees 63 Funds in Fund Complex

   Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2017-Present); Director (2010-Present) and Chair of the Board of Directors (2015-Present), AMG Funds plc; Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2011-2016); Senior Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2007-2011); Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2004-2007); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2004-2011); Senior Counsel, Vice President and Director of Operational Risk Management and Compliance, Wellington Management Company, LLP (1995-2004).
Officers   

Position(s) Held with Fund

and Length of Time Served

  

Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years

•  President since 2014

   Jeffrey T. Cerutti, 50

•  Principal Executive Officer since 2014

•  Chief Executive Officer since 2016

   Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2014-Present); Director, President and Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2014-Present); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Chief Executive Officer, President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Executive Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President, VP Distributors, (2011-2014); Executive Vice President, Head of Distribution, Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (2010-2014); Managing Director, Head of Sales, UBS Global Asset Management (2001-2010).

•  Chief Operating Officer since 2007

  

Keitha L. Kinne, 59

Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2007-Present); Chief Investment Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2008-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2012-2014); Managing Partner, AMG Funds LLC (2007-2014); President, AMG Funds (2012-2014); President, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2012-2014); Managing Director, Legg Mason & Co., LLC (2006-2007); Managing Director, Citigroup Asset Management (2004-2006).

•  Secretary since 2015

•  Chief Legal Officer since 2015

  

Mark J. Duggan, 53

Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Attorney, K&L Gates, LLP (2009-2015).

•  Chief Financial Officer since 2017

•  Treasurer since 2017

•  Principal Financial Officer since 2017

•  Principal Accounting Officer since 2017

  

Thomas G. Disbrow, 52

Vice President, Mutual Fund Treasurer & CFO, AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Managing Director - Global Head of Traditional Funds Product Control, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2015-2017); Managing Director - Head of North American Funds Treasury, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2011-2015).

•  Chief Compliance Officer since 2016

  

Gerald F. Dillenburg, 51

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2016-2017); Chief Compliance Officer and Sarbanes Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (1996-Present); Sarbanes-Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2016); Chief Operating Officer, Aston Funds (2003-2016); Secretary, Aston Funds (1996-2015); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Funds (1997-2010); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2010); Treasurer, Aston Funds (1996-2010).

•  Deputy Treasurer since 2017

  

John A. Starace, 47

Director, Mutual Fund Accounting, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Deputy Treasurer of Mutual Funds Services, AMG Funds LLC (2014-2017); Deputy Treasurer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Vice President, Citi Hedge Fund Services (2010-2014); Audit Senior Manager (2005-2010) and Audit Manager (2001-2005), Deloitte & Touche LLP.

 

 

 

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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

 

 

Position(s) Held with Fund

and Length of Time Served

  

Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years

•  Controller since 2017

  

Christopher R. Townsend, 50

Vice President, Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Head of Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Chief Financial Officer and Financial and Operations Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2016-Present); Controller, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management LLC (2016); Head of Finance and Accounting, Allianz Asset Management (2006-2015).

•  Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer since 2014

  

Patrick J. Spellman, 43

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2011-2017); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc., (2010-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Compliance Manager, Legal and Compliance, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2005-2011).

•  Assistant Secretary since 2016

  

Maureen A. Meredith, 32

Director, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Assistant Secretary, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Associate, Ropes & Gray LLP (2011-2015); Law Fellow, Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice (2010-2011).

 

 

 

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LOGO

 

 

 

INVESTMENT MANAGER AND

ADMINISTRATOR

AMG Funds LLC

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

DISTRIBUTOR

AMG Distributors, Inc.

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

SUBADVISER

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

222 Berkeley St.

Boston, MA 02116

CUSTODIAN

The Bank of New York Mellon

111 Sanders Creek Parkway

East Syracuse, NY 13057

LEGAL COUNSEL

Ropes & Gray LLP

Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston Street

Boston, MA 02199-3600

TRANSFER AGENT

BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

Attn: AMG Funds

P.O. Box 9769

Providence, RI 02940

800.548.4539

This report is prepared for the Funds’ shareholders. It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by an effective prospectus. To receive a free copy of the prospectus or Statement of Additional Information, which includes additional information about Fund Trustees, please contact us by calling 800.835.3879. Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

Current net asset values per share for each Fund are available on the Funds’ website at amgfunds.com.

A description of the policies and procedures each Fund uses to vote its proxies is available: (i) without charge, upon request, by calling 800.835.3879, or (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) website at sec.gov. For information regarding each Fund’s proxy voting record for the 12-month period ended June 30, call 800.835.3879 or visit the SEC website at sec.gov.

Each Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Forms N-Q are available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. A Fund’s Forms N-Q may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1.800.SEC.0330. To review a complete list of the Funds’ portfolio holdings, or to view the most recent quarterly holdings report, semiannual report, or annual report, please visit amgfunds.com.

 

 

amgfunds.com         |

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LOGO

 

 

 

 

 

AFFILIATE SUBADVISED FUNDS

BALANCED FUNDS

 

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

AMG FQ Global Risk-Balanced

First Quadrant, L.P.

EQUITY FUNDS

 

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small     Cap Value

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

AMG FQ Tax-Managed U.S. Equity

AMG FQ Long-Short Equity

First Quadrant, L.P.

AMG Frontier Small Cap Growth

Frontier Capital Management Company,     LLC

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap

AMG GW&K U.S. Small Cap Growth

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

AMG Renaissance International Equity

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth

The Renaissance Group LLC

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap     Value

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap     Value II

AMG River Road Focused Absolute     Value

AMG River Road Long-Short

AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value

AMG River Road Small Cap Value

River Road Asset Management, LLC

AMG SouthernSun Small Cap

AMG SouthernSun Global     Opportunities

AMG SouthernSun U.S. Equity

SouthernSun Asset Management, LLC

AMG Systematic Mid Cap Value

Systematic Financial Management, L.P.

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets     Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare International Small     Cap

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth

TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC

AMG Trilogy Emerging Markets Equity

AMG Trilogy Emerging Wealth Equity

Trilogy Global Advisors, L.P.

AMG Yacktman

AMG Yacktman Focused

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund -

    Security Selection Only

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities

Yacktman Asset Management LP

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

 

AMG GW&K Core Bond

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced     Yield

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

 

OPEN-ARCHITECTURE FUNDS

ALTERNATIVE FUNDS

 

AMG Managers Lake Partners LASSO     Alternative

Lake Partners, Inc.

BALANCED FUNDS

 

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell     Balanced

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

EQUITY FUNDS

 

AMG Managers Brandywine

AMG Managers Brandywine Advisors     Mid Cap Growth

AMG Managers Brandywine Blue

Friess Associates, LLC

AMG Managers Cadence Emerging     Companies

AMG Managers Cadence Mid Cap

Cadence Capital Management, LLC

AMG Managers CenterSquare Real     Estate

CenterSquare Investment Management,     Inc.

AMG Managers Emerging Opportunities

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

WEDGE Capital Management L.L.P.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC

RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc.

AMG Managers Essex Small/Micro Cap     Growth

Essex Investment Management Co., LLC

AMG Managers Fairpointe ESG Equity

AMG Managers Fairpointe Mid Cap

Fairpointe Capital LLC

AMG Managers Guardian Capital     Global Dividend

Guardian Capital LP

AMG Managers LMCG Small Cap     Growth

LMCG Investments, LLC

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell     Growth

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell     Mid Cap Growth

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

AMG Managers Pictet International

Pictet Asset Management Limited

AMG Managers Silvercrest Small Cap

Silvercrest Asset Management Group     LLC

AMG Managers Skyline Special     Equities

Skyline Asset Management, L.P.

AMG Managers Special Equity

Ranger Investment Management, L.P.

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

Smith Asset Management Group, L.P.

    Federated MDTA LLC

AMG Managers Value Partners Asia     Dividend

Value Partners Hong Kong Limited

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

 

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate     Government

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration     Government

Amundi Pioneer Institutional Asset

Management, Inc.

AMG Managers Doubleline Core Plus     Bond

DoubleLine Capital LP

AMG Managers Global Income     Opportunity

AMG Managers Loomis Sayles Bond

Loomis, Sayles & Co., L.P.

 

 

 

 

amgfunds.com    |123117            AR020


Table of Contents

LOGO

         ANNUAL REPORT

 

    

 

 

 

     AMG Funds        
 
     December 31, 2017        
 
     LOGO        
 
    

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

 

 

    

Class N: TSCPX

 

      

Class I: TSQIX

 

       Class Z: TSCIX   
 
    

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

 

 

     Class N: TMDPX        Class I: TQMIX        Class Z: TMDIX   
 
    

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

 

 

     Class N: TCMPX        Class I: TQTIX        Class Z: TCMIX   
                 

    

 

 

             

 

amgfunds.com

 

     

 

123117                AR012

 


Table of Contents


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Funds

Annual Report — December 31, 2017

 

    

 

    

    

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

  

PAGE

 

 
   

LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS

     2  
 
   

ABOUT YOUR FUND’S EXPENSES

     3  
 
    PORTFOLIO MANAGER’S COMMENTS, FUND SNAPSHOTS AND SCHEDULES OF PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS   
 
   

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

     4  
 
   

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

     12  
 
   

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

     20  
 
   

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

  
 
   

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

     29  
 
   

Balance sheets, net asset value (NAV) per share computations and cumulative undistributed amounts

  
 
   

Statement of Operations

     31  
 
   

Detail of sources of income, expenses, and realized and unrealized gains (losses) during the fiscal year

  
 
   

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

     32  
 
   

Detail of changes in assets for the past two fiscal years

  
 
   

Financial Highlights

     33  
 
   

Historical net asset values per share, distributions, total returns, income and expense ratios, turnover ratios and net assets

  
 
   

Notes to Financial Statements

     42  
 
   

Accounting and distribution policies, details of agreements and transactions with Fund management and affiliates, and descriptions of certain investment risks

  
 
    REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM      51  
 
   

OTHER INFORMATION

     52  
 
   

TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS

     53  

Nothing contained herein is to be considered an offer, sale or solicitation of an offer to buy shares of any series of the AMG Funds family of mutual funds. Such offering is made only by prospectus, which includes details as to offering price and other material information.

    

 

 

 


Table of Contents
LOGO       Letter to Shareholders

 

    

 

Dear Shareholder:

The last 12 months was a strong period for equity markets as the health of the global economy improved and positive investor sentiment helped extend the U.S. bull market into its ninth year. The S&P 500® Index, a widely followed barometer of the U.S. equity market, returned 21.83% during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. By comparison, small cap stocks underperformed large caps with a 14.65% return for the small cap Russell 2000® Index.

The S&P 500 Index has notched positive performance in every month since the U.S. presidential election amidst the backdrop of strong corporate earnings, improving global economic growth and the passage of sweeping tax reform. 2017 also marked a turning point for the broader global economy as growth accelerated in a more coordinated fashion around the world, global trade improved and commodities recovered. U.S. equity market volatility remained extremely low despite saber rattling in North Korea and a devastating hurricane season. In fact, the S&P 500 Index has not seen a pullback greater than 5% since the summer of 2016.

In total, all but two sectors of the S&P 500 Index were positive during the last 12 months; however, there was significant dispersion in performance across sectors. Information technology and materials stocks led the Index with returns of 38.87% and 23.25%, respectively, while companies within the energy and telecommunication services sectors were the laggards with returns of (1.11)% and (1.49)%, respectively. Growth stocks outperformed value during all four quarters of the year and ended 2017 with returns of 30.2% and 13.7% for the Russell 1000® Growth and Russell 1000® Value Indexes, respectively. International equities outperformed domestic equities for the first time since 2012 as the global economy picked up and international returns were boosted by a weaker U.S. Dollar with the MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index returning 27.19% during the year. Meanwhile, emerging markets had their strongest year since 2009 with a 37.3% return for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

The U.S. bond market produced modestly positive returns for the year, as measured by the 3.54% return for the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a broad measure of U.S. bond market performance. The yield curve flattened as the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) continued to normalize monetary policy and short-term interest rates rose more than longer-term rates. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note rose 69 basis points during the year to yield 1.89% while the 10-year U.S. Treasury note ended 2017 at a 2.40% yield, five basis points lower than where it started. Investment grade corporates outperformed Treasuries and securitized credits with returns of 6.42%, 2.31% and 2.51%, respectively. Bond investors willing to accept more credit risk were rewarded with higher returns as high yield bonds performed strongly and credit spreads tightened. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index ended the period with a 7.50% return.

    

AMG Funds appreciates the privilege of providing investment tools to you and your clients. Our foremost goal is to provide investment solutions that help our shareholders successfully reach their long-term investment goals. By partnering with AMG’s affiliated investment boutiques, AMG Funds provides access to a distinctive array of actively managed return-oriented investment strategies. Additionally, we oversee and distribute a number of complementary open-architecture mutual funds subadvised by unaffiliated investment managers. We thank you for your continued confidence and investment in AMG Funds. You can rest assured that under all market conditions our team is focused on delivering excellent investment management services for your benefit.

Respectfully,

 

 

LOGO

Jeffery Cerutti

President

AMG Funds

 

Average Annual Total Returns

   
Periods ended
December 31, 2017*
 
 

Stocks:

        1 Year     3 Years       5 Years  

Large Caps

  (S&P 500® Index)     21.83%       11.41%       15.79%  

Small Caps

  (Russell 2000® Index)     14.65%       9.96%       14.12%  

International

  (MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index)     27.19%       7.83%       6.80%  

Bonds:

                           

Investment Grade

  (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index)     3.54%       2.24%       2.10%  

High Yield

  (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index)     7.50%       6.35%       5.78%  

Tax-exempt

  (Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index)     5.45%       2.98%       3.02%  

Treasury Bills

  (ICE BofAML 6-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index)     0.95%       0.62%       0.43%  

*Source: Factset. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

 

 

 
2


Table of Contents

    

    

    

  About Your Fund’s Expenses

 

    

 

As a shareholder of a Fund, you may incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, which may include sales charges (loads) on purchase payments; redemption fees; and exchange fees; and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution (12b-1) fees; and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. The example is based on $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period as indicated below.

 

ACTUAL EXPENSES

 

The first line of the following table provides information about the actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the

    

amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

 

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

 

The second line of the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed annual rate of return of 5% before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not

    

    

be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds by comparing this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of other funds.

 

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads), redemption fees, or exchange fees. Therefore, the second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds.

    

    

 

 

 

Six Months Ended
December 31, 2017
  Expense
Ratio for
the Period
  Beginning
Account
Value
07/01/17
  Ending
Account
Value
12/31/17
  Expenses
Paid
During
the Period*
 

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

 

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

Class N

  1.24%   $1,000   $1,111     $6.60  

Class I

  1.10%   $1,000   $1,113     $5.86  

Class Z

  1.04%   $1,000   $1,112     $5.54  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

Class N

  1.24%   $1,000   $1,019     $6.31  

Class I

  1.10%   $1,000   $1,020     $5.60  

Class Z

 

  1.04%

 

  $1,000

 

  $1,020

 

   

 

$5.30

 

 

 

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

 

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

Class N

  1.24%   $1,000   $1,106     $6.58  

Class I

  1.09%   $1,000   $1,106     $5.79  

Class Z

  1.04%   $1,000   $1,106     $5.52  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

Class N

  1.24%   $1,000   $1,019     $6.31  

Class I

  1.09%   $1,000   $1,020     $5.55  

Class Z

  1.04%   $1,000   $1,020     $5.30  
Six Months Ended
December 31, 2017
  Expense
Ratio for
the Period
  Beginning
Account
Value
07/01/17
  Ending
Account
Value
12/31/17
  Expenses
Paid
During
the Period*
 

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

 

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

Class N

  1.29%   $1,000   $1,122     $6.90  

Class I

  1.10%   $1,000   $1,123     $5.89  

Class Z

  1.04%   $1,000   $1,123     $5.56  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

Class N

  1.29%   $1,000   $1,019     $6.56  

Class I

  1.10%   $1,000   $1,020     $5.60  

Class Z

  1.04%   $1,000   $1,020     $5.30  

 

* Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized expense ratio multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half-year (184), then divided by 365.
 

 

 

 
3


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

    

 

The AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund (the Fund) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in the stocks of small capitalization companies.

 

THE PORTFOLIO MANAGER

 

TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC (TimesSquare), the Fund’s subadvisor, utilizes a bottom-up fundamental approach to small cap investing. Led by co-managers Grant Babyak and Ken Duca, the investment team at TimesSquare believes its proprietary fundamental research skills, which place a particular emphasis on the assessment of management quality and an indepth understanding of superior business models, enable the team to build a diversified portfolio of small cap growth stocks designed to generate good risk-adjusted returns.

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

 

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund’s Class Z returned 21.14%, while its benchmark, the Russell 2000® Growth Index (the “Index”), returned 22.17%.

 

Equity returns in 2017 marched upward across the globe. Markets climbed steadily throughout the year to post annual returns of 21% to 22% for broad U.S. equity indices,1 25% for non-U.S. equities,2 and 37% for emerging markets.3 These gains coincided with notably muted levels of volatility across all equity markets—including historic lows for the U.S. and developed markets4—and steadily increasing levels of global economic activity from manufacturing and service industries.5 Unemployment rates declined to lows not seen for over a decade in the U.S., the U.K. and Japan among other countries, with Germany at its lowest level since its 1990 reunification.6

 

In the U.S., the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate’s7 target range by 25 basis points for a third time this year, bringing it to 1.25–1.50%, and left in place indications for another three increases in 2018.8 The final reading for the third quarter’s GDP9 annual growth rate was 3.2%, the highest quarterly level in three years.10 In the late summer when the administration began its efforts to significantly change the current tax code, stocks rallied in anticipation of broad benefits to corporations. With the law’s passage in late December, that momentum continued. Potential tax benefits for individuals were less clear, thus while measures of consumer confidence and sentiment climbed during most of 2017, both retreated at the end of the year.11

 

Commodity prices rose sharply, especially for oil, which ended the year at over $60 per barrel and at a level not seen for 2 12 years.12 While the price for a

  

broad basket of commodities reached a 12-month high, natural gas prices declined,13 likely the result of an overabundant supply. Also slipping toward the end of the year was the U.S. Dollar’s value, which had steadily declined from its highs in 2016.14

 

Across U.S. stocks, one striking measure was the dominance throughout 2017 of large over small and growth over value. Within small-to-mid capitalization growth, stocks with the highest valuations15 outperformed for the full year, as did companies with higher risk.16 In terms of economic sectors, technology and health care were the strongest areas while energy and consumer staples lagged.

 

Amidst this environment, the Fund underperformed the Russell 2000 Growth Index for the year. Stock selection had a strong net positive effect. In general, our investments in producer durables, consumer discretionary, materials & processing, financial services, technology, energy and consumer staples outpaced their counterparts in the Index, while our holdings in health care and utilities lagged. Sector allocation had a strong net negative effect and drove our underperformance as our underweights to consumer staples, materials & processing and consumer discretionary and our overweight to utilities helped our returns, while our underweight to health care and our overweights to energy, producer durables and financial services detracted from performance.

 

The top contributor to our returns for the year hailed from consumer discretionary: 2U, Inc., which provides cloud-based software-as-a-service online learning platform solutions for nonprofit colleges and universities. 2U shares advanced by 116% during the year thanks to a string of new partnerships with schools including Pepperdine University, the University of Southern California and Rice University. 2U also unveiled a program at Yale University that received accreditation and is expected to launch in early 2018. Management noted a strong program launch schedule into 2019. Cross-selling opportunities still exist with many of 2U’s current clients looking to expand into the non-degree products offered by its recent acquisition of GetSmarter, which specializes in online short course certificates for working professionals. Also scoring well with its 123% climb was Chegg, Inc., which provides a learning platform for students with products and services including textbooks in multiple formats, online tutoring and test preparation. Chegg reported several quarters that exceeded expectations with particularly strong organic sales growth that came from areas of

  

greater profitability, such as online tutoring. Management also announced a partnership with Sallie Mae, through which Chegg will receive payments from Sallie Mae from its borrowers in exchange for free study and tutor subscriptions. Hibbett Sports, Inc. is a sporting goods retailer focusing on small and mid-sized markets. A slowdown in apparel sales early in the year led to weaker results and a reduction of guidance. After same-store sales weakness persisted through the second quarter and we saw indications that the next quarter’s trends remained lackluster, we closed our position in May. Hibbett lost 37% during the time we held the stock. Motion picture technology provider IMAX Corporation rated poorly with its 27% decline. It appears that significant selling pressure on IMAX’s shares was driven by two investment firms that were large holders with significant client outflows, which forced them to exit many of their positions such as IMAX. There is still a solid slate of movies that is driving interest in IMAX technology installations at movie theaters across the U.S., Europe, China, Taiwan, Japan, Russia and India. We closed our position in March in Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings, Inc. with its shares down 53% during the time we held the stock. As a specialty retailer of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor merchandise, the company faced negative sentiment early in the year following the Republican sweep in Washington. The new administration likely would not seek additional restrictions on the purchases of firearms, which obviated any short-term spike in sales that typically would occur prior to new regulations. After Sportsman’s Warehouse reported its first earnings miss as a public company with worsening trends, we sold the stock on the lack of visibility for improvement.

 

We closed two of our detractors in the energy sector: PDC and Gulfport. PDC Energy, Inc. is an oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids exploration and production company with operations focused on the Wattenberg Field in Colorado and the Delaware Basin in West Texas. After a different operator in Colorado from years earlier had improperly decommissioned a vertical well, it exploded below an occupied house. The Colorado governor called for increased inspections of pipelines near buildings, few of which PDC had, and most of those had been recently tested; however, all drillers in Colorado saw their stock prices under pressure with PDC as no exception. After PDC reported disappointing well results in their western acreage in the Permian Basin and a lower number of wells coming on line in the

 

 
4


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

Wattenberg Field, we decided to move on. PDC shares fell by 47% during the time we held the stock. Gulfport Energy Corporation is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with operations focused on the Louisiana Gulf Coast, in the Utica Shale in Ohio, in the Niobrara Formation in Colorado and in the Bakken Formation in North Dakota and Montana. We closed our position following our reduced confidence in management after their questionable deal for acreage in Oklahoma. Shares fell by 41% during the time we owned Gulfport in 2017. Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure, Inc. manufactures and rents patented silo proppant storage systems used by exploration and production operators and pressure pumping service companies to increase efficiency in the well fracturing process. We participated in a secondary offering in the fourth quarter to establish our position in Solaris, and shares have gained 35% since our purchase. The oil well equipment market continues to shift from other open, funnel-based systems that offer little to no storage to Solaris’s vertical sand silo systems, and we are optimistic about Solaris’s ability to continue to gain market share.

 

In the financial services sector, WEX Inc. provides business payment processing and information management solutions for commercial and government fleets as well as payment processing solutions for brand stores, government departments and service organizations. WEX rose 27% thanks to solid fiscal quarterly results and raised guidance. Its Fleet Solutions unit benefited from volume growth from new customer signings and higher fuel prices, while its health care division signed Bank of America as a new client. WEX also signed another new partnership with Citibank to provide fleet card solutions for several government agencies. The bottom detractor to our returns for the year was Cardtronics plc, which operates a network of automated teller machines and multi-functional financial services kiosks in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Mexico. Cardtronics experienced difficulties with system upgrades associated with new EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) chip-enabled systems that led to increased downtime for its ATMs. The company also faced uncertainty surrounding U.K. regulatory reviews of its recent acquisition of a rival ATM provider. We decided to close our position in the third quarter with shares depreciating by 48% during the time we held the stock after losing patience with management following several quarters’ worth of disappointing results and lowered guidance.

 

 

In health care, we were hurt by the negative sector allocation effect from our typical underweight to the biotechnology industry, which soared 60% in 2017; in

  

our managing the risk of the Fund, we generally avoid the more speculative biotech companies that do not have any drugs that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and, therefore, are not generating revenues. Radius Health, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies for treating osteoporosis, oncology and endocrine diseases. We initiated a position in Radius in May following FDA’s approval of its lead product, Tymlos, for the treatment of women with postmenopausal osteoporosis; Tymlos appears to us to be a best in class opportunity in an indication that has room to grow. Shares have traded down by -16% since our purchase following disappointing third quarter results. Management missed sales estimates for Tymlos. This drug is on the national preferred formulary list for the pharmacy benefit management company Express Scripts and is scheduled to come online in January 2018, which is expected to mark a large inflection point in Tymlos sales. Dermira, Inc. develops therapies used by dermatologists to treat skin-related conditions such as psoriasis, excessive sweating and acne. In the third quarter, management announced their entering a licensing agreement with pharmaceuticals company Roche under which Dermira will obtain the rights to the atopic dermatitis drug Lebrikizumab, which passed a phase II study. This acquisition of Lebrikizumab raised concerns about the upcoming clinical trial costs for this new drug and cast doubt on the viability of their existing drug pipeline. Dermira later terminated their collaboration with Belgian pharmaceutical company UCB on a psoriatic arthritis drug, despite already having completed pivotal trials. We decided to close our position in December after reduced confidence in the management team’s decision-making; Dermira shares lost 16% during the time we held it. Bucking the trend in our health care holdings with its 77% surge was Inogen, Inc., which specializes in portable oxygen concentrators used to deliver supplemental long-term oxygen therapy to patients suffering from chronic respiratory conditions. Management reported top and bottom line results that beat expectations and raised guidance with accelerating sales growth across all of its businesses. Strength was noted in Inogen’s direct-to-consumer and business-to-business sales, which more than offset a decline in unit rentals primarily due to Medicare reimbursement cuts.

 

Within producer durables, On Assignment, Inc. is a professional staffing firm that provides flexible and permanent information technology staffing solutions

  

for various sectors worldwide. On Assignment rose 46% thanks to several quarters of strong results. Management has noted improving profit margins in its Oxford Global Resources segment focused on recruiting and consulting in North America and Europe as well as continued strong growth in its Apex Systems division, which specializes in information technology staffing. Continued strong free cash flow coupled with a healthy balance sheet afford management the ability to conduct additional share buybacks or make acquisitions. Advisory Board Company provides best practices research, business intelligence, and management and advisory services, primarily to the health care and education industries. Earlier in the year, an activist investor disclosed it had amassed a large stake, and the company later announced plans to “explore strategic alternatives.” We sold our position in September after Advisory Board announced the acquisition and split of the company with OptumCare buying its health care business and Vista Equity Partners buying its education business and the unlikelihood of additional bidders. Shares gained 59% during the time we held the stock. We also closed our position in Electronics For Imaging, Inc. with its shares down 28% prior to our sale in August. Developing digital imaging and printer technologies for the industrial and production markets, the company postponed a fiscal quarterly report while it reassessed its revenue recognition procedures. That review will also cover historical financial controls, which may only indicate timing issues with accounting sales for large format printers from one period to another. We believe that management was less than forthright with the issue and decided to exit the position. WageWorks, Inc. provides tax-advantaged programs for consumer-directed health, commuter and other employee spending account benefits. In the third quarter, shares fell despite reporting solid results across its key segments and still sporting a strong pipeline of new business opportunities. Some investors were hoping for an even larger guidance raise. Shares fell 15% for the year. WageWorks remains as one of the few providers that can handle all parts of the employee benefit chain and still offers a high degree of recurring revenues which provides us with good visibility into its future earnings potential.

 

In technology, MKS Instruments, Inc. provides instruments, subsystems and process control solutions that measure, control, power, monitor and analyze critical parameters of manufacturing

 

 
5


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

processes to improve process performance and productivity. A series of beat and raise quarters with organic growth in its semiconductor business and a greater contribution from its 2016 acquisition of Newport, a designer of laser and photonics components helped to boost its shares by 61% for the year. Greater demand for memory chips and organic LEDs has also driven higher sales levels, and MKS continues to take market share. Management is executing ahead of schedule on their integration of photonics solutions company Newport Corporation. Appreciating by 76%, Paycom Software, Inc. provides cloud-based human resources technology and payroll services delivered as a single software-as-a-service application for small- to mid-sized companies in the U.S. Paycom issued four straight quarters of better-than-expected results, although fourth quarter guidance was only maintained instead of management’s typical raise due to the hurricane-related disruptions. Paycom continues to expand into new locations by leveraging existing personnel. Management completed their $50 million share repurchase program and authorized a new $75 million program. NIC Inc. is the nation’s leading provider of official government web sites, online services and secure payment processing solutions providing eGovernment services for more than 3,500 federal, state and local agencies in the U.S. Earlier in the year, management announced guidance for 2017 that fell short of expectations. Operating expenses should be higher as NIC continued to build several state-specific platforms; in the future, these could be adapted for sale to other states. Shares also fell on uncertainty over the state of Texas contract renewal in mid-2018. This contract currently represents approximately 20% of NIC’s revenues, and management remains optimistic given they have executed well during the existing contract with Texas. NIC has also benefitted from other contract wins with the states of Illinois and Wisconsin as well   

as the federal government. All told, NIC’s shares finished the year down 29%. MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. is a high performance analog semiconductor company operating in four primary end markets: Networks, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive and Multi-market. MACOM shares fell by 30% on lower-than-expected top and bottom line results driven by weakness in China for optical networking components from a slowdown in spending by Chinese telecommunication carriers. The company’s datacenter business was also weak due to supply constraints, which are expected to be resolved early next year. While not enough to offset the issues in telecom, results in MACOM’s aerospace & defense and industrials segments were strong. We believe that the stock has reached a trough in performance.

 

As 2017 closed, the global economies appeared on a uniformly upward growth path for the first time since 2008’s global financial crisis, albeit at different paces. Many global uncertainties remain, including the actual impact of U.S. tax law changes, how much longer a nine-year bull market in the U.S. could continue, the shape of a new U.K. trade agreement with the European Union now that the terms of its Brexit have been set, along with escalating tensions surrounding North Korea. However, our investment experience has shown us that the markets never follow a guaranteed path. As bottom-up active managers, we believe that shifting environments create additional investment opportunities, thus no matter what 2018 brings we are steadfast that our disciplined analysis of business models and management teams should find superior companies.

 

For the new year, we remain dedicated to adding value to the assets you have entrusted to us and look forward to working with you throughout 2018. As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

  

 

1 As represented by the S&P 500 and Russell 3000 indexes, respectively

 

2 As represented by the MSCI EAFE Index

 

3 As represented by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index

 

4 As defined by the CBOE set of volatility indexes (based on market expectations of near-term volatility for S&P 500, MSCI EAFE, and MSCI Emerging Markets index option or ETF prices)

 

5 Source: IHS Markit surveys of global purchasing executives

 

6 Source: FactSet Economics Standardized Database

 

7 The federal funds rate is the interest rate at which depository institutions lend reserve balances to other depository institutions overnight, on an uncollateralized basis

 

8 Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

 

9 Gross Domestic Product

 

10 Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce

 

11 Sources: Nielsen (consumer confidence) and University of Michigan (consumer sentiment)

 

12 Source: Bloomberg

 

13 Source: Bloomberg

 

14 As measured by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System using an average of foreign exchange values with major currencies that circulate widely

 

15 As measured by price/earnings ratios

 

16 As measured by Beta

 

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject to change without notice.

 

 
6


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class Z (formerly Class I) shares on December 31, 2007 to a $10,000 investment made in the Russell 2000® Growth Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund and the Russell 2000® Growth Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

    Average Annual Total Returns1   One
Year
    Five
Years
    Ten
Years
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 
 

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund2, 3

         
 

Class N4

    20.87%       13.60%       9.84%       8.93%       01/21/00  
 

Class I

                      16.11%       02/24/17  
   

Class Z4

    21.14%       13.84%       10.00%       9.09%       01/21/00  
   

Russell 2000® Growth Index5

    22.17%       15.21%       9.19%       4.87%       01/21/00  

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

  Date reflects inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).

 

2  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in small-capitalization companies, such as erratic earnings patterns, competitive conditions, limited earnings history, and a reliance on one or a limited number of products.

 

3  The Fund invests in growth stocks, which may be more sensitive to market movements because their prices tend to reflect future investor expectations rather than just current profits.

 

4  Effective February 27, 2017, the Class S and Class I were renamed Class N and Class Z, respectively.

 

5  The Russell 2000® Growth Index measures the performance of those Russell 2000 companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. Unlike the Fund, the Russell 2000® Growth Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment, and does not incur expenses.

 

 

The Russell Indices are trademarks of the London Stock Exchange Group companies.

 

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 
 

 

 
7


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector   

% of

Net Assets

 

Information Technology

     27.9  

Industrials

     22.5  

Consumer Discretionary

     15.0  

Health Care

     12.8  

Financials

     6.2  

Real Estate

     3.5  

Consumer Staples

     2.0  

Telecommunication Services

     1.9  

Exchange Traded Funds

     1.8  

Energy

     1.5  

Materials

     1.4  

Utilities

     0.2  

Short-Term Investments*

     13.1  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (9.8

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.

 

** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name   

% of

Net Assets

WEX, Inc.

   2.9

Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Inc.

   2.4

WageWorks, Inc.

   2.3

On Assignment, Inc.

   2.3

MKS Instruments, Inc.

   2.2

iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund

   1.8

j2 Global, Inc.

   1.8

2U, Inc.

   1.7

Cable One, Inc.

   1.6

Albany International Corp., Class A

   1.6
    

 

Top Ten as a Group

   20.6
    

 

      
 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 
8


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 94.3%

 

  

Consumer Discretionary - 14.4%

 

  

Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Inc.*

     306,066        $28,770,204  

Cable One, Inc.1

     27,522        19,357,598  

Chegg, Inc.*,1

     885,000        14,443,200  

Core-Mark Holding Co., Inc.

     187,000        5,905,460  

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc.*

     125,000        6,896,250  

Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc., Class A*,1

     280,000        13,630,400  

IMAX Corp. (Canada)*,1

     400,099        9,262,292  

Lithia Motors, Inc., Class A

     55,000        6,247,450  

Monro, Inc.1

     280,045        15,948,563  

National Vision Holdings, Inc.*

     430,000        17,462,300  

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc.*

     120,000        6,390,000  

Papa John’s International, Inc.1

     135,000        7,574,850  

Strayer Education, Inc.

     154,900        13,875,942  

William Lyon Homes, Class A*

     185,000        5,379,800  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        171,144,309  

Consumer Staples - 2.0%

     

MGP Ingredients, Inc.1

     233,000        17,913,040  

SunOpta, Inc. (Canada)*,1

     695,000        5,386,250  

Total Consumer Staples

        23,299,290  

Energy - 1.5%

     

Matador Resources Co.*,1

     355,024        11,051,897  

Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure, Inc., Class A*

     340,000        7,279,400  

Total Energy

        18,331,297  

Financials - 6.2%

     

AMERISAFE, Inc.

     117,552        7,241,203  

Cadence BanCorp*

     453,000        12,285,360  

FCB Financial Holdings, Inc., Class A*

     122,000        6,197,600  

Hamilton Lane, Inc., Class A

     285,000        10,086,150  

Meta Financial Group, Inc.

     79,000        7,319,350  

ProAssurance Corp.

     250,065        14,291,215  

WisdomTree Investments, Inc.1

     1,270,000        15,938,500  

Total Financials

        73,359,378  

Health Care - 12.8%

     

Achaogen, Inc.*,1

     220,000        2,362,800  

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.*

     490,000        7,129,500  

Amedisys, Inc.*

     140,020        7,380,454  

American Renal Associates Holdings, Inc.*,1

     300,004        5,220,070  

Avexis, Inc.*

     63,100        6,983,277  

Blueprint Medicines Corp.*

     170,000        12,819,700  

Civitas Solutions, Inc.*

     500,066        8,551,129  

Cotiviti Holdings, Inc.*,1

     93,600        3,014,856  
      Shares      Value  

DBV Technologies, S.A., Sponsored ADR (France)*,1

     117,828        $2,898,569  

Evolent Health, Inc., Class A*,1

     455,012        5,596,648  

HealthEquity, Inc.*

     181,300        8,459,458  

Heska Corp.*

     85,000        6,817,850  

Inogen, Inc.*

     100,000        11,908,000  

iRhythm Technologies, Inc.*

     188,000        10,537,400  

K2M Group Holdings, Inc.*

     450,030        8,100,540  

PRA Health Sciences, Inc.*

     110,033        10,020,705  

Radius Health, Inc.*,1

     330,050        10,485,688  

Repligen Corp.*

     390,000        14,149,200  

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc.*,1

     140,000        7,789,600  

Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.*,1

     105,000        1,905,750  

Total Health Care

        152,131,194  

Industrials - 22.5%

     

Albany International Corp., Class A

     314,200        19,307,590  

Allegiant Travel Co.1

     95,064        14,711,154  

Atento, S.A. (Spain)1

     581,400        5,901,210  

Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc.*

     261,600        16,679,616  

Clean Harbors, Inc.*

     303,500        16,449,700  

Daseke, Inc.*

     410,100        5,860,329  

EMCOR Group, Inc.

     187,000        15,287,250  

Exponent, Inc.

     150,000        10,665,000  

Healthcare Services Group, Inc.

     223,073        11,760,409  

Huron Consulting Group, Inc.*

     178,076        7,203,174  

ICF International, Inc.*

     197,377        10,362,292  

Milacron Holdings Corp.*

     810,000        15,503,400  

On Assignment, Inc.*

     415,002        26,672,179  

RBC Bearings, Inc.*

     63,096        7,975,334  

Rexnord Corp.*

     440,430        11,459,989  

TriNet Group, Inc.*

     320,000        14,188,800  

UniFirst Corp.

     70,000        11,543,000  

Viad Corp.

     178,040        9,863,416  

WageWorks, Inc.*

     435,774        27,017,988  

Watts Water Technologies, Inc., Class A

     110,000        8,354,500  

Total Industrials

        266,766,330  

Information Technology - 27.9%

 

  

2U, Inc.*,1

     303,880        19,603,299  

ACI Worldwide, Inc.*

     307,608        6,973,473  

Acxiom Corp.*

     308,000        8,488,480  

Blackhawk Network Holdings, Inc.*

     290,000        10,338,500  

Blackline, Inc.*,1

     223,000        7,314,400  

Carbonite, Inc.*

     185,000        4,643,500  
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

9


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Information Technology - 27.9%

 

  

(continued)

     

Cision, Ltd.*,1

     645,575        $7,662,975  

Cloudera, Inc.*,1

     405,000        6,690,600  

Envestnet, Inc.*

     250,032        12,464,095  

Exela Technologies, Inc.*

     1,179,300        6,073,395  

ExlService Holdings, Inc.*

     285,039        17,202,104  

Fair Isaac Corp.

     79,080        12,115,056  

Instructure, Inc.*

     219,500        7,265,450  

j2 Global, Inc.1

     285,957        21,455,354  

Littelfuse, Inc.

     69,005        13,650,569  

MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc.*

     223,000        7,256,420  

MAXIMUS, Inc.

     125,000        8,947,500  

MKS Instruments, Inc.

     281,000        26,554,500  

New Relic, Inc.*

     178,520        10,313,100  

NIC, Inc.

     350,000        5,810,000  

Paycom Software, Inc.*,1

     223,000        17,913,590  

Pegasystems, Inc.

     250,000        11,787,500  

Q2 Holdings, Inc.*

     460,907        16,984,423  

RealPage, Inc.*

     195,200        8,647,360  

Science Applications International Corp.

     136,033        10,416,047  

Talend, S.A., ADR (France)*,1

     280,000        10,494,400  

WEX, Inc.*

     240,045        33,901,555  

Total Information Technology

 

     330,967,645  

Materials - 1.4%

     

PolyOne Corp.

     215,068        9,355,458  

Summit Materials, Inc., Class A*

     243,428        7,653,376  

Total Materials

        17,008,834  

Real Estate - 3.5%

     

HFF, Inc., Class A

     148,053        7,201,298  

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Inc.1

     1,021,358        17,720,561  

National Storage Affiliates Trust, REIT

     300,000        8,178,000  

Williams Scotsman Corp.*,1

     659,000        8,369,300  

Total Real Estate

        41,469,159  

Telecommunication Services - 1.9%

     

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc.

     195,082        8,837,216  

Shenandoah Telecommunications Co.

     390,000        13,182,000  

Total Telecommunication Services

 

     22,019,216  

Utilities - 0.2%

     

AquaVenture Holdings, Ltd.*,1

     160,057        2,484,085  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $778,176,632)

        1,118,980,737  
      Shares      Value  

Exchange Traded Funds - 1.8%

 

  

iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund1
(Cost $20,070,457)

     115,000        $21,470,500  

Preferred Stock - 0.6%

     

Consumer Discretionary - 0.6%

 

  

Wheels Up *,2
(Cost $6,999,997)

     2,243,589        6,999,997  
     Principal
Amount
        

Short-Term Investments - 13.1%

 

  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 9.6%3

 

  

Bank of Nova Scotia, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.380% total to be received $26,934,602 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 3.500% - 4.000%, 07/20/45 - 11/01/47, totaling $27,473,294)

     $26,930,473        26,930,473  

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.410% total to be received $26,934,692 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 8.500%, 01/31/18 - 06/20/63, totaling $27,469,083)

     26,930,473        26,930,473  

Daiwa Capital Markets America, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.430% total to be received $26,934,752 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 6.500%, 01/11/18 - 12/01/51, totaling $27,469,083)

     26,930,473        26,930,473  

Jefferies LLC, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.500% total to be received $5,666,133 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 1.750%, 09/13/18 - 04/30/22, totaling $5,778,495)

     5,665,189        5,665,189  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.630% total to be received $26,935,350 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% - 3.875%, 01/15/19 - 02/15/46, totaling $27,678,321)

     26,930,473        26,930,473  

Total Joint Repurchase Agreements

 

     113,387,081  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 3.5%

 

  

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.18%4

     41,965,145        41,965,145  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $155,352,226)

 

     155,352,226  

Total Investments - 109.8%
(Cost $960,599,312)

 

     1,302,803,460  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (9.8)%

 

     (115,822,420

Net Assets - 100.0%

        $1,186,981,040  
 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
10


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

*  Non-income producing security.

 

1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $108,634,757 or 9.2% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.

 

2  Security’s value was determined by using significant unobservable inputs.

 

3  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
4 Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

ADR    American Depositary Receipt

REIT    Real Estate Investment Trust

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

   $ 1,118,980,737                    $ 1,118,980,737  

Exchange Traded Funds

     21,470,500                      21,470,500  

Preferred Stock

                 $ 6,999,997        6,999,997  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

          $ 113,387,081               113,387,081  

Other Investment Companies

     41,965,145                      41,965,145  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 1,182,416,382      $ 113,387,081      $ 6,999,997      $ 1,302,803,460  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

All common stocks held in the Fund are Level 1 securities. For a detailed breakout of common stocks by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

 

†† All preferred stocks held in the Fund are Level 3 securities. For a detailed breakout of preferred stocks by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

The following table below is a reconciliation of investments in which significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) were used in determining fair value at December 31, 2017:

 

     Preferred    
Stock    
 

Balance as of December 31, 2016

     —      

Realized gain (loss)

     —      

Change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation

     —      

Purchases

     $6,999,997      

Sales

     —      

Balance as of December 31, 2017

     $6,999,997      

    

  

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments still held at December 31, 2017

     —      

The following table summarizes the quantitative inputs and assumptions used for items categorized in Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2017. The table below is not intended to be all-inclusive, but rather provides information on the significant Level 3 inputs as they relate to the Fund’s fair value measurements:

Quantitative Information about Level 3 Fair Value Measurements

 

     Fair Value at
December 31, 2017
     Valuation
Technique(s)
     Unobservable
Inputs(s)
     Range      Average  

Preferred Stock

     $6,999,997        Recent Financing        Recent Transaction Price        N/A        N/A  
  

 

 

             

Total

     $6,999,997              
  

 

 

             

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
11


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

    

 

The AMG Timessquare Mid Cap Growth Fund (the Fund) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in the common and preferred stock of U.S. mid-capitalization companies. The Fund invests at least <80%> of its assets in securities of mid-capitalization companies. The Fund’s subadvisor, TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC (TimesSquare), uses a bottom-up, research-intensive approach to identify mid-capitalization growth stocks that it believes have the greatest potential to achieve significant price appreciation over a 12-to-18-month horizon. In this case, mid-capitalization refers to companies that, at the time of purchase, have market capitalizations within the range of the Russell Midcap® Growth Index (the Index), the Fund’s benchmark.

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

 

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund (Class Z) returned 22.63%, while its benchmark, the Russell Midcap® Growth Index, returned 25.27%.

 

Equity returns in 2017 marched upward across the globe. Markets climbed steadily throughout the year to post annual returns of 21% to 22% for broad U.S. equity indices,1 25% for non-U.S. equities,2 and 37% for emerging markets.3 These gains coincided with notably muted levels of volatility across all equity markets—including historic lows for the U.S. and developed markets4—and steadily increasing levels of global economic activity from manufacturing and service industries.5 Unemployment rates declined to lows not seen for over a decade in the U.S., the U.K. and Japan, among other countries, with Germany at its lowest level since its 1990 reunification.6

 

In the U.S., the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate’s7 target range by 25 basis points for a third time this year, bringing it to 1.25–1.50%, and left in place indications for another three increases in 2018.8 The final reading for the third quarter’s GDP9 annual growth rate was 3.2%, the highest quarterly level in three years.10 In the late summer when the administration began its efforts to significantly change the tax code, stocks rallied in anticipation of broad benefits to corporations. With the law’s passage in late December, that momentum continued. Potential tax benefits for individuals were less clear, thus while measures of consumer confidence and sentiment climbed during most of 2017, both retreated at the end of the year.11

 

Commodity prices rose sharply, especially for oil, which ended the year at over $60 per barrel and at a level not seen for 2 12 years.12 While the price for a

  

broad basket of commodities reached a 12-month high, natural gas prices declined,13 likely the result of an overabundant supply. Also slipping toward the end of the year was the U.S. Dollar’s value, which had steadily declined from its highs in 2016.14

 

Across U.S. stocks, one striking measure was the dominance throughout 2017 of large over small and growth over value, which continued into the fourth quarter. Within small-to-mid capitalization growth, stocks with the highest valuations15 outperformed for the full year, as did companies with higher risk.16 In terms of economic sectors, technology and health care were the strongest areas while energy and consumer staples lagged.

 

Amidst this environment, the Fund underperformed the Russell Midcap Growth Index for 2017. Relative weakness was found in technology, health care, materials & processing and energy. This was partially offset by strength in financial services, consumer staples, producer durables and consumer discretionary.

 

With the technology sector, Electronic Arts Inc., a digital interactive entertainment company that develops and delivers video games, jumped 33% for the year. They reported upside to quarterly expectations on better digital revenues. Subscription services have been increasing as a percentage of revenues. Dolby Laboratories creates audio and imaging technologies that are designed to transform entertainment and communications. Their shares rose 39% as the company posted solid results throughout the year and received an additional boost from news that their technology is embedded in Apple’s latest iPhones and iPads. We added Marvell Technology Group during the first quarter. It produces analog, mixed-signal and digital signal processor integrated circuits. We were drawn to the stock due to its attractive valuation, new management team and revamped salesforce. Storage and networking have been areas of strength. In November Marvell announced the acquisition of chipmaker Cavium, thereby diversifying its hard disk drive exposure and gaining scale. Its stock climbed 30% since it was added.

 

In health care, Henry Schein Inc. is a supplier of health products to dental practitioners, laboratories, physicians and veterinary clinics. Its shares retreated -7% on mixed third quarter results as revenues were above sell-side estimates while earnings were below. We liquidated the position during the fourth quarter due to a slowdown in

   single-use dental products, which management believes will persist into 2018. Premier Inc. specializes in analytics, supply chain solutions, advisory and other services to health care organizations. Its Supply Chain Services segment offers medical & surgical products, pharmaceuticals and laboratory supplies. Its Performance Services business helps customers manage a value-based care reimbursement model and support their regulatory reporting requirements. During the year, Premier encountered headwinds from hospitals cutting back on their discretionary spending and that led to a 4% slide in its shares. Management maintained full year guidance as they set conservative assumptions on utilization levels and regulatory uncertainties. In the third quarter, we added TESARO Inc. to the Fund. This is an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company with a broad therapy pipeline. They currently have two products on the market: Zejula and Varubi. Zejula is used to treat ovarian cancer while Varubi is used to prevent nausea associated with chemotherapy. TESARO’s shares dropped 28% as third quarter sales of Zejula were slightly ahead of consensus projections, but forward guidance was below. DaVita Inc.’s primary focus is on kidney dialysis services to patients suffering from chronic kidney failure and end-stage renal disease. Their ancillary International and DaVita Medical Group businesses have both fallen short of management’s targets thereby impacting overall company results. In December, the company announced they will be selling the DaVita Medical Group business to United Health/Optum at favorable terms. The market reacted positively to this news as the stock ended the year up 12%. Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. was added to the Fund during the second quarter. It is focused on the discovery and development of pharmaceuticals for the treatment of neurological and endocrine-related disorders. The launch of their Ingrezza drug therapy has been well received, prodded by physician enthusiasm as well as end-user demand. Ingrezza is thus far the only Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved product on the market for treating tardive dyskinesia, a disorder that results in involuntary and repetitive movements. It has also been granted orphan drug designation by the FDA for pediatric Tourette syndrome. These developments served to lift Neurocrine Biosciences by 53% since it was purchased. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. is focused on developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis and advanced 102% over the year. Their two

 

 
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Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

drugs currently on the market are Orkambia and Kalydeco, plus Tezacaftor which is in phase III clinical trials.

 

Within materials & processing, lawn and garden care products company Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. grew 26%. We added this stock to the Fund during the second quarter. Since then, it has beat estimates for two successive quarters driven by strength in its Hawthorne Hydroponic segment. Martin Marietta Materials Inc., a supplier of aggregates and other building materials to the construction industry, netted a 0% return for the year. Storm activity across Texas and the Southeast weighed on revenues and added to expenses. Management broadly reduced guidance to reflect weakness from hurricane-impacted areas and a slower pace of projects. While aggregate volumes declined, pricing was strong. Management sees aggregate shipments increasing mid-single digits, barring disruptions. Within these projections, the residential market remains the healthiest, followed by infrastructure spending and non-residential. Shares of Ecolab Inc. rose 16% throughout the year. The one down period occurred in September when management indicated Hurricane Harvey would impact third quarter results.

 

In energy, Range Resources Corp. is a natural gas-focused exploration and production company with properties in the Appalachian and Midcontinent regions of the U.S. The acquisition of Memorial Resources resulted in greater balance sheet leverage and questionable acreage. We sold out of the position during the third quarter. Range Resources slipped 47% for the time it was held. We added Concho Resources Inc. during the second quarter. This is an exploration and production company with its principal area of operations in the Permian Basin of southeast New Mexico and west Texas. Concho handily beat third quarter estimates due to higher-than-expected natural gas production, better realized pricing and lower expenses. In recognition of an increased pace of well completions, management expects to exceed the high end of their growth guidance. These developments served to bolster the stock by 14% since it was purchased.

 

Within financial services, SBA Communications Corp. owns and operates wireless communication towers across North, Central and South America. Its stock was buoyed 41% by the combination of strong results and news of the canceled merger discussions between Sprint and T-Mobile. Sprint subsequently announced plans to substantially increase capital spending on their network. Fuel card

  

and payment solutions provider FleetCor Technologies Inc. advanced 36% for the year. They reported solid results and raised full-year guidance due to strong business trends and improving fuel prices. FleetCor announced the acquisition of Creative Lodging Solutions and a two-part agreement with Walmart. FleetCor’s commercial fuel cards will be accepted at Walmart and Sam’s Club fueling stations and will also be the exclusive provider of fleet fuel cards to Walmart’s 4,000 employees that drive company vehicles. Alliance Data Systems Corp. offers data-driven and transaction-based marketing and customer loyalty solutions. The stock recovered after correcting in early 2017 due to choppiness in their private label credit card business. They experienced improvement in this business during the year and this served to offset softer trends in their Epsilon marketing services business. The stock ended the year up 12%. Property & casualty insurer Progressive Corp. was a steady performer in 2017, rising 62%. Their primary focus is on motor vehicles. They consistently reported higher-than-expected results and benefited from industry-wide auto insurance rate increases. Progressive has gained market share and generated profit margin improvement. RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., a provider of reinsurance and insurance services, suffered a loss of 7%. Results fell short of estimates primarily due to worse-than-projected prior period reserve development as well as lighter investment income due to catastrophe bond losses. The string of hurricanes in the Atlantic, including three of the costliest since 1970, should result in higher future pricing for reinsurance. Assured Guaranty Ltd. provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. Their exposure to Puerto Rican debt has been a source of prominent focus by the market as its shares traded off by 9%. Nasdaq Inc. offers trading, clearing, exchange technology, regulatory, securities listing and public company services. While the company delivered solid results for most of the year, management anticipates higher operating expenses associated with the acquisitions of eVestment and Sybenetix. We sold out of the position during the fourth quarter and the stock was up 10% for the time it was held.

 

In the consumer staples sector, Sprouts Farmers Markets Inc. operates a chain of health-focused grocery stores that offer fresh, natural and organic foods. We used strength from second quarter results and the stock’s 23% year-to-date appreciation as an opportunity to exit the position during the third quarter. McCormick & Company, which was added to

  

the Fund during the first quarter, rose 5%. They produce items such as spices, seasoning mixes, and condiments. In July, McCormick announced the acquisition of Reckitt Benckiser (RB) Foods. The stock had uneven performance since then as the market became concerned about near-term retail sales trends in the French’s mustard brand. French’s is facing competition on two fronts: Heinz yellow mustard and an expansion of private label by retailers. Conversely, McCormick is bullish on the prospects for Frank’s RedHot sauce, also a part of RB Foods. They are working to expand distribution and extend the brand.

 

Within producer durables, CoStar Group Inc. is a provider of information, services and online marketplace to the commercial real estate industry. The stock surged ahead 59% on three solid quarters, with all business segments experiencing accelerated revenue growth. We added Nordson Corp. to the Fund during the second quarter. Its shares gained 24% based on earnings above sell-side projections. They manufacture and market systems used to apply adhesives and coatings. Results were driven by the core Adhesive Dispensing Systems and Advanced Technology Systems segments. Management offered very strong guidance. BWX Technologies Inc., which was added to the Fund during the first quarter, ascended 49%. This company provides nuclear reactor components for the U.S. navy’s submarines and aircraft carriers. The Navy plans to build two Virginia-class submarines per year and are planning for larger Ohio-class construction in years to come. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding provides management and technology consulting services. Its stock recovered after declining from news of a Department of Justice investigation into the company’s cost accounting and indirect cost charging practices. While there may not be a quick resolution (and we believe in management), the underlying business has continued to grow and led to an 8% gain. Hubbell Inc. designs, manufactures and sells electronic products. We exited the position early in the second quarter following mixed results and disappointing forward guidance. Its shares pulled back 2% for the time it was held.

 

In the consumer discretionary sector, discount variety store operator Dollar Tree Inc. scored a 39% rise. Their namesake branded stores experienced strength across numerous categories and geographies while the Family Dollar business saw improvement in customer traffic, same-store sales and operating margins. WABCO Holdings Inc. supplies electronic, mechanical, electro-mechanical and aerodynamic products to manufacturers of

 

 
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Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

commercial trucks, buses, trailers and passenger cars. Its shares were lifted 35% by strong revenues that were driven by continued growth in North America with sales of automated manual transmissions, collision mitigation systems and electronic stability controls that are now mandated on heavy duty trucks in the U.S. Sales of antilock braking systems in China were also noteworthy. Domino’s Pizza Inc., a pizza delivery company operating through company-owned and franchised stores, rose 20%. Same-store sales beat sell-side estimates as did earnings. Their domestic business has been doing well and they have made clear progress in the international segment. Tractor Supply Co. operates specialty stores catering to farmers and ranchers. We sold the position out of the Fund in the second quarter due to weak results in recognition of Tractor Supply’s exposure to the weak energy and agriculture markets as well as a lack of near-term signs of improvement. The stock suffered a 28% markdown for the time it was held. Specialty retailer O’Reilly Automotive Inc. is engaged in the distribution and retailing of automotive aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment and accessories in the U.S., serving both professional installers and do-it-yourself customers. The auto parts industry has been beset by a number of factors including less extreme weather and cyclical softness, which has served to dampen consumer demand. Despite having a superior distribution network versus peers, O’Reilly was not immune to these ills as its shares lost 13%. Basic apparel company Hanesbrands Inc. registered a 0% return for the year. The company produced mixed results and expectations for a second half of the year pickup have not materialized in the domestic business. We lost patience with the stock and sold the position during the fourth quarter.

  

As 2017 closed, the global economies appeared on a uniformly upward growth path for the first time since 2008’s global financial crisis—albeit at different paces. Many global uncertainties remain, including the actual impact of U.S. tax law changes, how much longer a nine-year bull market in the U.S. could continue, the shape of a new U.K. trade agreement with the European Union now that the terms of its Brexit have been set, along with escalating tensions surrounding North Korea. However, our investment experience has shown us that the markets never follow a guaranteed path. As bottom-up active managers we believe that shifting environments create additional investment opportunities, thus no matter what 2018 brings we are steadfast that our disciplined analysis of business models and management teams should find superior companies.

 

For the new year, we remain dedicated to adding value to the assets you have entrusted to us, and look forward to working with you throughout 2018. As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

 

1 As represented by the S&P 500 and Russell 3000 indexes, respectively

 

2 As represented by the MSCI EAFE Index

 

3 As represented by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index

 

4 As defined by the CBOE set of volatility indexes (based on market expectations of near-term volatility for S&P 500, MSCI EAFE, and MSCI Emerging Markets index option or ETF prices)

  

5 Source: IHS Markit surveys of global purchasing executives

 

6 Source: FactSet Economics Standardized Database

 

7 The federal funds rate is the interest rate at which depository institutions lend reserve balances to other depository institutions overnight, on an uncollateralized basis

 

8 Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

 

9 Gross Domestic Product

 

10 Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce

 

11 Source: Nielsen (consumer confidence) and University of Michigan (consumer sentiment)

 

12 Source: Bloomberg

 

13 Source: Bloomberg

 

14 As measured by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System using an average of foreign exchange values with major currencies that circulate widely

 

15 As measured by price/earnings ratios

 

16 As measured by Beta

 

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results and is subject to change without notice.

 

 
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Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class Z (formerly Class I) shares on December 31, 2007 to a $10,000 investment made in the Russell Midcap® Growth Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund and the Russell Midcap® Growth Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

    Average Annual Total Returns1   One
Year
    Five
Years
    Ten
Years
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 
 

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund2, 3, 4

         
 

Class N5

    22.40%       13.60%       8.86%       9.86%       03/04/05  
 

Class I

                      15.24%       02/24/17  
   

Class Z5

    22.63%       13.84%       9.07%       10.07%       03/04/05  
   

Russell Midcap® Growth Index6

    25.27%       15.30%       9.10%       9.67%       03/04/05  

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).

 

2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.

 

3  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in mid-capitalization companies such as greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than the stocks of larger, more established companies.

 

4  The Fund invests in growth stocks, which may be more sensitive to market movements because their prices tend to reflect future investor expectations rather than just current profits.

 

5  Effective February 27, 2017, the Class S and Class I were renamed Class N and Class Z, respectively.

 

6  The Russell Midcap® Growth Index measures the performance of those Russell Midcap companies with higher price/book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. The stocks are also members of the Russell 1000® Growth Index. Unlike the Fund, the Russell Midcap® Growth Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment, and does not incur expenses.

 

The Russell Indices are trademarks of the London Stock Exchange Group companies.

 

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 
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AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector    %of
Net Assets
 

Information Technology

     27.0  

Industrials

     23.1  

Consumer Discretionary

     12.0  

Financials

     11.5  

Health Care

     11.3  

Materials

     5.4  

Real Estate

     5.3  

Energy

     1.4  

Consumer Staples

     0.9  

Telecommunication Services

     0.8  

Short-Term Investments*

     3.3  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (2.0

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.

 

** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name    %of
Net Assets
 

SBA Communications Corp.

     3.3  

The Progressive Corp.

     3.2  

Global Payments, Inc.

     2.6  

Gartner, Inc.

     2.5  

L3 Technologies, Inc.

     2.1  

Dollar Tree, Inc.

     2.1  

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp.

     2.0  

CBRE Group, Inc., Class A

     2.0  

FleetCor Technologies, Inc.

     2.0  

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.

     1.9  
    

 

 

 

Top Ten as a Group

     23.7  
  

 

 

 
 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 
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AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 98.7%

     

Consumer Discretionary - 12.0%

 

  

Brunswick Corp.

     457,300        $25,252,106  

Dollar Tree, Inc.*

     408,800        43,868,328  

Domino’s Pizza, Inc.

     85,700        16,193,872  

International Game Technology PLC

     686,000        18,185,860  

Leggett & Platt, Inc.

     506,900        24,194,337  

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc.*

     141,800        34,108,572  

Pool Corp.

     171,500        22,234,975  

Ross Stores, Inc.

     329,400        26,434,350  

ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc.*

     417,600        21,410,352  

Ulta Beauty, Inc.*

     79,900        17,870,434  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        249,753,186  

Consumer Staples - 0.9%

 

  

McCormick & Co., Inc., Non-Voting Shares

     186,000        18,955,260  

Energy - 1.4%

     

Concho Resources, Inc.*

     200,500        30,119,110  

Financials - 11.5%

     

Apollo Global Management LLC, Class A

     885,600        29,641,032  

Assured Guaranty, Ltd. (Bermuda)

     540,800        18,316,896  

Axis Capital Holdings, Ltd. (Bermuda)

     410,400        20,626,704  

The Progressive Corp.

     1,183,200        66,637,824  

RenaissanceRe Holdings, Ltd. (Bermuda)

     240,700        30,229,513  

S&P Global, Inc.

     157,900        26,748,260  

Signature Bank*

     173,800        23,855,788  

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.

     461,000        23,570,930  

Total Financials

        239,626,947  

Health Care - 11.3%

     

Agilent Technologies, Inc.

     337,600        22,609,072  

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Class A*

     109,800        26,205,966  

Bio-Techne Corp.

     110,025        14,253,739  

Centene Corp.*

     237,000        23,908,560  

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.*

     148,800        16,286,160  

DaVita, Inc.*

     466,400        33,697,400  

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.*

     439,200        34,077,528  

Premier, Inc., Class A*

     900,700        26,291,433  

TESARO, Inc.*,1

     187,800        15,562,986  

Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.*

     148,800        22,299,168  

Total Health Care

        235,192,012  

Industrials - 23.1%

     

AerCap Holdings, N.V. (Ireland)*

     500,900        26,352,349  

AMETEK, Inc.

     355,900        25,792,073  

BWX Technologies, Inc.

     396,100        23,960,089  
      Shares      Value  

Carlisle Cos., Inc.

     159,500        $18,127,175  

Copart, Inc.*

     417,400        18,027,506  

Genesee & Wyoming, Inc., Class A*

     331,200        26,075,376  

Hexcel Corp.

     308,000        19,049,800  

JB Hunt Transport Services, Inc.

     192,400        22,122,152  

L3 Technologies, Inc.

     222,400        44,001,840  

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.

     206,900        18,947,902  

Nielsen Holdings PLC

     657,000        23,914,800  

Nordson Corp.

     188,700        27,625,680  

Ryanair Holdings PLC, Sponsored ADR (Ireland)*

     301,300        31,392,447  

TransDigm Group, Inc.1

     92,500        25,402,350  

TransUnion*

     497,300        27,331,608  

Verisk Analytics, Inc.*

     330,300        31,708,800  

WABCO Holdings, Inc.*

     124,000        17,794,000  

Waste Connections, Inc. (Canada)

     519,000        36,817,860  

Watsco, Inc.1

     108,900        18,517,356  

Total Industrials

        482,961,163  

Information Technology - 27.0%

 

  

Alliance Data Systems Corp.

     147,000        37,261,560  

Amdocs, Ltd.

     506,300        33,152,524  

Amphenol Corp., Class A

     295,300        25,927,340  

Atlassian Corp. PLC, Class A (Australia)*

     306,425        13,948,466  

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp.

     1,107,100        42,213,723  

Coherent, Inc.*

     74,200        20,940,724  

CoStar Group, Inc.*

     92,600        27,497,570  

Dolby Laboratories, Inc., Class A

     508,200        31,508,400  

Electronic Arts, Inc.*

     217,800        22,882,068  

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.

     246,800        23,221,412  

FleetCor Technologies, Inc.*

     214,200        41,218,506  

Gartner, Inc.*

     429,600        52,905,240  

Global Payments, Inc.

     548,100        54,941,544  

Marvell Technology Group, Ltd. (Bermuda)

     1,263,800        27,133,786  

Microchip Technology, Inc.1

     262,500        23,068,500  

Open Text Corp. (Canada)1

     515,400        18,384,318  

RedHat,Inc.*

     211,400        25,389,140  

Tyler Technologies, Inc.*

     129,800        22,981,090  

Vantiv, Inc., Class A*,1

     259,200        19,064,160  

Total Information Technology

        563,640,071  

Materials - 5.4%

     

Ecolab, Inc.

     204,200        27,399,556  

International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.

     171,300        26,142,093  

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.

     174,200        38,505,168  
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

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Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

          
Shares
     Value  

Materials - 5.4% (continued)

 

  

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co.

     185,100        $19,803,849  

Total Materials

        111,850,666  

Real Estate - 5.3%

 

  

CBRE Group, Inc., Class A*

     964,100        41,755,171  

SBA Communications Corp., REIT *

     422,900        69,084,944  

Total Real Estate

        110,840,115  

Telecommunication Services - 0.8%

 

  

Zayo Group Holdings, Inc.*

     475,700        17,505,760  

Total Common Stocks

     

(Cost $1,335,170,543)

        2,060,444,290  
     Principal
Amount
        

Short-Term Investments - 3.3%

 

  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 2.0%2

 

  

Bank of Montreal, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.350% total to be received $4,425,463 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% - 5.250%, 04/30/18 - 02/15/45, totaling $4,513,300)

     $4,424,799        4,424,799  

Bank of Nova Scotia NY, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.380% total to be received $9,775,248 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 3.500% - 4.000%, 07/20/45 - 11/01/47, totaling $9,970,753)

     9,773,749        9,773,749  

Daiwa Capital Markets America, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.430% total to be received $7,406,354 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 6.500%, 01/11/18 - 12/01/51, totaling $7,553,281)

     7,405,177        7,405,177  
     

Principal

Amount

     Value  

Jefferies LLC, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.550% total to be received $9,775,432 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 6.250%, 01/10/18 - 12/20/47, totaling $9,969,224)

     $9,773,749        $9,773,749  

Nomura Securities International, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.420% total to be received $9,775,291 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 7.500%, 04/05/18 - 11/20/67, totaling $9,969,224)

     9,773,749        9,773,749  

Total Joint Repurchase Agreements

 

     41,151,223  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 1.3%

 

  

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.18%3

     7,824,568        7,824,568  

JPMorgan U.S. Government Money Market Fund, Capital Shares, 1.16%3

     20,320,874        20,320,874  

Total Other Investment Companies

 

     28,145,442  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $69,296,665)

 

     69,296,665  

Total Investments - 102.0%
(Cost $1,404,467,208)

 

     2,129,740,955  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (2.0)%

 

     (41,875,888

Net Assets - 100.0%

        $2,087,865,067  
 
* Non-income producing security.
1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $39,934,682 or 1.9% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.
2  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
3 Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

ADR    American Depositary Receipt

REIT    Real Estate Investment Trust

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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Table of Contents
   

    
AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

     $2,060,444,290                      $2,060,444,290  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

            $41,151,223               41,151,223  

Other Investment Companies

     28,145,442                      28,145,442  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

     $2,088,589,732        $41,151,223            —        $2,129,740,955  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

All common stocks held in the Fund are Level 1 securities. For a detailed breakout of common stocks by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
19


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

    

 

The AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund (the Fund) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in the stocks of small capitalization companies located outside the United States.

 

THE PORTFOLIO MANAGER

 

TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC (TimesSquare), the Fund’s subadvisor, utilizes a bottom-up fundamental approach to small cap investing. Led by co-managers Magnus Larsson and Robert Madsen, the investment team at TimesSquare believes that its fundamental international equity research skills, which place a particular emphasis on the assessment of management quality and an in-depth understanding of business models and valuation discrepancies, enable the team to build a diversified portfolio of international small cap stocks with the potential to generate superior risk adjusted returns. When selecting international small cap stocks, TimesSquare utilizes a research-intensive approach to identify international small cap stocks which it believes have the greatest potential to achieve price appreciation over a 12- to-18-month horizon.

 

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

 

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund’s Class Z returned 38.86%, while its benchmark, the MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index (the “Index”), returned 33.01%.

 

The global upward march of equity returns continued throughout 2017. Markets climbed steadily throughout the year to post annual returns of 21% to 22% for broad U.S. equity indices,1 25% for non-U.S. equities,2 and 37% for emerging markets.3 These gains coincided with notably muted levels of volatility across all equity markets—including historic lows for the U.S. and developed markets4—and steadily increasing levels of global economic activity from manufacturing and service industries.5 Unemployment rates declined to lows not seen for over a decade in the U.S., the U.K. and Japan, among other countries, with Germany at its lowest level since its 1990 reunification.6

 

Geopolitics dominated the headlines with elections in France and Germany, the U.K.’s ongoing Brexit negotiations, the rhetoric surrounding North Korea’s missile tests which also led Japan’s Prime Minister Abe to call for snap elections, and President Trump’s first year in office. Despite the noise, global economic indicators remained consistently strong and moved the global markets higher. The European Central Bank guided to scale down but extend its

 

quantitative easing program.7 The Japanese economy expanded for seven consecutive quarters8 (the longest streak in 16 years), and corporate profits and margins have reached record highs. Emerging markets continued to move upward riding on strength from export-led Asia, and as India benefited from structural domestic tailwinds.

 

Performance Attribution

The Fund outperformed its benchmark in 2017 owing primarily to stock selection. We delivered positive performance across all regions and most sectors. Contributions were strongest from our holdings in Europe, quarterbacked by Italy. Japan was our second best performing region driven primarily by the export-focused names. Holdings in Asia/Pacific ex-Japan and the Emerging Markets were also positive contributors. The Middle East was our weakest relative contributor but its contribution was still positive overall. Throughout this period, the MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index rose 33.5%, better than the 25.6% gain for the large capitalization MSCI EAFE Index.

 

Regional Performance: Europe

Among our holdings in Europe, Italy was our strongest country contributor. Holdings in Denmark, Spain, Ireland, Sweden and Germany were also beneficial while the U.K. and France were our biggest country detractors. Overall, European small caps outperformed their large cap peers in 2017 as the MSCI Europe Small Cap Index returned 36.1% versus the MSCI Europe Index, which returned 26.2%.

 

In Italy, FinecoBank is an online financial services firm with one million clients and one of the largest financial advisory networks. The lack of legacy technology is paramount to the new breed of online operators, as they have significant operational leverage when adding customers. The stock price climbed 88% as the company consistently reported solid results and delivered market share gains. Also of note was that a change in Italian regulations allowed financial firms to launch PIR funds (Piani Individuali di Risparmio, or individual savings plans) which have tax advantages for clients while the long-term investments are used to provide capital for small and medium-sized businesses. We expect FinecoBank’s PIR funds to become another source of revenues for years to come. Shares in Interpump Group, an Italian manufacturer of high- and ultra-high-pressure industrial pumps, rose by 91%. There had been some concerns regarding Interpump’s exposure to a potentially weakening truck market in the U.S., which the company dispelled by continuing to deliver market share and earnings that surpassed expectations. Amplifon, the

 

global specialty retailer for hearing aids, recovered from a weak showing at the end of 2016 and climbed 60% this year. One of the great growth opportunities for Amplifon is that less than 20% of those who should use hearing aids actually do. Despite initial fears about a new U.S. rule which allows adults with mild to moderate hearing loss to access over-the-counter hearing aids, these concerns of rising competition were shrugged off as management remained optimistic on the remainder of 2017 and maintained targets for 2018.

 

Our holdings in other European countries also bolstered performance. CIE Automotive, which produces components for both original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers in the automotive sector, rose 51% as the company’s organic growth outpaced the market’s average growth rate and management reiterated its 2020 guidance. In Germany, we also benefited from RIB Software’s 129% share price rise. RIB develops integrated project management software geared to the construction industry. RIB is a leader in building information modeling (BIM). With 5-dimensional BIM modeling, everyone involved in a construction project can follow it in real time. The company’s margins surged with higher profitability of large license deals illustrating the leverage of RIB’s business. Further, U.S. joint venture partner FLEX announced a delay of the formal deadline of its “put option” for RIB shares and stressed that it is very happy with RIB; the removal of this overhang also led the share price to further rally in fourth quarter. Within the same value chain, we also opened a new position in Nemetschek SE, a leader in design software for the construction industry. Leaving the Fund was Germany-based KION, a manufacturer of forklifts for warehouses and a beneficiary of supply chain automation. A name we have owned since 2015, KION grew past the Fund’s size limit for small capitalization stocks, so we sold the position in May with its stock up 27% throughout the period we owned the name this year.

 

Moving to the Nordic region, Topdanmark is the second largest non-life insurance company in Denmark. The company has by far the best track record in delivering shareholder returns in the Danish insurance sector. Shares rose 69% as the company raised full year guidance on better investment returns, benign weather related/large claims developments and strength in its overall business. Sweden-based Modern Times Group (MTG), which provides subscription TV, digital entertainment and radio channels in the Nordic countries, rose 40% as investors also cheered the company’s ongoing

 

 
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AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

transformation from a traditional broadcaster to a leading digital video entertainment provider and as management reported that third quarter cash flow for the MTGx business (online gaming and e-sports) turned positive. In Ireland, Dalata, a leading hotel operator in Ireland, rose 60%. We believe Dalata has the best management in the Irish hotel sector. Over the years the team has perfected the operational side of the business, which places them well ahead of the competition. The company is firing on all cylinders and the large number of rooms coming on stream in 2018 should have their full earnings effect in 2019.

 

Our holdings experienced performance challenges in the U.K. and were adversely affected by Brexit-related uncertainties. Though a breakthrough on the Brexit divorce was reached with the European Union in the fourth quarter, it will likely cost the U.K. a hefty financial settlement. Greene King, one of the leading operators of pubs and restaurants, declined 19%. While Greene King was better positioned relative to some of its peers, the U.K. is experiencing a general slowdown in dining out due to higher costs for consumers post Brexit/sterling weakness. In addition, costs inflation and competition were on the rise. We decided to close our position based on a challenging operating environment for the foreseeable future. U.K.-based Dignity, a leading provider of funeral-related services, was the top detractor for the Fund with its 22% share price decline since we began buying it in March. In the first quarter, management slightly reduced its long-term earnings growth target from 10% to 8% as its base of business increased, which created an opportunity for us to begin building a position. More recently, management guided that the funeral business was experiencing increasing competition at the lower end of the spectrum. Given that Dignity is primarily positioned at the upper end of the market, we believe that it will still be able to deliver healthy growth in the medium/long term and investors are overstating the risks. There was also relative weakness among our positions in France. Consulting and engineering services company Altran increased a modest 12%. In the fourth quarter, Altran announced the purchase of U.S. design and engineering services firm Aricent which brings technology systems, semiconductors, software and design expertise. This deal raised concerns based on Altran’s historical integration track. As previous acquisitions were integrated under a different management team and as this deal cemented Altran’s move up the value chain, we maintained our conviction and continued to add to this name on

  

weakness. We sold out of Teleperformance, a global leader in call center outsourcing with locations across North America, Europe, Latin America and the Pacific Rim, in the fourth quarter as the company exceeded the Fund’s size limit for small capitalization stocks.

 

Regional Performance: Japan

Our holdings in the land of the rising sun also bolstered the Fund’s performance. Disco, the world’s largest manufacturer of dicing and grinding equipment used in the production of semiconductors, returned 86% for the year. This addition to the Fund since the fourth quarter of 2016 has a dominant market share in equipment used to create the ever-thinner wafers for integrated circuits. Disco reported strong results throughout the year and indicated a robust backlog as the company benefited from the semiconductor super cycle. Also delivering a 72% gain was Nihon M&A Center, a boutique advisory firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) intermediary services for small-to-mid-sized enterprises (SME). We had added to our position at the beginning of the year and later Nihon reported significant growth in its deal pipeline, which also led the company to increase its forward guidance. Demographics and the need for SME succession plans continue to provide a strong structural tailwind for merger and acquisition activity in Japan and benefit Nihon M&A. We initiated a position in Japan Lifeline, which distributes vascular medical devices from third parties, as well as those designed internally, in mid-April. Over the years the company has transitioned from a distributor to a manufacturer—currently nearly 60% of its sales were of its own brands—and its margins and competitive advantages have increased. This year, the company announced plans to begin export sales, which should dramatically expand its growth potential, and the stock closed the year 116% higher from when we started buying it.

 

In the first three quarters of the year, there was relative weakness among domestically focused companies as indicators showed lingering weakness in consumer confidence; however, domestic sentiment rebounded in the fourth quarter with the ongoing tightness in the labor market and the government’s push for wage hikes. Shares of Hiroshima Bank, a regional bank in southern Japan, experienced profit-taking following a strong end to 2016. We appreciated Hiroshima Bank’s high market share in the region and long history of steadily increasing profit; also, counter to the norm for Japanese banks, all of its senior managers own stakes in Hiroshima Bank. Shares were sluggish and

  

decreased 6% on limited investor appetite for Japanese financials amidst a lower interest rate environment. Another laggard was Sugi Holdings, a chain of community drug stores dispensing prescription medication and offering advice on over-the-counter drugs and cosmetics only. Shares rose a modest 7% as costs rose temporarily due to the hiring of new pharmacists and expenses associated with their newly opened distribution centers. We expect margins to improve as one-time costs disappear and newly hired staff make more of a contribution.

 

Regional Performance: Asia/Pacific Ex- Japan and Middle East

We saw positive contributions across all countries in Asia/Pacific ex-Japan led by Hong Kong. Hong Kong-based luggage company Samsonite International was our biggest contributor in the region. Following the acquisition of the Tumi business in late 2016, its share price rose 62% this year benefiting from the smooth integration of the Tumi business. We are bullish on the outlook for the luggage industry, and drivers include strong emerging market growth driven by a rising middle class, cheaper airfares, consolidation of the industry, changing regulations regarding in-cabin baggage, and weight-based charging for luggage on airplanes. Moving down under, Challenger, an Australian financial services firm offering primarily annuities and other fixed income products, rose 36% on strong growth in assets under management. The company’s early foray into Japanese annuities also showed strong sales momentum. New Zealand-based Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was also no snoozer with shares rising 75%. The company develops respiratory care products, such as for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. Management reported strong growth in sales of its nasal high-flow oxygen therapy equipment to hospitals. Investors were also pleased as management reiterated their strategy and outlook for “profitable and sustainable growth.” Finally, our one holding in the Middle East, Israel-based Frutarom, returned 82% this year. Frutarom is a manufacturer of specialty flavors and ingredients for food, beverage, fragrance, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Frutarom is a classic example of a mission critical, niche dominator with strong pricing power. Its share price rose as results showed a continuation of strong underlying trends plus M&A initiatives.

 

Regional Performance: Emerging Markets

Emerging markets was the strongest region this year and our holdings provided additional support for the Fund. We remained positive on the Indian financials

 

 
21


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

sector as it is very underpenetrated and specialty finance companies are positioned to benefit from rising structural demand. Our holdings in India were hurt at the end of 2016 by the government’s surprise demonetarization plans to eliminate the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. We reversed those losses and made strong gains in 2017 as the structural growth trajectory for the sector resumed. Indiabulls Housing Finance, the country’s second-largest private sector mortgage finance company, charged forward with an 80% return. The company benefited from a government proposal providing interest subsidies for affordable home loans and Modi’s “Housing for All” initiatives. In Malaysia, the share price for AirAsia, the low-cost passenger airline in Southeast Asia, flew 71% as the company reported steady growth in the number of passengers and high load factors, and continued to move forward with its expansion into other countries. AirAsia also announced its intention to divest its aircraft leasing unit, which should result in a large gain that most likely would partly be used for an extraordinary dividend payment. In the third quarter, the company also announced an internal reorganization which investors also saw as positive. Moving north to Taiwan, Chroma Ate is a producer of semiconductor testing equipment that is positioned to benefit from upcoming capital expenditure cycles such as the Chinese electronic vehicle market, increasing use of 3D sensors and rising demand for graphics processing units. The company rose 75% on earnings consistently beating expectations and positive guidance for 2018, and we took the opportunity to trim into strength.   

The Americas were a challenging area for us. Shares in Mexico-based Credito Real, which engages in consumer lending to the low and middle income segments of the population, declined 5%. Shares took a dive in the fourth quarter as the company missed results as provisions rose due to late payments in payroll loans from the earthquake in Mexico. Moving over to Asia, motion picture technology provider IMAX China declined 45% while we owned it this year and was the biggest detractor in the region. We were positive on the stock due to a strong backlog of hardware sales to Chinese cinemas and positive long-term trends favoring IMAX-format blockbuster movies. However, IMAX China’s gross box office receipts underperformed the overall film market in China. We also experienced increased difficulty in forecasting IMAX China’s revenues from its biggest client Wanda (a conglomerate) and Wanda’s trading halt in July 2017 elevated our concerns. With decreasing visibility on its key revenue drivers and customers, we let the credits roll and exited the name in the third quarter.

 

As 2017 closed, the global economies appeared on a uniformly upward growth path for the first time since 2008’s global financial crisis—albeit at different paces. Many global uncertainties remain, including the actual impact of U.S. tax law changes, how much longer a nine-year bull market in the U.S. could continue, the shape of a new U.K. trade agreement with the European Union now that the terms of its Brexit have been set, along with escalating tensions surrounding North Korea. However, our investment experience has shown us that the markets never

  

followed a guaranteed path. As bottom-up active managers we believe that shifting environments create additional investment opportunities, thus no matter what 2018 brings we are steadfast that our disciplined analysis of business models and management teams should find superior companies.

 

For the new year, we remain dedicated to adding value to the assets you have entrusted to us, and look forward to working with you throughout 2018. As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

 

1 As represented by the S&P 500 and Russell 3000 indexes, respectively

 

2 As represented by the MSCI EAFE Index

 

3 As represented by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index

 

4 As defined by the CBOE set of volatility indexes (based on market expectations of near-term volatility for S&P 500, MSCI EAFE, and MSCI Emerging Markets index option or ETF prices)

 

5 Source: IHS Markit surveys of global purchasing executives

 

6 Source: FactSet Economics Standardized Database

 

7 Source: Wall Street Journal

 

8 Source: Bank of Japan

 

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results and is subject to change without notice.

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class Z (formerly Class I) shares on January 2, 2013 (inception date) to a $10,000 investment made in the MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund and the MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

    Average Annual Total Returns1   One
Year
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 
 

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

     
 

Class N10

    38.63%       14.56%       01/02/13  
 

Class I

          30.72%       02/24/17  
   

Class Z10

    38.86%       14.77%       01/02/13  
   

MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index11

    33.01%       12.51%       01/02/13  

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).

 

2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.

 

3  A short-term redemption fee of 2% will be charged on shares held for less than 60 days.

 

4  Investments in international securities are subject to certain risks of overseas investing including currency fluctuations and changes in political and economic conditions, which could result in significant market fluctuations.

 

5  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in small-capitalization companies, such as erratic earnings patterns, competitive conditions, limited earnings history, and a reliance on one or a limited number of products.

 

6  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in emerging markets, such as erratic earnings patterns, economic and political instability, changing exchange controls, limitations on repatriation of foreign capital, and changes in local governmental attitudes toward private investment, possibly leading to nationalization or confiscation of investor assets.

 

7  The Fund is subject to currency risk resulting from fluctuations in exchange rates that may affect the total loss or gain on a non-U.S. dollar investment when converted back to U.S. dollars.

 

8  The Fund may invest in derivatives such as options and futures; the complexity and rapidly changing structure of derivatives markets may increase the possibility of market losses.

 

9  The Fund invests in growth stocks, which may be more sensitive to market movements because their prices tend to reflect future investor expectations rather than just current profits.

 

10 Effective February 27, 2017, the Class S and Class I were renamed Class N and Class Z, respectively.

 

11 The MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index is an equity index which captures small cap representation across Developed Markets (DM) countries around the world, excluding the US and Canada. Unlike the Fund, the MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

 

All MSCI data is provided ‘as is.’ The products described herein are not sponsored or endorsed and have not been reviewed or passed on by MSCI. In no event shall MSCI, its affiliates, or any MSCI data provider have any liability of any kind in connection with the MSCI data or the products described herein. Copying or redistributing the MSCI data is strictly prohibited.

 

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 
23


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector    % of
Net Assets
 

Consumer Discretionary

     23.8  

Industrials

     23.2  

Financials

     20.3  

Information Technology

     13.1  

Health Care

     8.6  

Materials

     4.2  

Consumer Staples

     2.0  

Telecommunication Services

     0.5  

Short-Term Investments*

     8.8  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (4.5

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.

 

** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name    % of
Net Assets

Samsonite International, S.A.

   2.7

Melrose Industries PLC

   2.7

Modern Times Group MTG AB, Class B

   2.6

Prosegur Cia de Seguridad, S.A.

   2.6

Don Quijote Holdings Co., Ltd.

   2.6

Horiba, Ltd.

   2.5

FinecoBank Banca Fineco S.P.A.

   2.5

RPC Group PLC

   2.5

Amplifon S.P.A.

   2.4

en-japan, Inc.

   2.3
    

 

Top Ten as a Group

   25.4
    

 

 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 
24


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 95.4%

     

Consumer Discretionary - 23.8%

 

  

ABC-Mart, Inc. (Japan)

     223,100        $12,787,615  

CIE Automotive, S.A. (Spain)

     482,000        13,969,381  

CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA (Germany)

     144,412        6,713,934  

Dalata Hotel Group PLC (Ireland)*

     1,812,030        13,708,064  

Dignity PLC (United Kingdom)

     531,200        13,053,007  

Don Quijote Holdings Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     331,300        17,270,645  

IDOM, Inc. (Japan)1

     1,314,600        9,307,041  

Izumi Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     230,200        14,287,411  

Modern Times Group MTG AB, Class B (Sweden)1

     419,300        17,619,858  

Moncler S.P.A. (Italy)

     134,100        4,191,625  

Samsonite International, S.A. (United States)

     3,995,550        18,359,529  

Ser Educacional, S.A. (Brazil)2

     370,700        3,497,908  

Skylark Co., Ltd. (Japan)1

     369,300        5,247,611  

Yoox Net-A-Porter Group S.P.A. (Italy)*,1

     310,575        10,833,452  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        160,847,081  

Consumer Staples - 2.0%

 

  

Sugi Holdings Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     270,830        13,796,858  

Financials - 20.0%

     

Aruhi Corp. (Japan)*

     414,300        4,842,539  

Avanza Bank Holding AB (Sweden)1

     230,500        9,668,912  

Bolsas y Mercados Espanoles SHMSF, S.A. (Spain)1

     110,700        3,526,451  

Challenger, Ltd. (Australia)

     884,178        9,642,402  

Credito Real, S.A.B. de C.V. SOFOM ER (Mexico)

     1,414,764        1,767,151  

Dewan Housing Finance Corp., Ltd. (India)

     1,219,300        11,112,315  

Edelweiss Financial Services, Ltd. (India)

     1,880,588        8,736,583  

FinecoBank Banca Fineco S.P.A. (Italy)

     1,676,200        17,121,684  

GRENKE AG (Germany)

     31,925        3,026,181  

The Hiroshima Bank, Ltd. (Japan)

     392,600        3,406,283  

Hoist Finance AB (Sweden)2

     302,800        3,405,213  

Indiabulls Housing Finance, Ltd. (India)

     387,500        7,264,619  

Jupiter Fund Management PLC (United Kingdom)

     1,063,600        8,999,619  

Qualitas Controladora, SAB de CV (Mexico)

     892,825        1,648,746  

Steadfast Group, Ltd. (Australia)

     5,341,000        11,717,265  

Tamburi Investment Partners S.P.A. (Italy)1

     667,000        4,439,134  

Topdanmark A/S (Denmark)*

     312,250        13,485,507  

Zenkoku Hosho Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     260,400        11,186,064  

Total Financials

        134,996,668  

Health Care - 8.6%

     

Amplifon S.P.A. (Italy)1

     1,049,400        16,167,086  

DiaSorin S.P.A. (Italy)

     34,425        3,052,641  
      Shares      Value  

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp., Ltd. (New Zealand)

     458,300        $4,649,729  

Japan Lifeline Co., Ltd. (Japan)1

     528,400        10,964,911  

Korian, S.A. (France)

     238,900        8,440,212  

Orpea (France)

     35,180        4,141,939  

UDG Healthcare PLC (Ireland)

     933,800        10,631,084  

Total Health Care

        58,047,602  

Industrials - 23.2%

     

AirAsia Bhd (Malaysia)

     8,389,500        6,944,607  

Alimak Group AB (Sweden)2

     181,998        2,839,547  

Benefit One, Inc. (Japan)1

     408,200        8,535,390  

Clarkson PLC (United Kingdom)

     120,700        4,662,365  

Daetwyler Holding AG (Switzerland)

     40,884        7,901,978  

Diploma PLC (United Kingdom)

     361,125        6,080,021  

en-japan, Inc. (Japan)

     332,700        15,653,175  

Interpump Group S.P.A. (Italy)

     329,550        10,342,966  

IPH, Ltd. (Australia)1

     1,809,400        7,749,103  

Irish Continental Group PLC (Ireland)

     927,610        6,448,668  

LISI (France)

     103,690        4,987,472  

Melrose Industries PLC (United Kingdom)

     6,295,682        18,011,111  

Nabtesco Corp. (Japan)

     286,000        10,928,556  

Nihon M&A Center, Inc. (Japan)

     197,900        9,422,143  

Norma Group SE (Germany)

     30,165        2,019,710  

Palfinger AG (Austria)

     62,140        2,539,548  

Polypipe Group PLC (United Kingdom)

     967,035        5,133,775  

Prosegur Cia de Seguridad, S.A. (Spain)

     2,216,410        17,387,915  

Rotork PLC (United Kingdom)1

     802,400        2,880,417  

Stabilus, S.A. (Luxembourg)

     65,700        5,908,302  

Total Industrials

        156,376,769  

Information Technology - 13.1%

 

  

Altran Technologies, S.A. (France)1

     881,477        14,667,267  

Ascom Holding AG (Switzerland)

     215,800        5,571,012  

Chroma ATE, Inc. (Taiwan)

     924,300        5,014,587  

Disco Corp. (Japan)

     38,000        8,422,302  

Halma PLC (United Kingdom)

     261,700        4,446,576  

Horiba, Ltd. (Japan)

     284,795        17,146,167  

Iriso Electronics Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     103,800        6,197,371  

Link Administration Holdings, Ltd. (Australia)

     1,351,800        8,862,616  

Nemetschek SE (Germany)

     33,700        3,014,798  

RIB Software SE (Germany)1

     307,400        9,119,906  
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
25


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

     

    

Shares

     Value  

Information Technology - 13.1% (continued)

 

  

SimCorp A/S (Denmark)

     99,300        $5,652,099  

Total Information Technology

        88,114,701  

Materials - 4.2%

     

Frutarom Industries, Ltd. (Israel)1

     123,920        11,612,264  

RPC Group PLC (United Kingdom)

     1,412,850        16,782,096  

Total Materials

        28,394,360  

Telecommunication Services - 0.5%

 

  

Tower Bersama Infrastructure Tbk PT (Indonesia)

     6,459,400        3,052,193  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $561,774,939)

        643,626,232  

Participation Notes - 0.3%

     

Financials - 0.3%

     

Indiabulls Housing Finance, Ltd., 11/28/18 (Morgan Stanley) (India)

     91,250        1,710,701  

Total Participation Notes
(Cost $1,348,619)

        1,710,701  

Warrants - 0.0%#

     

Financials - 0.0%#

     

Tamburi Investment Partners S.P.A., 06/30/20 (Italy)*
(Cost $148,266)

     122,825        166,529  
    
Principal
Amount
 
 
  

Short-Term Investments - 8.8%

 

  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 6.1%3

 

  

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.410% total to be received $9,806,177 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 8.500%, 01/31/18 - 06/20/63, totaling $10,000,734)

     $9,804,641        9,804,641  
      Principal
Amount
     Value  

Daiwa Capital Markets America, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.430% total to be received $9,806,199 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 6.500%, 01/11/18 - 12/01/51, totaling $10,000,734)

     $9,804,641        $9,804,641  

HSBC Securities USA, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.380% total to be received $9,806,144 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 0.375%, 05/15/18 - 08/15/46, totaling $10,000,817)

     9,804,641        9,804,641  

Jefferies LLC, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.500% total to be received $2,062,840 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 1.750%, 09/13/18 - 04/30/22, totaling $2,103,747)

     2,062,496        2,062,496  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.630% total to be received $9,806,417 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% - 3.875%, 01/15/19 - 02/15/46, totaling $10,076,912)

     9,804,641        9,804,641  

Total Joint Repurchase Agreements

 

     41,281,060  
     Shares     

Other Investment Companies - 2.7%

 

  

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.18%4

     18,167,613        18,167,613  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $59,448,673)

 

     59,448,673  

Total Investments - 104.5%
(Cost $622,720,497)

 

     704,952,135  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (4.5)%

 

     (30,537,906

Net Assets - 100.0%

        $674,414,229  
 
#  Less than 0.05%.
* Non-income producing security.
1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $36,122,669 or 5.4% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.
2  Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. This security may be resold in transactions exempt from registration, normally to qualified buyers. At December 31, 2017, the value of these securities amounted to $9,742,668 or 1.4% of net assets.
3  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
4  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

26


Table of Contents
   

    
AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

           

Consumer Discretionary

     $48,618,508        $112,228,573               $160,847,081  

Industrials

     28,729,070        127,647,699               156,376,769  

Financials

     32,123,631        102,873,037               134,996,668  

Information Technology

            88,114,701               88,114,701  

Health Care

     24,607,298        33,440,304               58,047,602  

Materials

            28,394,360               28,394,360  

Consumer Staples

            13,796,858               13,796,858  

Telecommunication Services

            3,052,193               3,052,193  

Participation Notes

            1,710,701               1,710,701  

Warrants

           

Financials

     166,529                      166,529  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

            41,281,060               41,281,060  

Other Investment Companies

     18,167,613                      18,167,613  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investment in Securities

     $152,412,649        $552,539,486               $704,952,135  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had transfers between level 1 and level 2 as follows:

 

    

Transfer
into

Level 11

     Transfer
out of
Level 11
    

Transfer
into

Level 21

    

Transfer

out of

Level 21

 

Assets:

           

Common Stocks

     $12,926,888        $(5,352,282)        $5,352,282        $(12,926,888)  

1 As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
27


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

Country

   % of Long-Term
Investments

Australia

       5.9

Austria

       0.4

Brazil

       0.5

Denmark

       2.9

France

       5.0

Germany

       3.7

India

       4.5

Indonesia

       0.5

Ireland

       4.8

Israel

       1.8

Italy

     10.3

Japan

     27.8

Luxembourg

       0.9

Malaysia

       1.1

Mexico

       0.5

New Zealand

       0.7

Spain

       5.4

Sweden

       5.2

Switzerland

       2.1

Taiwan

       0.8

United Kingdom

     12.4

United States

       2.8
    

 

 

 
   100.0
    

 

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
28


Table of Contents
   

    

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

    AMG TimesSquare
Small Cap

Growth Fund#
    AMG TimesSquare
Mid Cap

Growth Fund#
    AMG TimesSquare
International Small
Cap Fund#
 

Assets:

     

Investments at Value* (including securities on loan valued at $108,634,757, $39,934,682, and $36,122,669, respectively)

    $1,302,803,460       $2,129,740,955       $704,952,135  

Foreign currency**

                1,589,677  

Receivable for investments sold

    4,726,179       12,771,738        

Dividend, interest and other receivables

    1,693,225       1,109,723       662,756  

Receivable for Fund shares sold

    688,506       2,276,426       10,502,929  

Receivable from affiliate

          860       10,597  

Prepaid expenses

    22,751       15,289       41,212  

Total assets

    1,309,934,121       2,145,914,991       717,759,306  

Liabilities:

     

Payable upon return of securities loaned

    113,387,081       41,151,223       41,281,060  

Payable for investments purchased

    11,009       4,710,831        

Payable for Fund shares repurchased

    8,334,551       9,951,279       1,038,857  

Payable for foreign capital gains tax

                366,726  

Accrued expenses:

     

Investment advisory and management fees

    860,749       1,515,654       403,851  

Administrative fees

    151,897       267,468       80,770  

Shareholder service fees

    53,447       138,201       62,654  

Professional fees

    56,529       75,676       44,905  

Trustee fees and expenses

    12,356       21,742       5,858  

Other

    85,462       217,850       60,396  

Total liabilities

    122,953,081       58,049,924       43,345,077  

 

 

Net Assets

    $1,186,981,040       $2,087,865,067       $674,414,229  

* Investments at cost

    $960,599,312       $1,404,467,208       $622,720,497  

** Foreign currency at cost

                $1,576,609  

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
29


Table of Contents
   

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (continued)

 

    

 

    AMG TimesSquare
Small Cap
Growth Fund#
    AMG TimesSquare
Mid Cap
Growth Fund#
    AMG TimesSquare
International Small

Cap Fund#
 

Net Assets Represent:

     

Paid-in capital

    $821,283,376       $1,336,337,462       $596,235,274  

Distribution in excess of net investment income

          (1,736,085     (831,704

Accumulated net realized gain (loss) from investments

    23,493,516       27,989,943       (2,873,536

Net unrealized appreciation on investments

    342,204,148       725,273,747       81,884,195  

Net Assets

    $1,186,981,040       $2,087,865,067       $674,414,229  

Class N:

     

Net Assets

    $318,627,227       $519,337,499       $238,935,012  

Shares outstanding

    18,848,791       28,220,530       14,066,734  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

    $16.90       $18.40       $16.99  

Class I:

     

Net Assets

    $2,065,189       $397,061,350       $182,527,906  

Shares outstanding

    119,236       21,048,665       10,689,277  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

    $17.32       $18.86       $17.08  

Class Z:

     

Net Assets

    $866,288,624       $1,171,466,218       $252,951,311  

Shares outstanding

    49,981,663       62,069,926       14,807,447  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

    $17.33       $18.87       $17.08  

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, the Funds’ share classes were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
30


Table of Contents
   

    

Statement of Operations

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

 

    

 

     AMG TimesSquare
Small Cap
Growth Fund#
    AMG TimesSquare
Mid Cap
Growth Fund#
    AMG TimesSquare
International Small
Cap Fund#
 

Investment Income:

      

Dividend income

     $7,887,230 1      $11,310,571 2      $5,985,190 3 

Securities lending income

     480,517       71,502       274,670  

Interest income

     497       328       108  

Foreign withholding tax

           (65,935     (493,759

Total investment income

     8,368,244       11,316,466       5,766,209  

Expenses:

      

Investment advisory and management fees

     9,537,155       16,890,542       2,405,680  

Administrative fees

     1,683,027       2,980,684       481,136  

Shareholder servicing fees - Class N

     612,919       1,430,554       294,577  

Shareholder servicing fees - Class I

     913       86,900       36,151  

Professional fees

     122,740       190,229       60,084  

Registration fees

     80,024       91,203       67,907  

Transfer agent fees

     33,702       62,221       11,219  

Custodian fees

     78,194       131,563       79,974  

Reports to shareholders

     32,504       151,411       17,645  

Trustee fees and expenses

     75,493       133,158       17,064  

Miscellaneous

     25,056       39,464       5,530  

Repayment of prior reimbursements

                 225,816  

Total expenses before offsets

     12,281,727       22,187,929       3,702,783  

Expense reimbursements

                 (5,213

Expense reductions

     (167,940     (198,314      

Fee waivers

           (12,258     (23,483

Net expenses

     12,113,787       21,977,357       3,674,087  
      

Net investment income (loss)

     (3,745,543     (10,660,891     2,092,122  

Net Realized and Unrealized Gain:

      

Net realized gain on investments

     135,696,788       271,824,047       1,155,676 4 

Net realized loss on foreign currency transactions

                 (271,303

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     84,309,852       142,451,089       82,007,485  

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on foreign currency translations

                 (345,165

Net realized and unrealized gain

     220,006,640       414,275,136       82,546,693  
      

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

     $216,261,097       $403,614,245       $84,638,815  

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, the Funds’ share classes were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
1  Includes non-recurring dividends of $2,657,706.
2  Includes non-recurring dividends of $2,391,400.
3  Includes non-recurring dividends of $1,316,312.
4  Net of foreign capital gains tax withheld of $702.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
31


Table of Contents
   

    

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

For the fiscal years ended December 31,

 

    

 

     AMG TimesSquare
Small Cap
Growth Fund#
    AMG TimesSquare
Mid Cap
Growth Fund#
    AMG TimesSquare
International Small
Cap Fund#
 
     2017     2016     2017     2016     2017     2016  

Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Resulting From Operations:

            

Net investment income (loss)

     $(3,745,543     $(2,593,094     $(10,660,891     $(4,685,602     $2,092,122       $932,068  

Net realized gain on investments

     135,696,788       34,814,636       271,824,047       117,616,326       884,373       448,859  

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     84,309,852       52,634,807       142,451,089       15,748,430       81,662,320       (2,709,017

Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations

     216,261,097       84,856,349       403,614,245       128,679,154       84,638,815       (1,328,090

Distributions to Shareholders:

            

From net investment income:

            

Class N

           (604,904                 (815,277     (151,174

Class I

                             (802,467      

Class Z

           (2,833,145           (498,842     (1,184,908     (625,160

From net realized gain on investments:

            

Class N

     (31,523,286     (10,046,501     (67,489,978     (45,144,770     (960,276     (358,289

Class I

     (200,825           (50,207,180           (716,707      

Class Z

     (84,833,271     (24,334,444     (150,362,115     (57,720,001     (1,025,654     (1,276,271

Total distributions to shareholders

     (116,557,382     (37,818,994     (268,059,273     (103,363,613     (5,505,289     (2,410,894

Capital Share Transactions:1

            

Net increase (decrease) from capital share transactions

     7,384,215       (46,497,760     110,638,897       (334,049,896     466,883,510       101,680,176  
            

Total increase (decrease) in net assets

     107,087,930       539,595       246,193,869       (308,734,355     546,017,036       97,941,192  

Net Assets:

            

Beginning of year

     1,079,893,110       1,079,353,515       1,841,671,198       2,150,405,553       128,397,193       30,456,001  

End of year

     $1,186,981,040       $1,079,893,110       $2,087,865,067       $1,841,671,198       $674,414,229       $128,397,193  

End of year accumulated undistributed (distribution in excess) net investment income

                 $(1,736,085     $1,284,526       $(831,704     $(354,954
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, and February 27, 2017, the Funds’ share classes were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
1  See Note 1(g) of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
32


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  

Class N

     2017#       2016##       2015       2014       2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

     $15.52       $14.84       $16.44       $17.80       $12.82  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment loss1,2

     (0.08 )3      (0.06 )4      (0.10 )5      (0.08 )6      (0.10 )7 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     3.32       1.28       0.27       (0.40     6.18  

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     3.24       1.22       0.17       (0.48     6.08  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

           (0.03                  

Net realized gain on investments

     (1.86     (0.51     (1.77     (0.88     (1.10

Total distributions to shareholders

     (1.86     (0.54     (1.77     (0.88     (1.10

Net Asset Value, End of Year

     $16.90       $15.52       $14.84       $16.44       $17.80  

Total Return2,8

     20.87     8.20     0.90     (2.78 )%      47.44

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     1.23 %10      1.23 %10      1.22 %10      1.19 %10      1.19 %10,11 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets14

     1.24     1.24     1.23     1.22     1.20 %11 

Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets2

     (0.48 )%      (0.38 )%      (0.60 )%      (0.47 )%      (0.63 )%11 

Portfolio turnover

     58     62     71     48     61

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

     $318,627       $313,713       $272,609       $320,512       $351,132  
   

 

 
33


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class I

      2017*

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

      $16.52

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

   

Net investment loss1,2

      (0.05 )3

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

      2.71

Total income from investment operations

      2.66

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

   

Net realized gain on investments

      (1.86 )

Total distributions to shareholders

      (1.86 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

      $17.32

Total Return2,8

      16.11 %9

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

      1.10 %12,13

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets14

      1.11 %12

Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets2

      (0.35 )%12

Portfolio turnover

      58 %

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

      $2,065
           

    

 

 
34


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class Z    2017#     2016##     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

     $15.84       $15.14       $16.75       $18.08       $13.00  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment loss1,2

     (0.05 )3      (0.03 )4      (0.07 )5      (0.05 )6      (0.08 )7 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     3.40       1.31       0.26       (0.39     6.28  

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     3.35       1.28       0.19       (0.44     6.20  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

           (0.06                  

Net realized gain on investments

     (1.86     (0.52     (1.80     (0.89     (1.12

Total distributions to shareholders

     (1.86     (0.58     (1.80     (0.89     (1.12

Net Asset Value, End of Year

     $17.33       $15.84       $15.14       $16.75       $18.08  

Total Return2,8

     21.14     8.45     1.03     (2.48 )%      47.69

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     1.03 %10      1.03 %10      1.02 %10      1.01 %10      1.06 %10,11 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets14

     1.04     1.04     1.03     1.04     1.07 %11 

Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets2

     (0.28 )%      (0.20 )%      (0.40 )%      (0.29 )%      (0.53 )%11 

Portfolio turnover

     58     62     71     48     61

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

     $866,289       $766,180       $806,745       $768,312       $896,706  
   

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, the Class I and Class S were renamed Class Z and Class N, respectively.
##  Effective October 1, 2016, the Institutional Class and Premier Class were renamed Class I and Class S, respectively.
*  Commencement of operations was on February 27, 2017.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss per share would have been $(0.12), $(0.09) and $(0.09) for Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
4  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss per share would have been $(0.08) and $(0.05) for Class N and Class Z, respectively.
5  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss per share would have been $(0.12) and $(0.09) for Class N and Class Z, respectively.
6  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss per share would have been $(0.12) and $(0.10) for Class N and Class Z, respectively.
7  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss per share would have been $(0.11) and $(0.09) for Class N and Class Z, respectively.
8  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
9  Not annualized.
10  Includes reduction from broker recapture amounting to 0.01%, 0.01%, 0.01%, 0.03% and 0.01% for the fiscal years ended 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.
11  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.017% and 0.018% of average net assets for the Class N and Class Z, respectively.
12  Annualized.
13  Includes reduction from broker recapture amounting to 0.01% for the fiscal period ended 2017.
14  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 
35


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class N    2017#     2016##     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

     $17.26       $17.02       $18.24       $18.23       $14.87  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment loss1,2

     (0.12 )3      (0.06 )4      (0.07 )5      (0.06 )5      (0.07 )6 

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

     3.98       1.31       0.17       1.00       5.47  

Total income from investment operations

     3.86       1.25       0.10       0.94       5.40  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net realized gain on investments

     (2.72     (1.01     (1.32     (0.93     (2.04

Total distributions to shareholders

     (2.72     (1.01     (1.32     (0.93     (2.04

Net Asset Value, End of Year

     $18.40       $17.26       $17.02       $18.24       $18.23  

Total Return2,7

     22.40     7.26     0.49     5.12     36.43

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     1.23 %9      1.23 %9      1.22 %9      1.22 %9      1.24 %9,10 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets13

     1.24     1.24     1.23     1.24     1.25 %10 

Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets2

     (0.66 )%      (0.36 )%      (0.37 )%      (0.34 )%      (0.38 )%10 

Portfolio turnover

     54     47     47     43     54

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

     $519,337       $815,473       $867,245       $916,541       $1,214,525  
   

 

 
36


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class I

      2017*

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

      $18.73

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

   

Net investment loss1,2

      (0.09 )3

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

      2.94

Total income from investment operations

      2.85

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

   

Net realized gain on investments

      (2.72 )

Total distributions to shareholders

      (2.72 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

      $18.86

Total Return2,7

      15.24 %8

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

      1.08 %11,12

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets13

      1.09 %11

Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets2

      (0.52 )%11

Portfolio turnover

      54 %

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

      $397,061
           

 

 
37


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,
Class Z    2017#   2016##   2015   2014   2013

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

       $17.61       $17.33       $18.54       $18.49       $15.05

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

                    

Net investment loss1,2

       (0.09 )3       (0.03 )4       (0.03 )5       (0.02 )5       (0.03 )6

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

       4.07       1.35       0.16       1.02       5.54

Total income from investment operations

       3.98       1.32       0.13       1.00       5.51

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

                    

Net investment income

             (0.01 )                  

Net realized gain on investments

       (2.72 )       (1.03 )       (1.34 )       (0.95 )       (2.07 )

Total distributions to shareholders

       (2.72 )       (1.04 )       (1.34 )       (0.95 )       (2.07 )

Net Asset Value, End of Year

       $18.87       $17.61       $17.33       $18.54       $18.49

Total Return2,7

       22.63 %       7.53 %       0.67 %       5.34 %       36.72 %

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

       1.03 %9       1.03 %9       1.02 %9       1.03 %9       1.04 %9,10

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets13

       1.04 %       1.04 %       1.03 %       1.04 %       1.05 %10

Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets2

       (0.46 )%       (0.16 )%       (0.17 )%       (0.12 )%       (0.17 )%10

Portfolio turnover

       54 %       47 %       47 %       43 %       54 %

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

       $1,171,466       $1,026,198       $1,283,161       $1,542,214       $1,319,016
   

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, the Class I and Class S were renamed Class Z and Class N, respectively.
##  Effective October 1, 2016, the Institutional Class and Premier Class were renamed Class I and Class S, respectively.
*  Commencement of operations was on February 27, 2017.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss would have been $(0.14), $(0.11) and $(0.11) for Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
4  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss per share would have been $(0.07) and $(0.04) for Class N and Class Z, respectively.
5  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss per share would have been $(0.08) and $(0.04) for Class N and Class Z, respectively.
6  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss per share would have been $(0.10) and $(0.06) for Class N and Class Z, respectively.
7  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
8  Not annualized.
9  Includes reduction from broker recapture amounting to 0.01% for each fiscal year ended 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.
10  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.019% and 0.019% of average net assets for the Class N and Class Z, respectively.
11  Annualized.
12  Includes reduction from broker recapture amounting to 0.01% for the fiscal period ended 2017.
13  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,
Class N    2017#   2016##   2015   2014   2013*

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

       $12.35       $12.65       $11.79       $11.98       $10.00

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

                    

Net investment income1,2

       0.08 3       0.04       0.05       0.11       0.11 4

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

       4.69       (0.11 )       1.43       0.11       2.35

Total income (loss) from investment operations

       4.77       (0.07 )       1.48       0.22       2.46

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

                    

Net investment income

       (0.06 )       (0.07 )       (0.17 )       (0.14 )       (0.21 )

Net realized gain on investments

       (0.07 )       (0.16 )       (0.45 )       (0.27 )       (0.09 )

Paid in capital

                               (0.18 )

Total distributions to shareholders

       (0.13 )       (0.23 )       (0.62 )       (0.41 )       (0.48 )

Net Asset Value, End of Year

       $16.99       $12.35       $12.65       $11.79       $11.98

Total Return2

       38.63 %5       (0.55 )%5       12.51 %5       1.89 %       24.77 %6

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

       1.29 %       1.30 %       1.30 %       1.30 %       1.08 %7,8

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets9

       1.30 %       1.39 %       1.59 %       4.47 %       8.50 %7,8

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

       0.53 %       0.32 %       0.37 %       0.90 %       0.97 %7,8

Portfolio turnover

       48 %       58 %       95 %       61 %       58 %6

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

       $238,935       $28,864       $337       $33       $19
   

 

 
39


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class I

      2017**

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

      $13.18

Income from Investment Operations:

   

Net investment income1,2

      0.11 3

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

      3.94

Total income from investment operations

      4.05

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

   

Net investment income

      (0.08 )

Net realized gain on investments

      (0.07 )

Total distributions to shareholders

      (0.15 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

      $17.08

Total Return2

      30.72 %5,6

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

      1.09 %7

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets9

      1.10 %7

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

      0.77 %7

Portfolio turnover

      48 %

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

      $182,528
           

 

 
40


Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,
Class Z    2017#   2016##   2015   2014   2013*

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

       $12.41       $12.69       $11.82       $11.98       $10.00

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

                    

Net investment income1,2

       0.11 3       0.28       0.13       0.14       0.10 4

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

       4.71       (0.32 )       1.38       0.12       2.36

Total income (loss) from investment operations

       4.82       (0.04 )       1.51       0.26       2.46

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

                    

Net investment income

       (0.08 )       (0.08 )       (0.19 )       (0.14 )       (0.21 )

Net realized gain on investments

       (0.07 )       (0.16 )       (0.45 )       (0.28 )       (0.09 )

Paid in capital

                               (0.18 )

Total distributions to shareholders

       (0.15 )       (0.24 )       (0.64 )       (0.42 )       (0.48 )

Net Asset Value, End of Year

       $17.08       $12.41       $12.69       $11.82       $11.98

Total Return2

       38.86 %5       (0.29 )%5       12.78 %5       2.15 %       24.77 %6

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

       1.04 %       1.05 %       1.05 %       1.05 %       1.07 %7,8

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets9

       1.05 %       1.19 %       1.30 %       4.17 %       8.05 %7,8

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

       0.70 %       2.23 %       1.04 %       1.13 %       0.88 %7,8

Portfolio turnover

       48 %       58 %       95 %       61 %       58 %6

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

       $252,951       $99,533       $30,119       $3,045       $2,768
   

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, the Class I and Class S were renamed Class Z and Class N, respectively.
##  Effective October 1, 2016, the Institutional Class and Premier Class were renamed Class I and Class S, respectively.
*  Commencement of operations was on January 2, 2013.
**  Commencement of operations was on February 27, 2017.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per share would have been $0.02, $0.05 and $0.05 for Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
4  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per share would have been $0.10 and $0.09 for Class N and Class Z, respectively.
5  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
6  Not annualized.
7  Annualized.
8  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.028% and 0.020% of average net assets for the Class N and Class Z, respectively.
9  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

    

Notes to Financial Statements

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

AMG Funds (the “Trust”) is an open-end management investment company, organized as a Massachusetts business trust, and registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Currently, the Trust consists of a number of different funds, each having distinct investment management objectives, strategies, risks, and policies. Included in this report are AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund (“Small Cap”), AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund (“Mid Cap”) and AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund (“International Small Cap”), each a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds.”

Each Fund offers different classes of shares, which, effective October 1, 2016, were renamed. Each Fund previously offered Institutional Class shares and Premier Class shares which were renamed to Class I and Class S, respectively. Effective February 27, 2017, Class I and Class S shares were renamed to Class Z and Class N, respectively, and each Fund added Class I shares. Each class represents an interest in the same assets of the respective Fund. Although all share classes generally have identical voting rights, each share class votes separately when required by law. Different share classes may pay different distribution amounts to the extent the net asset value per share and/or the expenses of such share classes differ. Each share class has its own expense structure. Please refer to a current prospectus for additional information on each share class.

Small Cap is closed to new investors. Please refer to a current prospectus for additional information.

The Funds’ financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”), including accounting and reporting guidance pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 applicable to investment companies. U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates and such differences could be material. The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Funds in the preparation of their financial statements:

a. VALUATION OF INVESTMENTS

Equity securities traded on a national securities exchange or reported on the NASDAQ national market system (“NMS”) are valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, if applicable, the NASDAQ official closing price or the official closing price of the relevant exchange or, lacking any sales, at the last quoted bid price or the mean between the last quoted bid and ask prices (the “exchange mean price”). Equity securities traded in the over-the-counter market (other than NMS securities) are valued at the exchange mean price. Foreign equity securities (securities principally traded in markets other than U.S. markets) are valued at the official closing price on the primary exchange or, for markets that either do not offer an official closing price or where the official closing price may not be representative of the overall market, the last quoted sale price.

Fixed income securities purchased with a remaining maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost, provided that the amortized cost value is approximately the same as the fair value of the security valued without the use of amortized cost. Investments in other open-end regulated investment companies are valued at their end of day net asset value per share.

The Funds’ portfolio investments are generally valued based on independent market quotations or prices or, if none, “evaluative” or other market based valuations provided by third party pricing services approved by the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”). Under certain circumstances, the value of certain Fund portfolio investments may be based on an evaluation of fair value, pursuant to procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Board. The Valuation Committee, which is comprised of the Independent Trustees of the Board, and the Pricing Committee, which is comprised of representatives from AMG Funds LLC (the “Investment Manager”) are the committees appointed by the Board to make fair value determinations. Each Fund may use the fair value of a portfolio investment to calculate its net asset value (“NAV”) in the event that the market quotation, price or market based valuation for the portfolio investment is not readily available or otherwise not determinable pursuant to the Board’s valuation procedures, if the Investment Manager or the Pricing Committee believes the quotation, price or market based valuation to be unreliable, or in certain other circumstances. When determining the fair value of an investment, the Pricing Committee and, if required under the Trust’s securities valuation procedures, the Valuation Committee, seeks to determine the price that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from current sale of that portfolio investment in an arms-length transaction. Fair value determinations shall be based upon consideration of all available facts and information, including, but not limited to (i) attributes specific to the investment; (ii) fundamental and analytical data relating to the investment; and (iii) the value of other comparable securities or relevant financial instruments, including derivative securities, traded on other markets or among dealers.

The values assigned to fair value portfolio investments are based on available information and do not necessarily represent amounts that might ultimately be realized in the future, since such amounts depend on future developments inherent in long-term investments. Because of the inherent uncertainty of valuation, those estimated values may differ significantly from the values that would have been used had a ready market for the investments existed, and the differences could be material. The Board will be presented with a quarterly report showing as of the most recent quarter end, all outstanding securities fair valued by the Fund, including a comparison with the prior quarter end and the percentage of the Fund that the security represents at each quarter end.

With respect to foreign equity securities and certain foreign fixed income securities, the Board has adopted a policy that securities held in a Fund that can be fair valued by the applicable fair value pricing service are fair valued on each business day provided that each individual price exceeds a pre-established confidence level.

U.S. GAAP defines fair value as the price that a fund would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. U.S. GAAP also establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and a three level hierarchy for fair value measurements based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability. Inputs may be observable or unobservable and refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Funds. Unobservable inputs reflect the Funds’ own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. Each investment is assigned a level based upon the observability of the inputs which are significant to the overall valuation.

 

 

 
42


Table of Contents
   

    

    

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

The three-tier hierarchy of inputs is summarized below:

Level 1 – inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical investments (e.g., equity securities, open-end investment companies)

Level 2 – other observable inputs (including, but not limited to: quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in markets that are active, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets or liabilities (such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks and default rates) or other market corroborated inputs) (e.g., debt securities, government securities, foreign currency exchange contracts, foreign securities utilizing international fair value pricing, fair valued securities with observable inputs)

Level 3 – inputs are significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions used to determine the fair value of investments) (e.g., fair valued securities with unobservable inputs)

Changes in inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may result in a transfer in or out of levels within the fair value hierarchy. The inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may not necessarily be an indication of the risk associated with investing in those investments. Transfers between different levels of the fair value disclosure hierarchy are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.

b. SECURITY TRANSACTIONS

Security transactions are accounted for as of trade date. Realized gains and losses on securities sold are determined on the basis of identified cost.

c. INVESTMENT INCOME AND EXPENSES

Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date. Dividends from foreign securities are recorded on the ex-dividend date, and if after the fact, as soon as the Funds become aware of the ex-dividend date, except for Korean securities where dividends are recorded on confirmation date. Interest income, which includes amortization of premium and accretion of discount on debt securities, is accrued as earned. Dividend and interest income on foreign securities is recorded gross of any withholding tax. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are reported at the fair market value of the securities received. Upon notification from issuers, distributions received from a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) may be redesignated as a reduction of cost of investments and/or realized gain. Other income and expenses are recorded on an accrual basis. Expenses that cannot be directly attributed to a Fund are apportioned among the funds in the Trust and other trusts within the AMG Funds family of mutual funds (collectively the “AMG Funds Family”) based upon their relative average net assets or number of shareholders. Investment income, realized and unrealized capital gains and losses, the common expenses of each Fund, and certain fund level expense reductions, if any, are allocated on a pro-rata basis to each class based on the relative net assets of each class to the total net assets of each Fund.

The following Funds had certain portfolio trades directed to various brokers under a brokerage recapture program. Credits received from the brokerage recapture program are earned and paid on a monthly basis, and are recorded as expense offsets, which serve to reduce the Funds’ overall expense ratio. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the impact on the expense ratios, if any, were as follows: Small Cap - $167,940 or 0.01% and Mid Cap - $198,314 or 0.01%.

d. DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

Fund distributions resulting from either net investment income or realized net capital gains, if any, will normally be declared and paid at least annually in December. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Distributions are determined in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which may differ from net investment income and net realized capital gains for financial statement purposes (U.S. GAAP). Differences may be permanent or temporary. Permanent differences are reclassified among capital accounts in the financial statements to reflect their tax character. Permanent book and tax basis differences, if any, relating to shareholder distributions will result in reclassifications to paid-in capital. Temporary differences arise when certain items of income, expense and gain or loss are recognized in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes; these differences will reverse at some time in the future. Permanent differences are primarily due to a net operating loss offset by short term capital gains, tax adjustments on passive foreign investment companies sold and foreign currency. Temporary differences are due to differing treatments for losses deferred due to excise tax regulations, mark-to-market on passive foreign investment companies, partnerships, and wash sales.

 

 

 
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The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 were as follows:

 

     Small Cap      Mid Cap      International Small Cap  
Distributions paid from:    2017      2016      2017      2016      2017      2016  

Ordinary income

                               $ 2,802,652        $776,559  

Short-term capital gains

     $16,815,554               $26,618,955               2,229,098        112,641  

Long-term capital gains

     99,741,828      $ 37,818,094        241,440,318      $ 103,363,613        473,539        1,521,694  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
     $116,557,382      $ 37,818,094      $ 268,059,273      $ 103,363,613      $ 5,505,289      $ 2,410,894  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

As of December 31, 2017, the components of distributable earnings (excluding unrealized appreciation/depreciation) on tax basis consisted of:

 

     Small Cap      Mid Cap     International Small Cap  

Capital loss carryforward

                   

Undistributed ordinary income

                  $1,310,632  

Undistributed short-term capital gains

     $6,836,312        $520,564       1,560  

Undistributed long-term capital gains

     21,535,354        43,766,395       1,422  

Late-year loss deferral

                  792,755  

At December 31, 2017, the approximate cost of investments and the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation for federal income tax were as follows:

 

Fund    Cost      Appreciation      Depreciation     Net  

Small Cap

     $965,477,462      $ 373,959,258      $ (36,633,260   $ 337,325,998  

Mid Cap

     1,422,500,309        732,905,264        (25,664,618     707,240,646  

International Small Cap

     626,946,596        86,592,387        (8,934,291     77,658,096  

 

e. FEDERAL TAXES

Each Fund currently qualifies as an investment company and intends to comply with the requirements under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and to distribute substantially all of its taxable income and gains to its shareholders and to meet certain diversification and income requirements with respect to investment companies. Therefore, no provision for federal income or excise tax is included in the accompanying financial statements.

Additionally, based on each Fund’s understanding of the tax rules and rates related to income, gains and transactions for the foreign jurisdictions in which it invests, each Fund will provide for foreign taxes, and where appropriate, deferred foreign taxes.

Management has analyzed the Funds’ tax positions taken on federal income tax returns as of December 31, 2017, and for all open tax years (generally, the three prior taxable years), and has concluded that no provision for federal income tax is required in the Funds’ financial statements. Additionally, Management is not aware of any tax position for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change materially in the next twelve months.

Net capital losses incurred may be carried forward for an unlimited time period, and retain their tax character as either short-term or long-term capital losses.

f. CAPITAL LOSS CARRYOVERS AND DEFERRALS

As of December 31, 2017, the Funds had no accumulated net realized capital loss carryovers from securities transactions for federal income tax purposes. Should

the Funds incur capital losses for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, such amounts may be used to offset future realized capital gains, if any, for an unlimited time period.

g. CAPITAL STOCK

The Trust’s Declaration of Trust authorizes for each Fund the issuance of an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest, without par value. Each Fund records sales and repurchases of its capital stock on the trade date. International Small Cap will deduct a 2.00% redemption fee from the proceeds of any redemption (including a redemption by exchange) of shares if the redemption occurs within 60 days of the purchase of those shares. For fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, International Small Cap had redemption fees amounting to $31,001 and $2,422, respectively. This amount is netted against the cost of shares repurchased in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, Small Cap transferred securities and cash to certain shareholders in connection with redemptions in-kind transactions in the amount of $24,588,173. For the purposes of U.S. GAAP, these transactions were treated as a sale of securities and the resulting gains and losses were recognized based on the market value of the securities on the date of the transfer. For tax purposes, no gains or losses were recognized.

 

 

 
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For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the capital stock transactions by class for the Funds were as follows:

 

           Small Cap                 Mid Cap        
     December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016     December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016  
     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  

Class N:

                

Proceeds from sale of shares

     2,100,733       $35,399,570       5,592,307       $84,952,891       4,524,948       $85,060,323       7,707,833       $135,693,246  

Reinvestment of distributions

     1,860,927       31,505,486       677,811       10,648,411       3,664,641       67,392,743       2,576,404       45,035,548  

Cost of shares repurchased

     (5,329,379     (89,150,480     (4,427,620     (66,407,791     (27,228,871     (525,934,480     (13,987,697     (238,278,283
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

     (1,367,719     $(22,245,424     1,842,498       $29,193,511       (19,039,282     $(373,481,414     (3,703,460     $(57,549,489
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class I:

                

Proceeds from sale of shares

     141,478       $2,358,523                   19,656,182       $391,313,696              

Reinvestment of distributions

     11,582       200,824                   2,655,722       50,060,362              

Cost of shares repurchased

     (33,824     (568,937                 (1,263,239     (25,729,820            
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase

     119,236       $1,990,410                   21,048,665       $415,644,238              
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class Z:

                

Proceeds from sale of shares

     4,491,656       $78,174,796       6,088,679       $91,368,839       10,842,602       $208,108,076       10,615,583       $186,097,528  

Reinvestment of distributions

     4,770,251       82,811,556       1,662,923       26,656,660       7,557,327       142,531,187       3,051,896       54,445,814  

Cost of shares repurchased

     (7,651,186     (133,347,123     (12,656,348     (193,716,770 )1      (14,614,684     (282,163,190     (29,433,072     (517,043,749
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

     1,610,721       $27,639,229       (4,904,746     $(75,691,271     3,785,245       $68,476,073       (15,765,593   $ (276,500,407
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

1  Includes redemptions in-kind.

 

 
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           International Small Cap  
     December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016  
     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  

Class N:

        

 Proceeds from sale of shares

     14,670,035       $228,428,706       2,365,243           $29,747,163  

 Reinvestment of distributions

     104,871       1,775,464       39,991       491,094  

 Cost of shares repurchased

     (3,044,725     (48,697,102     (95,293     (1,209,993
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 Net increase

     11,730,181       $181,507,068           2,309,941           $29,028,264  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class I:

        

 Proceeds from sale of shares

     14,921,923       $239,684,216              

 Reinvestment of distributions

     82,263       1,400,122              

 Cost of shares repurchased

     (4,314,909     (72,313,277            
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 Net increase

         10,689,277           $168,771,061              
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class Z:

        

 Proceeds from sale of shares

     8,896,377       $144,554,627       5,827,696           $75,012,299  

 Reinvestment of distributions

     129,591       2,205,735       153,981       1,898,583  

 Cost of shares repurchased

     (2,239,940     (30,154,981     (333,427     (4,258,970
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 Net increase

     6,786,028       $116,605,381       5,648,250           $72,651,912  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

At December 31, 2017, certain unaffiliated shareholders of record individually or collectively held greater than 10% of the net assets of the Funds as follows: International Small Cap - one owns 10%. Transactions by this shareholder may have a material impact on the Fund.

 

h. REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS AND JOINT REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS

The Funds may enter into third-party repurchase agreements for temporary cash management purposes and third-party joint repurchase agreements for reinvestment of cash collateral on securities lending transactions under the securities lending program offered by The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) (the “Program”) (collectively, “Repurchase Agreements”). The value of the underlying collateral, including accrued interest, must equal or exceed the value of the Repurchase Agreements during the term of the agreement. For joint repurchase agreements, the Funds participate on a pro rata basis with other clients of BNYM in its share of the underlying collateral under such joint repurchase agreements and in its share of proceeds from any repurchase or other disposition of the underlying collateral. The underlying collateral for all Repurchase Agreements is held in safekeeping by the Funds’ custodian or at the Federal Reserve Bank. If the seller defaults and the value of the collateral declines, or if bankruptcy proceedings commence with respect to the seller of the security, realization of the collateral by the Funds may be delayed or limited. Pursuant to the Program, the Funds are indemnified for such losses by BNYM on joint repurchase agreements.

At December 31, 2017, the market value of Repurchase Agreements outstanding for Small Cap, Mid Cap and International Small Cap were $113,387,081, $41,151,223 and $41,281,060, respectively.

i. FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION

The books and records of the Funds are maintained in U.S. dollars. The value of investments, assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than U.S. dollars are translated into U.S. dollars based upon current foreign exchange rates.

Purchases and sales of foreign investments, income and expenses are converted into U.S. dollars based on currency exchange rates prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions. Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on foreign currency transactions represent: (1) foreign exchange gains and losses from the sale and holdings of foreign currencies; (2) gains and losses between trade date and settlement date on investment securities transactions and forward foreign currency exchange contracts; and (3) gains and losses from the difference between amounts of interest and dividends recorded and the amounts actually received.

The Funds do not isolate the net realized and unrealized gain or loss resulting from changes in exchange rates from the fluctuations in market prices of securities held. Such fluctuations are included with the net realized and unrealized gain or loss on investments.

j. FOREIGN SECURITIES

The Funds invest in securities of foreign entities and in instruments denominated in foreign currencies which involve risks not typically associated with investments in domestic securities. Non-domestic securities carry special risks, such as exposure to currency fluctuations, less developed or less efficient trading markets, political instability, a lack of company information, differing auditing and legal standards, and, potentially, less liquidity. A Fund’s investments in emerging market countries are exposed to additional risks. A Fund’s performance will be influenced by political, social and economic factors affecting companies in emerging market countries. Emerging market countries generally have economic structures that are less diverse and mature, and political systems that are less stable, than those of developed countries. Realized gains in certain countries may be subject to foreign

 

 

 
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taxes at the Fund level and would pay such foreign taxes at the appropriate rate for each jurisdiction.

2. AGREEMENTS AND TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

For each of the Funds, the Trust has entered into an investment advisory agreement under which the Investment Manager, a subsidiary and the U.S. retail distribution arm of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (“AMG”), serves as investment manager to the Funds and is responsible for the Funds’ overall administration and operations. The Investment Manager selects one or more subadvisers for the Funds (subject to Board approval) and monitors each subadviser’s investment performance, security holdings and investment strategies. Each Fund’s investment portfolio is managed by TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC (“TimesSquare”) who serves pursuant to a subadvisory agreement with the Investment Manager. AMG indirectly owns a majority interest in TimesSquare.

Investment management fees are paid directly by the Funds to the Investment Manager based on average daily net assets. Effective October 1, 2016, the Funds’ investment management fees are paid at the following annual rate of each Fund’s respective average daily net assets:

Small Cap

       0.85%    

Mid Cap

       0.85%    

International Small Cap

       0.75%    

Prior to October 1, 2016, the annual rate for the investment management fees was 1.00%, 1.00% and 0.90% of each Fund’s average daily net assets of Small Cap, Mid Cap and International Small Cap, respectively.

The Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2018, to waive management fees and/or reimburse fund expenses in order to limit total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses) to the annual rate of 1.05%, 1.20% and 1.25% of the average daily net assets of Small Cap attributable to the Class Z, Class I and Class N shares, respectively, and 1.19%, 1.34% and 1.39% of the average daily net assets of Mid Cap attributable to Class Z, Class I and Class N shares, respectively, subject to later reimbursement by the Funds in certain circumstances.

The Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2018, to waive management fees and/or reimburse fund expenses in order to limit total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), shareholder servicing fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses) to 1.05% of International Small Cap Fund’s average daily net assets subject to later reimbursement by the Fund in certain circumstances.

The contractual expense limitation may only be terminated in the event the Investment Manager or a successor ceases to be the investment manager of the Fund or a successor fund, by mutual agreement between the Investment Manager and the Board, or in the event of the Fund’s liquidation unless the Fund is reorganized or is a party to a merger in which the surviving entity is successor to the accounting and performance information of the Fund.

In general, for a period of up to 36 months, the Investment Manager may recover from each Fund fees waived and expenses paid pursuant to this contractual agreement, provided that such repayment would not cause the Fund’s total annual operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of the items noted in the parenthetical above) to exceed the contractual expense limitation amount.

At December 31, 2017, the Funds’ had no recoupment amounts outstanding.

The Investment Manager has agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in consideration of shareholder servicing fees that it has received from JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc., with respect to short-term cash investments Mid Cap has made in the JPMorgan Liquid Assets Money Market Fund, Capital Shares and JPMorgan U.S. Government Money Market Fund. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the investment management fee for Mid Cap was reduced by $12,258 or less than 0.01%.

The Trust, on behalf of the Funds, has entered into an amended and restated Administration Agreement under which the Investment Manager serves as the Funds’ administrator (the “Administrator”) and is responsible for all non-portfolio management aspects of managing the Funds’ operations, including administration and shareholder services to each Fund. Effective October 1, 2016, each Fund pays a fee to the Administrator at the rate of 0.15% per annum of the Fund’s average daily net assets for this service. Prior to October 1, 2016, the Investment Manager was reimbursed by the Funds’ subadvisor for providing a variety of administrative services to the Funds.

Effective July 1, 2017, the Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least June 30, 2018, to waive 0.01% of the International Small Cap’s administration fee. The waiver may only be terminated in the event the Investment Manager or a successor ceases to be the administrator of the Fund or a successor fund, by mutual agreement between the Investment Manager and the Board, or in the event of the Fund’s liquidation unless the Fund is reorganized or is a party to a merger in which the surviving entity is successor to the accounting and performance information of the Fund. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the administration fee for International Small Cap was reduced by $23,483 or 0.01%.

The Funds are distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Investment Manager. The Distributor serves as the distributor and underwriter for each Fund and is a registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). Shares of each Fund will be continuously offered and will be sold directly to prospective purchasers and through brokers, dealers or other financial intermediaries who have executed selling agreements with the Distributor. Generally the Distributor bears all or a portion of the expenses of providing services pursuant to the distribution agreement, including the payment of the expenses relating to the distribution of prospectuses for sales purposes and any advertising or sales literature.

Effective October 1, 2016, for Class N shares and effective February 27, 2017, for Class I shares of each Fund, the Board has approved reimbursement payments to the Investment Manager for shareholder servicing expenses (“shareholder servicing fees”) incurred. Shareholder servicing fees include payments to financial intermediaries, such as broker-dealers (including fund supermarket platforms), banks, and trust companies who provide shareholder recordkeeping, account servicing and other services. Class N and Class I shares may reimburse the Investment Manager for the actual amount incurred up to a maximum annual rate of each Class’s average daily net assets as shown in the table below.

 

 

 
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The impact on the annualized expense ratios for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

Fund    Maximum Annual
Amount
Approved
    Actual
Amount
Incurred
 

Small Cap

    

Class N

     0.20     0.20

Class I

     0.10     0.07

Mid Cap

    

Class N

     0.20     0.20

Class I

     0.10     0.06

International Small Cap

    

Class N

     0.25     0.25

Class I

     0.10     0.05

The Board provides supervision of the affairs of the Trust and other trusts within the AMG Funds family. The Trustees of the Trust who are not affiliated with an Investment Manager receive an annual retainer and per meeting fees for regular, special and telephonic meetings, and they are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses incurred while carrying out their duties as Board members. The Chairman of the Board and the Audit Committee Chair receive additional annual retainers. Certain Trustees and Officers of the Funds are Officers and/or Directors of the Investment Manager, AMG and/or the Distributor.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) granted an exemptive order that permits the Funds to lend and borrow money for certain temporary purposes directly to and from other eligible funds in the AMG Funds family. Participation in this interfund lending program is voluntary for both the borrowing and lending funds, and an interfund loan is only made if it benefits each participating fund. The Administrator manages the program according to procedures approved by the Board, and the Board monitors the operation of the program. An interfund loan must comply with certain conditions set out in the exemptive order, which are designed to assure fairness and protect all participating funds. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, Small Cap lent a maximum of $2,203,352 for seven days earning interest of $497, Mid Cap lent a maximum of $3,401,279 for two days earning interest of $328, and International Small Cap lent a maximum of $1,099,360 for two days earning interest of $108. The interest income amount is included in the Statement of Operations as interest income. International Small Cap borrowed a maximum of $22,802,753 for two days paying interest of $1,242. The interest expense amount is included in the Statement of Operations as miscellaneous expense. At December 31, 2017, the Funds had no interfund loans outstanding.

3. PURCHASES AND SALES OF SECURITIES

Purchases and sales of securities (excluding short-term securities and U.S. Government Obligations) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Long Term Securities  
Fund    Purchases      Sales  

Small Cap

     $624,900,198        $720,382,912  

Mid Cap

     1,043,463,653        1,179,830,881  
     Long Term Securities  
Fund    Purchases      Sales  

International Small Cap

     590,696,764        $152,428,720  

The Funds had no purchases or sales of U.S. Government Obligations during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

4. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES LOANED

The Funds participate in the Program providing for the lending of securities to qualified brokers. Securities lending income includes earnings of such temporary cash investments, plus or minus any rebate to a borrower. These earnings (after any rebate) are then divided between BNYM, as a fee for its services under the Program, and the Funds, according to agreed-upon rates. Collateral on all securities loaned is accepted in cash and is maintained at a minimum level of 102% (105% in the case of certain foreign securities) of the market value, plus interest, if applicable, of investments on loan. It is the Funds’ policy to obtain additional collateral from or return excess collateral to the borrower by the end of the next business day, following the valuation date of the securities loaned. Therefore, the value of the collateral held may be temporarily less than the value of the securities on loan. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to the Funds if and to the extent that the market value of the securities loaned were to increase and the borrower did not increase the collateral accordingly, and the borrower fails to return the securities. Under the terms of the Program, the Funds are indemnified for such losses by BNYM. Cash collateral is held in a separate omnibus account managed by BNYM, who is authorized to exclusively enter into joint repurchase agreements. BNYM bears the risk of any deficiency in the amount of the cash collateral available for return to the borrower due to any loss on the collateral invested.

The value of securities loaned on positions held and cash collateral received at December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

Fund    Securities
Loaned
     Cash
Collateral
Received
 

Small Cap

     $108,634,757        $113,387,081  

Mid Cap

     39,934,682        41,151,223  

International Small Cap

     36,122,669        41,281,060  

Additionally, Small Cap sold a security for $819,398, which was still out on loan as of December 31, 2017. The proceeds are reflected in the Statement of Assets & Liabilities under Receivable for investments sold.

5. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its trustees and officers are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to the Trust. In addition, in the normal course of business, the Funds may enter into contracts and agreements that contain a variety of representations and warranties, which provide general indemnifications. The maximum exposure to the Funds under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against a Fund that have not yet occurred. However, based on experience, the Funds had no prior claims or losses and expect the risks of loss to be remote.

 

 

 
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6. MASTER NETTING AGREEMENTS

The Funds may enter into master netting agreements with their counterparties for the securities lending program, and Repurchase Agreements, which provide the right, in the event of default (including bankruptcy or insolvency) for the non-defaulting party to liquidate the collateral and calculate net exposure to the

defaulting party or request additional collateral. For financial reporting purposes, the Funds do not offset financial assets and financial liabilities that are subject to master netting agreements in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. For securities lending transactions, see Note 4.

 

 

The following table is a summary of the Funds’ open Repurchase Agreements that are subject to a master netting agreement as of December 31, 2017:

 

              Gross Amount Not Offset in the
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
      
Fund      Net Amounts of Assets
Presented in the Statement
of Assets and Liabilities
     Financial
Instruments
Collateral
     Cash Collateral
Received
     Net Amount

Small Cap

                           

Bank of Nova Scotia

         $26,930,473          $26,930,473                  

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc.

         26,930,473          26,930,473                  

Daiwa Capital Markets America

         26,930,473          26,930,473                  

Jefferies LLC

         5,665,189          5,665,189                  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board

         26,930,473          26,930,473                  
      

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

 

Totals

         $113,387,081          $113,387,081                  
      

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

 

Mid Cap

                           

Bank of Montreal

         $4,424,799          $4,424,799              

Bank of Nova Scotia NY

         9,773,749          9,773,749                  

Daiwa Capital Markets America

         7,405,177          7,405,177                  

Jefferies LLC

         9,773,749          9,773,749                  

Nomura Securities International, Inc.

         9,773,749          9,773,749                  
      

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

 

Totals

         $41,151,223          $41,151,223                  
      

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

 

International Small Cap

 

                    

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc.

         $9,804,641          $9,804,641                  

Daiwa Capital Markets America

         9,804,641          9,804,641                  

HSBC Securities USA, Inc.

         9,804,641          9,804,641                  

Jefferies LLC

         2,062,496          2,062,496                  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board

         9,804,641          9,804,641                  
      

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

 

Totals

         $41,281,060          $41,281,060                  —                          —        
      

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

        

 

 

 

 

7. REGULATORY UPDATES

On October 13, 2016, the SEC amended existing rules intended to modernize reporting and disclosure of information. These amendments relate to Regulation S-X, which sets forth the form and content of financial statements. Effective August 1, 2017, the Funds have adopted these amendments and noted no significant impact on the financial statements and accompanying notes.

8. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Effective January 1, 2018, the management fee for Small Cap and Mid Cap will be reduced from 0.85% to 0.79%. Also effective on January 1, 2018, Small Cap and Mid Cap’s existing contractual expense limitation agreement with the Investment

Manager will be replaced with a new contractual expense limitation agreement with the Investment Manager pursuant to which the Investment Manager has agreed, through at least May 1, 2019, to limit total annual operating expenses (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), shareholder servicing fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses, and extraordinary expenses) of Small Cap and Mid Cap to the annual rate of 0.99% and 1.13%, respectively, of each Fund’s average daily net assets, subject to later reimbursement by each Fund in certain circumstances. Please refer to the Fund’s prospectus for further details.

 

 

 
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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

The Funds have determined that no other material events or transactions occurred through the issuance date of the Funds’ financial statements which require an additional disclosure in or adjustment of the Funds’ financial statements.

    

 

 

 
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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

    

 

TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF AMG FUNDS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF AMG TIMESSQUARE SMALL CAP GROWTH FUND, AMG TIMESSQUARE MID CAP GROWTH FUND, AND AMG TIMESSQUARE INTERNATIONAL SMALL CAP FUND

Opinions on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities, including the schedules of portfolio investments, of AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund, AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund, and AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund (three of the funds constituting AMG Funds, hereafter collectively referred to as the “Funds”) as of December 31, 2017, the related statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2017, the statements of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of each of the Funds as of December 31, 2017, the results of each of their operations for the year then ended, the changes in each of their net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017 and each of the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinions

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Funds’ management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Funds’ financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Funds in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of December 31, 2017 by correspondence with the custodian, transfer agent and brokers; when replies were not received from brokers, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

February 27, 2018

We have served as the auditor of one or more investment companies in AMG Funds Family since 1993.

 

 

 
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Other Information

 

    

 

 

TAX INFORMATION

 

 

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund, AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund and AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund each hereby designates the maximum amount allowable of its net taxable income as qualified dividends as provided in the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. The 2017 Form 1099-DIV you receive for each Fund will show the tax status of all distributions paid to you during the calendar year.

In accordance with federal tax law, the following Fund elected to provide foreign taxes paid and the income sourced from foreign countries. Accordingly, the following Fund hereby makes the following designations regarding its period ended December 31, 2017:

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

u The total amount of taxes paid and income sourced from foreign countries was $493,759 and $5,898,523, respectively.

Pursuant to section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund, AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund and AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund each hereby designates $99,741,828, $241,440,318 and $473,539, respectively, as a capital gain distribution with respect to the taxable year ended December 31, 2017, or if subsequently determined to be different, the net capital gains of such year.

 

 

 
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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers

 

    

 

The Trustees and Officers of the Trust, their business addresses, principal occupations for the past five years and ages are listed below. The Trustees provide broad supervision over the affairs of the Trust and the Funds. The Trustees are experienced executives who meet periodically throughout the year to oversee the Funds’ activities, review contractual arrangements with companies that provide services to the Funds, and

 

  

review the Funds’ performance. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each Trustee or Officer is the address of the Trust: 600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830.

 

There is no stated term of office for Trustees. Trustees serve until their resignation, retirement or removal in

   accordance with the Trust’s organizational documents and policies adopted by the Board from time to time. The Chairman of the Trustees, President, Treasurer and Secretary of the Trust are elected by the Trustees annually. Other officers hold office at the pleasure of the Trustees.

Independent Trustees

The following Trustees are not “interested persons” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act:

 

  Number of Funds Overseen in

  Fund Complex

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee
   

• Trustee since 2012

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Bruce B. Bingham, 69

Partner, Hamilton Partners (real estate development firm) (1987-Present); Director of The Yacktman Funds (2000-2012).

   

• Trustee since 1999

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Edward J. Kaier, 72

Attorney at Law and Partner, Teeters Harvey Marrone & Kaier LLP (2007-Present); Attorney at Law and Partner, Hepburn Willcox Hamilton & Putnam, LLP (1977-2007); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Kurt A. Keilhacker, 54

Managing Member, TechFund Capital (1997-Present); Managing Member, TechFund Europe (2000-Present); Board Member, 6wind SA, (2002-Present); Managing Member, Elementum Ventures (2013-Present); Trustee, Gordon College (2001-2016).

   

• Trustee since 2004

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Steven J. Paggioli, 67

Independent Consultant (2002-Present); Formerly Executive Vice President and Director, The Wadsworth Group (1986-2001); Executive Vice President, Secretary and Director, Investment Company Administration, LLC (1990-2001); Vice President, Secretary and Director, First Fund Distributors, Inc. (1991-2001); Trustee, Professionally Managed Portfolios (32 portfolios); Advisory Board Member, Sustainable Growth Advisors, LP; Independent Director, Chase Investment Counsel (2008–Present).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Richard F. Powers III, 72

Adjunct Professor, U.S. Naval War College (2016); Adjunct Professor, Boston College (2010-2013); President and CEO of Van Kampen Investments Inc. (1998-2003).

   

• Independent Chairman

• Trustee since 1999

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Eric Rakowski, 59

Professor, University of California at Berkeley School of Law (1990-Present); Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Victoria L. Sassine, 52

Lecturer, Babson College (2007 – Present).

   

• Trustee since 2004

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Thomas R. Schneeweis, 70

Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts (2013-Present); Partner, S Capital Wealth Advisors (2015-Present); President, TRS Associates (1982-Present); Board Member, Chartered Alternative Investment Association (“CAIA”) (2002-Present); Director, CAIA Foundation (Education) (2010-Present); Director, Institute for GlobalAsset and Risk Management (Education) (2010-Present); Partner, S Capital Management, LLC (2007-2015); Director, CISDM at the University of Massachusetts, (1996-2013); President, Alternative Investment Analytics, LLC, (formerly Schneeweis Partners, LLC) (2001-2013); Professor of Finance, University of Massachusetts (1977-2013).

 

 
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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

    

 

Interested Trustees

Each Trustee in the following table is an “interested person” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act. Ms. Carsman is an interested person of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act by virtue of her position with, and interest in securities of, AMG.

 

  Number of Funds Overseen in

  Fund Complex

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee
   

• Trustee since 2011

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Christine C. Carsman, 65

Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2017-Present); Director (2010-Present) and Chair of the Board of Directors (2015-Present), AMG Funds plc; Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2011-2016); Senior Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2007-2011); Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2004-2007); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2004-2011); Senior Counsel, Vice President and Director of Operational Risk Management and Compliance, Wellington Management Company, LLP (1995-2004).

   
Officers    
   

  Position(s) Held with Fund

  and Length of Time Served

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years
   

• President since 2014

• Principal Executive Officer

  since 2014

• Chief Executive Officer since

  2016

 

Jeffrey T. Cerutti, 50

Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2014-Present); Director, President and Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2014-Present); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Chief Executive Officer, President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Executive Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President, VP Distributors, (2011-2014); Executive Vice President, Head of Distribution, Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (2010-2014); Managing Director, Head of Sales, UBS Global Asset Management (2001-2010).

   

• Chief Operating Officer since

  2007

 

Keitha L. Kinne, 59

Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2007-Present); Chief Investment Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2008-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2012-2014); Managing Partner, AMG Funds LLC (2007-2014); President, AMG Funds (2012-2014); President, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2012-2014); Managing Director, Legg Mason & Co., LLC (2006-2007); Managing Director, Citigroup Asset Management (2004-2006).

   

• Secretary since 2015

• Chief Legal Officer since

  2015

 

Mark J. Duggan, 53

Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Attorney, K&L Gates, LLP (2009-2015).

   

• Chief Financial Officer since

  2017

• Treasurer since 2017

• Principal Financial Officer

  since 2017

• Principal Accounting Officer

  since 2017

 

Thomas G. Disbrow, 52

Vice President, Mutual Fund Treasurer & CFO, AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Managing Director - Global Head of Traditional Funds Product Control, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2015-2017); Managing Director - Head of North American Funds Treasury, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2011-2015).

 

   

• Chief Compliance Officer

  since 2016

 

Gerald F. Dillenburg, 51

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2016-2017); Chief Compliance Officer and Sarbanes Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (1996-Present); Sarbanes-Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2016); Chief Operating Officer, Aston Funds (2003-2016); Secretary, Aston Funds (1996-2015); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Funds (1997-2010); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2010); Treasurer, Aston Funds (1996-2010).

   

• Deputy Treasurer since

  2017

 

John A. Starace, 47

Director, Mutual Fund Accounting, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Deputy Treasurer of Mutual Funds Services, AMG Funds LLC (2014-2017); Deputy Treasurer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Vice President, Citi Hedge Fund Services (2010-2014); Audit Senior Manager (2005-2010) and Audit Manager (2001-2005), Deloitte & Touche LLP.

 

 
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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

    

 

 

  Position(s) Held with Fund

  and Length of Time Served

 

Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years

   
• Controller since 2017  

Christopher R. Townsend, 50

Vice President, Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Head of Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Chief Financial Officer and Financial and Operations Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2016-Present); Controller, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management LLC (2016); Head of Finance and Accounting, Allianz Asset Management (2006-2015).

   

• Anti-Money Laundering

  Compliance Officer since

  2014

 

Patrick J. Spellman, 43

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2011-2017); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc., (2010-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Compliance Manager, Legal and Compliance, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2005-2011).

   

• Assistant Secretary since

  2016

 

Maureen A. Meredith, 32

Director, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Assistant Secretary, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Associate, Ropes & Gray LLP (2011-2015); Law Fellow, Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice (2010-2011).

 

 
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THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

 

 


Table of Contents

LOGO

 

 

    

 

Investment Manager and

Administrator

 

AMG Funds LLC

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

 

Distributor

 

AMG Distributors, Inc.

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

 

Subadvisor

 

TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC

7 Times Square

42nd Floor

New York, NY 10036

 

Custodian

 

The Bank of New York Mellon

111 Sanders Creek Parkway

East Syracuse, NY 13057

  

Legal Counsel

 

Ropes & Gray LLP

Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston Street

Boston, MA 02199-3600

 

Transfer Agent

 

BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

Attn: AMG Funds

P.O. Box 9769

Providence, RI 02940

800.548.4539

  

This report is prepared for the Funds’ shareholders. It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by an effective prospectus. To receive a free copy of the prospectus or Statement of Additional Information, which includes additional information about Fund Trustees, please contact us by calling 800.835.3879. Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

Current net asset values per share for each Fund are available on the Funds’ website at amgfunds.com.

 

A description of the policies and procedures the Fund uses to vote its proxies is available: (i) without charge, upon request, by calling 800.835.3879, or (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) website at sec.gov. For information regarding the Fund’s proxy voting record for the 12-month period ended June 30, call 800.835.3879 or visit the SEC website at sec.gov.

 

The Funds file their complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Forms N-Q are available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. A Fund’s Form N-Q may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1.800.SEC.0330. To review a complete list of the Fund’s portfolio holdings, or to view the most recent quarterly holdings report, semiannual report, or annual report, please visit amgfunds.com.

 

         
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LOGO

 

    

 

 

AFFILIATE SUBADVISED FUNDS

 

BALANCED FUNDS

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

 

AMG FQ Global Risk-Balanced

First Quadrant, L.P.

 

EQUITY FUNDS

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

 

AMG FQ Tax-Managed U.S. Equity

AMG FQ Long-Short Equity

First Quadrant, L.P.

 

AMG Frontier Small Cap Growth

Frontier Capital Management Company, LLC

 

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap

AMG GW&K U.S. Small Cap Growth

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

AMG Renaissance International Equity

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth

The Renaissance Group LLC

 

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value II

AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value

AMG River Road Long-Short

AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value

AMG River Road Small Cap Value

River Road Asset Management, LLC

 

AMG SouthernSun Small Cap

AMG SouthernSun Global Opportunities

AMG SouthernSun U.S. Equity

SouthernSun Asset Management, LLC

 

AMG Systematic Mid Cap Value

Systematic Financial Management, L.P.

 

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth

TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC

  

AMG Trilogy Emerging Markets Equity

AMG Trilogy Emerging Wealth Equity

Trilogy Global Advisors, L.P.

 

AMG Yacktman

AMG Yacktman Focused

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities

Yacktman Asset Management LP

 

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

AMG GW&K Core Bond

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

OPEN-ARCHITECTURE FUNDS

 

ALTERNATIVE FUNDS

AMG Managers Lake Partners LASSO Alternative

Lake Partners, Inc.

 

BALANCED FUNDS

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Balanced

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

 

EQUITY FUNDS

AMG Managers Brandywine

AMG Managers Brandywine Advisors Mid Cap Growth

AMG Managers Brandywine Blue

Friess Associates, LLC

 

AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies

AMG Managers Cadence Mid Cap

Cadence Capital Management, LLC

 

AMG Managers CenterSquare Real Estate

CenterSquare Investment Management, Inc.

 

AMG Managers Emerging Opportunities

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

WEDGE Capital Management L.L.P.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC

RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc.

  

AMG Managers Essex Small/Micro Cap Growth

Essex Investment Management Co., LLC

 

AMG Managers Fairpointe ESG Equity

AMG Managers Fairpointe Mid Cap

Fairpointe Capital LLC

 

AMG Managers Guardian Capital Global Dividend

Guardian Capital LP

 

AMG Managers LMCG Small Cap Growth

LMCG Investments, LLC

 

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Growth

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Mid Cap Growth

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

 

AMG Managers Pictet International

Pictet Asset Management Limited

 

AMG Managers Silvercrest Small Cap

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC

 

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities

Skyline Asset Management, L.P.

 

AMG Managers Special Equity

Ranger Investment Management, L.P.

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

Smith Asset Management Group, L.P.

Federated MDTA LLC

 

AMG Managers Value Partners Asia Dividend

Value Partners Hong Kong Limited

 

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government

Amundi Pioneer Institutional Asset Management, Inc.

 

AMG Managers Doubleline Core Plus Bond

DoubleLine Capital LP

 

AMG Managers Global Income Opportunity

AMG Managers Loomis Sayles Bond

Loomis, Sayles & Co., L.P.

 

         
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LOGO

         ANNUAL REPORT

 

    

 

 

 

     AMG Funds        
 
     December 31, 2017        
 
    

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

 

 

     Class N: SKSEX        Class I: SKSIX        Class Z: SKSZX       
    

    

    

    

 

            

 

 

 

    

 

 

             

 

amgfunds.com

 

     

 

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Table of Contents


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Funds

Annual Report — December 31, 2017

 

    

 

    

    

TABLE OF CONTENTS

   PAGE  
   

LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS

     2  
 
   

ABOUT YOUR FUND’S EXPENSES

     3  
 
    PORTFOLIO MANAGER’S COMMENTS, FUND SNAPSHOTS AND SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS      4  
 
   

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

  
 
   

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

     9  
 
   

Balance sheet, net asset value (NAV) per share computations and cumulative undistributed amounts

  
 
   

Statement of Operations

     11  
 
   

Detail of sources of income, expenses, and realized and unrealized gains (losses) during the fiscal year

  
 
   

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

     12  
 
   

Detail of changes in assets for the past two fiscal years

  
 
   

Financial Highlights

     13  
 
   

Historical net asset values per share, distributions, total returns, income and expense ratios, turnover ratios and net assets

  
 
   

Notes to Financial Statements

     16  
 
   

Accounting and distribution policies, details of agreements and transactions with Fund management and affiliates, and descriptions of certain investment risks

  
 
    REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM      21  
 
    OTHER INFORMATION      22  
 
    TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS      23  

Nothing contained herein is to be considered an offer, sale or solicitation of an offer to buy shares of any series of the AMG Funds family of mutual funds. Such offering is made only by prospectus, which includes details as to offering price and other material information.

    

 

 

 


Table of Contents
LOGO       Letter to Shareholders

 

    

 

Dear Shareholder:

The last 12 months was a strong period for equity markets as the health of the global economy improved and positive investor sentiment helped extend the U.S. bull market into its ninth year. The S&P 500® Index, a widely followed barometer of the U.S. equity market, returned 21.83% during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. By comparison, small cap stocks underperformed large caps with a 14.65% return for the small cap Russell 2000® Index.

The S&P 500 Index has notched positive performance in every month since the U.S. presidential election amidst the backdrop of strong corporate earnings, improving global economic growth and the passage of sweeping tax reform. 2017 also marked a turning point for the broader global economy as growth accelerated in a more coordinated fashion around the world, global trade improved and commodities recovered. U.S. equity market volatility remained extremely low despite saber rattling in North Korea and a devastating hurricane season. In fact, the S&P 500 Index has not seen a pullback greater than 5% since the summer of 2016.

In total, all but two sectors of the S&P 500 Index were positive during the last 12 months; however, there was significant dispersion in performance across sectors. Information technology and materials stocks led the Index with returns of 38.87% and 23.25%, respectively, while companies within the energy and telecommunication services sectors were the laggards with returns of (1.11)% and (1.49)%, respectively. Growth stocks outperformed value during all four quarters of the year and ended 2017 with returns of 30.2% and 13.7% for the Russell 1000® Growth and Russell 1000® Value Indexes, respectively. International equities outperformed domestic equities for the first time since 2012 as the global economy picked up and international returns were boosted by a weaker U.S. Dollar with the MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index returning 27.19% during the year. Meanwhile, emerging markets had their strongest year since 2009 with a 37.3% return for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

The U.S. bond market produced modestly positive returns for the year, as measured by the 3.54% return for the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a broad measure of U.S. bond market performance. The yield curve flattened as the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) continued to normalize monetary policy and short-term interest rates rose more than longer-term rates. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note rose 69 basis points during the year to yield 1.89% while the 10-year U.S. Treasury note ended 2017 at a 2.40% yield, five basis points lower than where it started. Investment grade corporates outperformed Treasuries and securitized credits with returns of 6.42%, 2.31% and 2.51%, respectively. Bond investors willing to accept more credit risk were rewarded with higher returns as high yield bonds performed strongly and credit spreads tightened. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index ended the period with a 7.50% return.

    

AMG Funds appreciates the privilege of providing investment tools to you and your clients. Our foremost goal is to provide investment solutions that help our shareholders successfully reach their long-term investment goals. By partnering with AMG’s affiliated investment boutiques, AMG Funds provides access to a distinctive array of actively managed return-oriented investment strategies. Additionally, we oversee and distribute a number of complementary open-architecture mutual funds subadvised by unaffiliated investment managers. We thank you for your continued confidence and investment in AMG Funds. You can rest assured that under all market conditions our team is focused on delivering excellent investment management services for your benefit.

Respectfully,

 

 

LOGO

Jeffery Cerutti

President

AMG Funds

 

Average Annual Total Returns

   
Periods ended
December 31, 2017*
 
 

Stocks:

         1 Year       3 Years       5 Years  

Large Caps

   (S&P 500® Index)     21.83%       11.41%       15.79%  

Small Caps

   (Russell 2000® Index)     14.65%       9.96%       14.12%  

International

   (MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index)     27.19%       7.83%       6.80%  

Bonds:

                            

Investment Grade

   (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index)     3.54%       2.24%       2.10%  

High Yield

   (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index)     7.50%       6.35%       5.78%  

Tax-exempt

   (Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index)     5.45%       2.98%       3.02%  

Treasury Bills

   (ICE BofAML 6-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index)     0.95%       0.62%       0.43%  

*Source: Factset. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

 

 

 
2


Table of Contents

    

    

    

  About Your Fund’s Expenses

 

    

 

 

As a shareholder of a Fund, you may incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, which may include sales charges (loads) on purchase payments; redemption fees; and exchange fees; and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution (12b-1) fees; and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. The example is based on $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period as indicated below.

 

ACTUAL EXPENSES

 

The first line of the following table provides information about the actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the

    

amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

 

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

 

The second line of the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed annual rate of return of 5% before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return.

    

The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds by comparing this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of other funds.

 

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads), redemption fees, or exchange fees. Therefore, the second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds.

 

 

 

Six Months Ended
December 31, 2017
   Expense
Ratio for
the Period
    Beginning
Account
Value
07/01/17
    Ending
Account
Value
12/31/17
    Expenses
Paid
During
the Period*
 

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

 

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

Class N

     1.17%       $1,000       $1,067       $6.10  

Class I

     1.09%       $1,000       $1,068       $5.68  

Class Z

     .92%       $1,000       $1,069       $4.80  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

Class N

     1.17%       $1,000       $1,019       $5.96  

Class I

     1.09%       $1,000       $1,020       $5.55  

Class Z

     .92%       $1,000       $1,021       $4.69  

 

* Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized expense ratio multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half-year (184), then divided by 365.
        
 

 

 
3


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

    

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund (Class N shares) (formerly Class S) returned 8.4%, versus 7.8% for the Russell 2000® Value Index and 14.7% for the Russell 2000® Index.

 

MARKET OVERVIEW

 

Stocks responded favorably to an improving backdrop for earnings growth. Economies throughout the world are showing signs of acceleration. In the U.S., gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 3.3% during the third quarter, its strongest showing in three years,1 and the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDP model is projecting similar growth for the fourth quarter. U.S. manufacturing is strong, as indicated by September’s ISM manufacturing purchasing managers index (M-PMI) reaching its highest level since 2004.2 Outside the U.S., all 45 countries tracked by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are expected to expand in 2017, something that has occurred rarely over the last 50 years and most recently a decade ago.

 

Stocks also reacted positively as investors began to factor in the benefits of a decline in the statutory U.S. corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%. Not all of that benefit is likely to be reinvested by companies or competed away, providing a boost to earnings in 2018 and beyond.

 

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

 

The Fund slightly outperformed the Russell 2000® Value Index and underperformed the Russell 2000® Index during 2017. The Fund is constructed to own stocks with what the portfolio managers believe to be the best combination of value and earnings growth. Therefore, it does not own the fastest growing small cap stocks (which typically carry high price-to-earnings ratios) that make up a portion of the core Russell 2000® Index. When growth stocks significantly outperform, as they did in 2017, performing well relative to the core index is challenging. At the same time, because we do incorporate a growth component into our investment philosophy, the Fund has tended to perform better than the value benchmark when growth stocks outperform.

 

The industrials sector contributed most to the Fund’s absolute performance in 2017 due to its heavy weighting and the strong performance of many

  

stocks in the sector. To highlight one example, EnPro Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of gaskets, seals and compressor components, was a solid contributor for the year. EnPro reported better-than-expected earnings as the company was able to take advantage of improving industrial end markets.

 

Among individual stocks, The Children’s Place, Inc., a retailer of children’s apparel, contributed most to the Fund’s absolute return for 2017. Children’s Place has delivered strong results despite the headwinds facing mall-based retailers by improving its systems and merchandising and taking share from weaker competitors. Virtusa Corporation, an offshore IT service provider, was a significant contributor to the Fund’s absolute return for the year as well. Virtusa reported better-than-expected earnings as strong organic growth with new and existing customers drove top line growth and margin expansion.

 

Among the detractors from the Fund’s performance in 2017 was Veeco Instruments Inc., a manufacturer of equipment to produce LEDs. An adverse patent ruling contributed to its weak price performance during the year. The uncertainty created by the ruling caused us to reassess our investment thesis, resulting in the sale of the stock. In addition, Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc., an operator of mental health facilities, declined due to worse-than-expected results in its recently acquired U.K. operations

 

The Fund’s outperformance relative to the Russell 2000® Value Index for the full year was due primarily to advantageous sector allocation. A lack of exposure to the poor performing energy sector and a heavy weighting in the strong performing industrials sector were the main contributors

 

The Fund underperformed the Russell 2000® Index for the year. As mentioned previously, we typically are not able to invest in the fastest growing companies due to our valuation discipline. Those stocks performed well this year, and tend to be concentrated in the information technology and health care sectors. In addition, the Fund was negatively impacted by adverse stock selection within these sectors, including the previously mentioned Veeco Instruments and Acadia Healthcare.

 

OUTLOOK

 

We believe the fundamental backdrop for earnings growth is positive. The global economy is experiencing its most synchronized expansion in a

  

decade. U.S. GDP grew 3.3% in the third quarter,1 and the outlook remains positive. The current U.S. administration is committed to reducing the impact of regulations on businesses and the passage late in the year of comprehensive tax reform, including a meaningful reduction in the U.S. corporate tax rate, should help the economy and corporate profits.

 

According to a leading small cap equity strategist, the combination of a strong global economy and lower corporate tax rates could lead to earnings per share (EPS) growth of greater than 20% in 2018, which would be a significant positive for small cap stocks.

 

In light of the positive outlook for earnings, small cap stocks continue to trade toward the high end of their historical valuation range. Even when factoring in the new, lower corporate tax rates, small cap valuations remain above their long-term averages. We believe current valuations are a reflection of the low returns available on alternative investments like bonds in a low interest rate environment. In our opinion, it is critical for companies to deliver their expected earnings, as there is little valuation support for disappointments.

 

We are confident the fundamentals of the companies in the Fund remain solid and that their valuations are attractive relative to the typical small cap company. Because of our focus on finding the best combination of above average earnings growth and below average valuations, the Fund has tended to be somewhat more economically sensitive than its benchmarks. We believe the Fund is well positioned to take advantage if earnings improve as we expect.

 

1U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

 

2Institute of Supply Management

 

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, Skyline Asset Management, L.P. as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject to change without notice.

 

 
4


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund’s Class N shares (formerly Class S shares) on December 31, 2007 to a $10,000 investment made in the Russell 2000® Value Index and the Russell 2000® Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund and the Russell 2000® Value Index and the Russell 2000® Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

    Average Annual Total Returns1   One
Year
    Five
Years
    Ten
Years
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 
 

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund2, 3, 4, 5

         
 

Class N9

    8.39%       14.27%       10.13%       12.13% 6      04/23/87  
 

Class I

                      7.73%       02/24/17  
   

Class Z

                      7.78%       02/24/17  
 

Russell 2000® Value Index7

    7.84%       13.01%       8.17%              
   

Russell 2000® Index8

    14.65%       14.12%       8.71%       9.21%       04/23/87  

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects the inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain

   distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).

 

2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.

 

3  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in small-capitalization companies, such as erratic earnings patterns, competitive conditions, limited earnings history and a reliance on one or a limited number of products.

 

4  Companies that are in similar businesses may be similarly affected by particular economic or market events; to the extent the Fund has substantial holdings within a particular sector, the risks associated with that sector increase.

 

5  The Fund invests in value stocks, which may perform differently from the market as a whole and may be undervalued by the market for a long period of time.

 

6  Effective after the close of business on December 31, 2007, the Fund was reorganized into the AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund, a series of AMG Funds. The returns shown include the performance of the predecessor Fund.

 

7  The Russell 2000® Value Index is an unmanaged, market-value weighted, value-oriented index comprised of small stocks that have relatively low price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. Unlike the Fund, the index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

 

8  The Russell 2000® Index is composed of the 2,000 smallest stocks in the Russell 3000® Index and is widely regarded in the industry as the premier measure of small-cap stock performance. Unlike the Fund, the index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

 

9  Effective February 27, 2017, Class S was renamed Class N.

 

The Russell Indices are trademarks of the London Stock Exchange Group companies.

 

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 
5


Table of Contents
   

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector    %of
Net Assets

Industrials

       23.6

Financials

       21.3

Information Technology

       17.8

Consumer Discretionary

       11.8

Materials

       10.2

Health Care

       5.2

Real Estate

       1.3

Short-Term Investments*

       11.4

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

       (2.6 )

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.

 

** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name    %of
Net Assets

The Children’s Place, Inc.

   2.4

BMC Stock Holdings, Inc.

   2.3

Ferro Corp.

   2.1

Infinity Property & Casualty Corp.

   2.1

Rexnord Corp.

   2.1

Umpqua Holdings Corp.

   2.0

BancorpSouth Bank

   1.9

First Busey Corp.

   1.9

Brunswick Corp.

   1.9

EnPro Industries, Inc.

   1.8
    

 

Top Ten as a Group

   20.5
  

 

 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 
6


Table of Contents
   

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

      Shares     Value  

Common Stocks - 91.2%

 

 

Consumer Discretionary - 11.8%

 

 

Aaron’s, Inc.

     576,300     $ 22,965,555  

Brunswick Corp.

     437,300       24,147,706  

Chico’s FAS, Inc.

     1,359,700       11,992,554  

The Children’s Place, Inc.

     213,400       31,017,690  

Gildan Activewear, Inc. (Canada)

     389,300       12,574,390  

LCI Industries

     159,950       20,793,500  

Signet Jewelers, Ltd.1

     255,200       14,431,560  

Winnebago Industries, Inc.

     269,300       14,973,080  

Total Consumer Discretionary

       152,896,035  

Financials - 21.3%

 

 

BancorpSouth Bank

     794,500       24,987,025  

Essent Group, Ltd.*

     501,250       21,764,275  

First Busey Corp.

     829,943       24,848,493  

First Midwest Bancorp, Inc.

     944,104       22,667,937  

Hope Bancorp, Inc.

     815,100       14,875,575  

Infinity Property & Casualty Corp.

     256,000       27,136,000  

Janus Henderson Group PLC (United Kingdom)1

     461,388       17,652,705  

OceanFirst Financial Corp.

     684,500       17,968,125  

Reinsurance Group of America, Inc.

     143,947       22,445,656  

Sterling Bancorp

     799,920       19,678,032  

UMB Financial Corp.

     266,600       19,173,872  

Umpqua Holdings Corp.

     1,216,914       25,311,811  

WSFS Financial Corp.

     367,900       17,604,015  

Total Financials

       276,113,521  

Health Care - 5.2%

 

 

Acadia Healthcare Co., Inc.*,1

     478,800       15,623,244  

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc.*

     453,200       22,320,100  

Cross Country Healthcare, Inc.*

     1,018,689       12,998,472  

The Ensign Group, Inc.

     761,800       16,911,960  

Total Health Care

       67,853,776  

Industrials - 23.6%

 

 

BMC Stock Holdings, Inc.*

     1,183,820       29,950,646  

CBIZ, Inc.*

     1,282,850       19,820,032  

Columbus McKinnon Corp.

     571,050       22,830,579  

EnPro Industries, Inc.

     255,100       23,854,401  

Gibraltar Industries, Inc.*

     495,700       16,358,100  

Hillenbrand, Inc.

     295,600       13,213,320  

JELD-WEN Holding, Inc.*

     447,500       17,618,075  

Knoll, Inc.

     890,300       20,512,512  

Korn/Ferry International

     363,400       15,037,492  

ManpowerGroup, Inc.

    

 

 

184,700

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

23,292,517

 

 

 

 

 

      Shares     Value  

McGrath RentCorp

     399,900     $ 18,787,302  

NN, Inc.

     773,900       21,359,640  

NOW, Inc.*

     1,178,600       12,999,958  

Rexnord Corp.*

     1,018,626       26,504,649  

TriMas Corp.*,1

     862,900       23,082,575  

Total Industrials

       305,221,798  

Information Technology - 17.8%

 

 

ADTRAN, Inc.

     616,400       11,927,340  

Anixter International, Inc.*

     149,400       11,354,400  

Belden, Inc.

     278,100       21,460,977  

Benchmark Electronics, Inc.*

     567,889       16,525,570  

Knowles Corp.*

     1,156,600       16,955,756  

NCR Corp.*

     486,400       16,532,736  

NetScout Systems, Inc.*

     394,600       12,015,570  

Perficient, Inc.*

     724,300       13,812,401  

Sanmina Corp.*

     405,210       13,371,930  

VeriFone Systems, Inc.*

     800,500       14,176,855  

Versum Materials, Inc.

     458,577       17,357,139  

Virtusa Corp.*

     432,600       19,069,008  

WNS Holdings, Ltd., ADR (India)*

     587,100       23,560,323  

Zebra Technologies Corp., Class A*

     213,300       22,140,540  

Total Information Technology

       230,260,545  

Materials - 10.2%

    

Berry Global Group, Inc.*

     231,100       13,558,637  

Compass Minerals International, Inc.1

     283,500       20,482,875  

Ferro Corp.*

     1,176,600       27,755,994  

Materion Corp.

     216,285       10,511,451  

Minerals Technologies, Inc.

     277,300       19,092,105  

Orion Engineered Carbons, S.A. (Luxembourg)

     863,200       22,097,920  

PH Glatfelter Co.

     900,901       19,315,318  

Total Materials

       132,814,300  

Real Estate - 1.3%

    

Realogy Holdings Corp.1

     639,900       16,957,350  

Total Common Stocks

    

(Cost $862,482,445)

       1,182,117,325  
     Principal
Amount
       

Short-Term Investments - 11.4%

 

 

Joint Repurchase
Agreements - 2.8%
2

 

 

Bank of Nova Scotia, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.380% total to be received $8,668,650 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 3.500% -4.000%, 07/20/45 - 11/01/47, totaling $8,842,023)

 

 

   $

 

 

8,667,321

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

8,667,321

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
7


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

      Principal
Amount
     Value  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 2.8%

 

  

    (continued)

     

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.410% total to be received $8,668,679 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 8.500%, 01/31/18 - 06/20/63, totaling $8,840,667)

   $ 8,667,321      $ 8,667,321  

Daiwa Capital Markets America, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.430% total to be received $8,668,698 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 6.500%, 01/11/18 - 12/01/51, totaling $8,840,668)

     8,667,321        8,667,321  

Jefferies LLC, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.500% total to be received $1,823,557 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 1.750%, 09/13/18 - 04/30/22, totaling $1,859,719)

     1,823,253        1,823,253  
              
      Principal
Amount
     Value  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.630% total to be received $8,668,891 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% - 3.875%, 01/15/19 - 02/15/46, totaling $8,908,009)

     $8,667,321        $8,667,321  

Total Joint Repurchase Agreements

        36,492,537  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 8.6%

 

  

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.18%3

     110,604,775        110,604,775  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $147,097,312)

        147,097,312  

Total Investments - 102.6%
(Cost $1,009,579,757)

 

     1,329,214,637  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (2.6)%

 

     (33,423,299

Net Assets - 100.0%

      $ 1,295,791,338  

    

              
 

 

* Non-income producing security.
1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $35,725,082 or 2.8% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.
2  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
3  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

ADR    American Depositary Receipt

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

   $ 1,182,117,325                    $ 1,182,117,325  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

          $ 36,492,537               36,492,537  

Other Investment Companies

     110,604,775                      110,604,775  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 1,292,722,100      $ 36,492,537             $ 1,329,214,637  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  All common stocks held in the Fund are Level 1 securities. For a detailed breakout of common stocks by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
8


Table of Contents
   

    
Statement of Assets and Liabilities

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

     AMG Managers
Skyline

Special
Equities Fund
 

Assets:

  

Investments at Value* (including securities on loan valued at $35,725,082)

     $1,329,214,637  

Receivable for investments sold

     6,100,070  

Dividend, interest and other receivables

     832,873  

Receivable for Fund shares sold

     1,455,700  

Prepaid expenses

     80,170  

Total assets

     1,337,683,450  

Liabilities:

  

Payable upon return of securities loaned

     36,492,537  

Payable for Fund shares repurchased

     3,837,163  

Accrued expenses:

  

Investment advisory and management fees

     837,007  

Administrative fees

     166,667  

Shareholder service fees

     300,037  

Professional fees

     61,814  

Trustee fees and expenses

     13,678  

Other

     183,209  

Total liabilities

     41,892,112  

    

  

Net Assets

     $1,295,791,338  

* Investments at cost

     $1,009,579,757  

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
9


Table of Contents
   

    

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (continued)

 

    

 

     AMG Managers
Skyline

Special
Equities Fund
 

Net Assets Represent:

  

Paid-in capital

     $962,232,411  

Accumulated net realized gain from investments

     13,924,047  

Net unrealized appreciation on investments

     319,634,880  

Net Assets

     $1,295,791,338  

Class N# :

  

Net Assets

     $923,139,475  

Shares outstanding

     20,988,725  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

     $43.98  

Class I# :

  

Net Assets

     $362,723,135  

Shares outstanding

     8,231,988  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

     $44.06  

Class Z# :

  

Net Assets

     $9,928,728  

Shares outstanding

     225,251  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

     $44.08  

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, Class S shares were renamed to Class N shares, and Class I shares and Class Z shares were added as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
10


Table of Contents
   

    

Statement of Operations

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

 

    

 

     AMG Managers
Skyline
Special
Equities Fund
 

Investment Income:

  

Dividend income

     $13,642,104  

Securities lending income

     106,664  

Interest income

     1,185  

Foreign withholding tax

     (21,437

Total investment income

     13,728,516  

Expenses:

  

Investment advisory and management fees

     10,374,738  

Administrative fees

     1,901,411  

Shareholder servicing fees - Class N#

     2,805,461  

Shareholder servicing fees - Class I#

     202,653  

Professional fees

     138,599  

Registration fees

     88,805  

Transfer agent fees

     63,803  

Custodian fees

     83,996  

Reports to shareholders

     146,983  

Trustee fees and expenses

     92,159  

Miscellaneous

     32,700  

Repayment of prior reimbursements

     25,896  

Total expenses before offsets

     15,957,204  

Expense reimbursements

     (297,805

Net expenses

     15,659,399  
  

Net investment loss

     (1,930,883

Net Realized and Unrealized Gain:

  

Net realized gain on investments

     103,529,105  

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     (13,741,245

Net realized and unrealized gain

     89,787,860  
  

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

     $87,856,977  

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, Class S shares were renamed to Class N shares, and Class I shares and Class Z shares were added as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
11


Table of Contents
   

    

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

For the fiscal years ended December 31,

 

    

 

     AMG Managers Skyline
Special Equities Fund#
 
     2017     2016  

Increase in Net Assets Resulting From Operations:

    

Net investment loss

     $(1,930,883     $(413,688

Net realized gain (loss) on investments

     103,529,105       (3,244,872

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     (13,741,245     275,190,751  

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

     87,856,977       271,532,191  

Distributions to Shareholders:

    

From net realized gain on investments:

    

Class N

     (59,015,038     (343,670

Class I

     (23,021,595      

Class Z

     (624,726      

Total distributions to shareholders

     (82,661,359     (343,670

Capital Share Transactions:1

    

Net decrease from capital share transactions

     (211,990,807     (86,547,822
    

Total increase (decrease) in net assets

     (206,795,189     184,640,699  

Net Assets:

    

Beginning of year

     1,502,586,527       1,317,945,828  

End of year

     $1,295,791,338       $1,502,586,527  

End of year undistributed net investment income

            
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, and February 27, 2017, the Funds’ share classes were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
1  See Note 1(g) of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
12


Table of Contents
   

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,
Class N    2017#   2016##   2015   2014   2013

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

       $43.30       $35.71       $39.88       $39.75       $26.23

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

                    

Net investment loss1,2

       (0.08 )       (0.01 )       (0.03 )3       0.00 4,5       (0.06 )6

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

       3.73       7.61       (2.36 )       1.61       13.59

Total income (loss) from investment operations

       3.65       7.60       (2.39 )       1.61       13.53

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

                    

Net investment income

                   (0.00 )4             (0.01 )

Net realized gain on investments

       (2.97 )       (0.01 )       (1.78 )       (1.48 )       (0.00 )4

Total distributions to shareholders

       (2.97 )       (0.01 )       (1.78 )       (1.48 )       (0.01 )

Net Asset Value, End of Year

       $43.98       $43.30       $35.71       $39.88       $39.75

Total Return2

       8.39 %7       21.31 %7       (6.02 )%       4.02 %7       51.59 %7

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

       1.25 %       1.32 %       1.32 %       1.32 %       1.33 %9

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets11

       1.27 %       1.42 %       1.45 %       1.45 %       1.47 %9

Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets2

       (0.18 )%       (0.03 )%       (0.08 )%       0.01 %       (0.18 )%9

Portfolio turnover

       33 %       34 %       31 %       37 %       39 %

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

       $923,139       $1,502,587       $1,317,946       $1,383,184       $969,238
   

 

 
13


Table of Contents
   

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

     For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class I

       2017*

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

       $43.64

Income from Investment Operations:

    

Net investment income1,2

       0.02

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

       3.37

Total income from investment operations

       3.39

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

    

Net realized gain on investments

       (2.97 )

Total distributions to shareholders

       (2.97 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

       $44.06

Total Return2

       7.73 %7,8

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

       1.13 %10

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets11

       1.15 %10

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

       0.06 %10

Portfolio turnover

       33 %

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

       $362,723
            

 

 
14


Table of Contents
   

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class Z

      2017*

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

    $ 43.64

Income from Investment Operations:

   

Net investment income1,2

      0.08

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

      3.33

Total income from investment operations

      3.41

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

   

Net realized gain on investments

      (2.97 )

Total distributions to shareholders

      (2.97 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

    $ 44.08

Total Return2

      7.78 %7,8

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

      0.98 %10

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets11

      1.00 %10

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

      0.21 %10

Portfolio turnover

      33 %

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

    $ 9,929
           

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, Class S was renamed Class N.
##  Effective October 1, 2016, the Fund’s shares were reclassified and redesignated to Class S.
*  Commencement of operations was on February 27, 2017.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss per share would have been $(0.04).
4  Rounds to less than $0.01 or $(0.01) per share or 0.01% or (0.01)%.
5  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss per share would have been $(0.08).
6  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment loss per share would have been $(0.13).
7  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal period end.
8  Not annualized.
9  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.012% of average net assets.
10  Annualized.
11  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 
15


Table of Contents
   

    

Notes to Financial Statements

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

AMG Funds (the “Trust”) is an open-end management investment company, organized as a Massachusetts business trust, and registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Currently, the Trust consists of a number of different funds, each having distinct investment management objectives, strategies, risks, and policies. Included in this report is the AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund (the “Fund”).

Effective October 1, 2016, the Fund’s shares were reclassified and redesignated to Class S. Effective February 27, 2017, Class S shares were renamed to Class N shares, and the Fund commenced offering Class I shares and Z shares. Each class represents an interest in the same assets of the Fund. Although all share classes generally have identical voting rights, each share class votes separately when required by law. Different share classes may pay different distribution amounts to the extent the net asset value per share and/or the expenses of such share classes differ. Each share class has its own expense structure. Please refer to a current prospectus for additional information on each share class.

Effective May 3, 2017, the Fund was re-opened to new investors. Please refer to a current prospectus for additional information.

The Fund’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”), including accounting and reporting guidance pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 applicable to investment companies. U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates and such differences could be material. The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Fund in the preparation of its financial statements:

a. VALUATION OF INVESTMENTS

Equity securities traded on a national securities exchange or reported on the NASDAQ national market system (“NMS”) are valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, if applicable, the NASDAQ official closing price or the official closing price of the relevant exchange or, lacking any sales, at the last quoted bid price or the mean between the last quoted bid and ask prices (the “exchange mean price”). Equity securities traded in the over-the-counter market (other than NMS securities) are valued at the exchange mean price. Foreign equity securities (securities principally traded in markets other than U.S. markets) are valued at the official closing price on the primary exchange or, for markets that either do not offer an official closing price or where the official closing price may not be representative of the overall market, the last quoted sale price.

Fixed income securities purchased with a remaining maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost, provided that the amortized cost value is approximately the same as the fair value of the security valued without the use of amortized cost. Investments in other open-end regulated investment companies are valued at their end of day net asset value per share.

The Fund’s portfolio investments are generally valued based on independent market quotations or prices or, if none, “evaluative” or other market based valuations provided by third party pricing services approved by the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”). Under certain circumstances, the value of certain Fund portfolio investments may be based on an evaluation of fair value,

pursuant to procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Board. The Valuation Committee, which is comprised of the Independent Trustees of the Board, and the Pricing Committee, which is comprised of representatives from AMG Funds LLC (the “Investment Manager”) are the committees appointed by the Board to make fair value determinations. The Fund may use the fair value of a portfolio investment to calculate its net asset value (“NAV”) in the event that the market quotation, price or market based valuation for the portfolio investment is not readily available or otherwise not determinable pursuant to the Board’s valuation procedures, if the Investment Manager or the Pricing Committee believes the quotation, price or market based valuation to be unreliable, or in certain other circumstances. When determining the fair value of an investment, the Pricing Committee and, if required under the Trust’s securities valuation procedures, the Valuation Committee, seeks to determine the price that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from current sale of that portfolio investment in an arms-length transaction. Fair value determinations shall be based upon consideration of all available facts and information, including, but not limited to (i) attributes specific to the investment; (ii) fundamental and analytical data relating to the investment; and (iii) the value of other comparable securities or relevant financial instruments, including derivative securities, traded on other markets or among dealers.

The values assigned to fair value portfolio investments are based on available information and do not necessarily represent amounts that might ultimately be realized in the future, since such amounts depend on future developments inherent in long-term investments. Because of the inherent uncertainty of valuation, those estimated values may differ significantly from the values that would have been used had a ready market for the investments existed, and the differences could be material. The Board will be presented with a quarterly report showing as of the most recent quarter end, all outstanding securities fair valued by the Fund, including a comparison with the prior quarter end and the percentage of the Fund that the security represents at each quarter end.

With respect to foreign equity securities and certain foreign fixed income securities, the Board has adopted a policy that securities held in a Fund that can be fair valued by the applicable fair value pricing service are fair valued on each business day provided that each individual price exceeds a pre-established confidence level.

U.S. GAAP defines fair value as the price that a fund would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. U.S. GAAP also establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and a three level hierarchy for fair value measurements based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability. Inputs may be observable or unobservable and refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Fund. Unobservable inputs reflect the Fund’s own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. Each investment is assigned a level based upon the observability of the inputs which are significant to the overall valuation.

The three-tier hierarchy of inputs is summarized below:

Level 1 – inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical investments (e.g., equity securities, open-end investment companies)

Level 2 – other observable inputs (including, but not limited to: quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in markets that are active, quoted prices for identical or

 

 

 
16


Table of Contents
   

     

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets or liabilities (such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks and default rates) or other market corroborated inputs) (e.g., debt securities, government securities, foreign currency exchange contracts, foreign securities utilizing international fair value pricing, fair valued securities with observable inputs)

Level 3 – inputs are significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions used to determine the fair value of investments) (e.g., fair valued securities with unobservable inputs)

Changes in inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may result in a transfer in or out of levels within the fair value hierarchy. The inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may not necessarily be an indication of the risk associated with investing in those investments. Transfers between different levels of the fair value disclosure hierarchy are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.

b. SECURITY TRANSACTIONS

Security transactions are accounted for as of trade date. Realized gains and losses on securities sold are determined on the basis of identified cost.

c. INVESTMENT INCOME AND EXPENSES

Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date. Interest income, which includes amortization of premium and accretion of discount on debt securities, is accrued as earned. Dividend and interest income on foreign securities is recorded gross of any withholding tax. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are reported at the fair market value of the securities received. Other income and expenses are recorded on an accrual basis. Expenses that cannot be directly attributed to a Fund are apportioned among the funds in the Trust and other trusts within the AMG Funds family of mutual funds (collectively the “AMG Funds Family”) based upon their relative average net assets or number of shareholders.

d. DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

Fund distributions resulting from either net investment income or realized net capital gains, if any, will normally be declared and paid at least annually in December. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Distributions are determined in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which may differ from net investment income and net realized capital gains for financial statement purposes (U.S. GAAP). Differences may be permanent or temporary. Permanent differences are reclassified among capital accounts in the financial statements to reflect their tax character. Permanent book and tax basis differences, if any, relating to shareholder distributions will result in reclassifications to paid-in capital. Temporary differences arise when certain items of income, expense and gain or loss are recognized in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes; these differences will reverse at some time in the future. Permanent differences are primarily due to a net operating loss offset by short term capital gains. Temporary differences are due to differences between book and tax treatments of losses for excise tax purposes and wash sales.

The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 were as follows:

 

 

  Distributions paid from:

 

  2017             2016          

 

  Ordinary income

 

           

  Short-term capital gains

 

   

 

$21,026,876

 

 

 

   

 

$343,670

 

 

 

  Long-term capital gains

    61,634,483        
 

 

 

   

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

        $82,661,359

 

 

 

 

 

 

        $343,670

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

As of December 31, 2017, the components of distributable earnings (excluding unrealized appreciation/depreciation) on tax basis consisted of:

 

 

  Capital loss carryforward

 

      

 

  Undistributed ordinary income

 

      

 

  Undistributed short-term capital gains

 

      

 

  Undistributed long-term capital gains

 

     $18,889,539  

 

  Late-year loss deferral

 

     2,906,490  

At December 31, 2017, the approximate cost of investments and the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation for federal income tax were as follows:

 

   

Cost

 

 

Appreciation

 

 

Depreciation

 

 

Net

 

         $1,011,638,759   $346,159,708   $(28,583,830)   $317,575,878

e. FEDERAL TAXES

The Fund currently qualifies as an investment company and intends to comply with the requirements under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and to distribute substantially all of its taxable income and gains to its shareholders and to meet certain diversification and income requirements with respect to investment companies. Therefore, no provision for federal income or excise tax is included in the accompanying financial statements.

Additionally, based on the Fund’s understanding of the tax rules and rates related to income, gains and transactions for the foreign jurisdictions in which it invests, the Fund will provide for foreign taxes, and where appropriate, deferred foreign taxes.

Management has analyzed the Fund’s tax positions taken on federal income tax returns as of December 31, 2017, and for all open tax years (generally, the three prior taxable years), and has concluded that no provision for federal income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. Additionally, Management is not aware of any tax position for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change materially in the next twelve months.

Net capital losses incurred may be carried forward for an unlimited time period, and retain their tax character as either short-term or long-term capital losses.

f. CAPITAL LOSS CARRYOVERS AND DEFERRALS

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no accumulated net realized capital loss carryovers from securities transactions for federal income tax purposes . Should

 

 

 
17


Table of Contents
   

    

    

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

the Fund incur capital losses for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, such amounts may be used to offset future realized capital gains, if any, for an unlimited time period.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the Fund utilized short-term capital loss carryovers in the amount of $3,544,129.

g. CAPITAL STOCK

The Trust’s Declaration of Trust authorizes for the Fund the issuance of an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest, without par value. The Fund

records sales and repurchases of its capital stock on the trade date. The Fund will deduct a 2.00% redemption fee from the proceeds of any redemption (including a redemption by exchange) of shares if the redemption occurs within 30 days of the purchase of those shares. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Fund received redemption fees amounting to $13,499. These amounts are netted against the cost of shares repurchased in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets.

 

 

For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the capital stock transactions by class for the Fund were as follows:

 

    December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016  
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  

 Class N:1

       

 Proceeds from sale of shares

    3,153,901        $138,238,751        9,193,732        $336,675,003   

 Reinvestment of distributions

    1,321,581        58,400,660        7,573        332,585   

 Cost of shares repurchased

    (18,187,787)       (788,291,441)           (11,410,317)       (423,555,410)  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 Net decrease

        (13,712,305)         $(591,652,030)       (2,209,012)       $(86,547,822)  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 Class I:2

       

 Proceeds from sale of shares

    8,332,205        $374,453,289        —        —   

 Reinvestment of distributions

    513,950        22,752,572        —        —   

 Cost of shares repurchased

    (614,167)       (27,362,881)       —        —   
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 Net increase

    8,231,988        $369,842,980        —        —   
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 Class Z:2

       

 Proceeds from sale of shares

    226,389        $9,864,970        —        —   

 Reinvestment of distributions

    14,105        624,726        —        —   

 Cost of shares repurchased

    (15,243)       (671,453)       —        —   
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 Net increase

    225,251        $9,818,243        —        —   
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

1 Effective February 27, 2017, Class S shares were renamed to Class N shares.

2 Commencement of operations was on February 27, 2017.

 

h. REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS AND JOINT REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS

The Fund may enter into third-party repurchase agreements for temporary cash management purposes and third-party joint repurchase agreements for reinvestment of cash collateral on securities lending transactions under the securities lending program offered by The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) (the “Program”) (collectively, “Repurchase Agreements”). The value of the underlying collateral, including accrued interest, must equal or exceed the value of the Repurchase Agreements during the term of the agreement. For joint repurchase agreements, the Fund participates on a pro rata basis with other clients of BNYM in its share of the underlying collateral under such joint repurchase agreements and in its share of proceeds from any repurchase or other disposition of the underlying collateral. The underlying collateral for all Repurchase Agreements is held in safekeeping by the Fund’s custodian or at the Federal Reserve Bank. If the seller defaults and the value of the collateral declines, or if bankruptcy

proceedings commence with respect to the seller of the security, realization of the collateral by the Fund may be delayed or limited. Pursuant to the Program, the Fund is indemnified for such losses by BNYM on joint repurchase agreements.

At December 31, 2017, the market value of Repurchase Agreements outstanding was $36,492,537.

2. AGREEMENTS AND TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

The Trust has entered into an investment advisory agreement under which the Investment Manager, a subsidiary and the U.S. retail distribution arm of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (“AMG”), serves as investment manager to the Fund and is responsible for the Fund’s overall administration and operations. The Investment Manager selects one or more subadvisers for the Fund (subject to Board approval) and monitors each subadviser’s investment performance, security holdings and

 

 

 
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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

investment strategies. The Fund’s investment portfolio is managed by one or more portfolio managers who serve pursuant to a subadvisory agreement with the Investment Manager.

Investment management fees are paid directly by the Fund to the Investment Manager based on average daily net assets. Effective July 1, 2017, the Fund paid an investment management fee at the annual rate of 0.73% of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Prior to July 1, 2017, the annual rate for the management fee was 0.90% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

The Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2019, to waive management fees and/or reimburse fund expenses in order to limit total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), shareholder servicing fees, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses) of the Fund to the annual rate of 0.92%, of the Fund’s average daily net assets subject to later reimbursement by the Fund in certain circumstances. Prior to July 1, 2017, the contractual expense limitation was 1.07%. Prior to February 27, 2017 the expense cap was 1.32% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

The contractual expense limitation may only be terminated in the event the Investment Manager or a successor ceases to be the investment manager of the Fund or a successor fund, by mutual agreement between the Investment Manager and the Board, or in the event of the Fund’s liquidation unless the Fund is reorganized or is a party to a merger in which the surviving entity is successor to the accounting and performance information of the Fund.

Effective July 1, 2017, in general, for a period of up to 36 months, the Investment Manager may recover from the Fund fees waived and expenses paid pursuant to this contractual agreement, provided that such repayment would not cause the Fund’s total annual operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of the items noted in the parenthetical above) to exceed the contractual expense limitation amount.

At December 31, 2017, the Fund’s expiration of recoupment is as follows:

 

Expiration       

Period

 

      

Within 3 years

   $ 49,052  
  

 

 

 

 

Total Amount Subject to Recoupment

   $ 49,052  
  

 

 

 

The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has entered into an amended and restated Administration Agreement under which the Investment Manager serves as the Fund’s administrator (the “Administrator”) and is responsible for all non-portfolio management aspects of managing the Fund’s operations, including administration and shareholder services to the Fund. Effective October 1, 2016, the Fund pays a fee to the Administrator at the rate of 0.15% per annum of the Fund’s average daily net assets for this service. Prior to October 1, 2016, the Fund paid an administration fee under a similar contract at an annual rate of 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

The Fund is distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Investment Manager. The Distributor serves as the distributor and underwriter for the Fund and is a registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). Shares of the Fund will be continuously offered and will be sold directly to prospective purchasers and through brokers, dealers or other financial intermediaries who have executed

selling agreements with the Distributor. Generally the Distributor bears all or a portion of the expenses of providing services pursuant to the distribution agreement, including the payment of the expenses relating to the distribution of prospectuses for sales purposes and any advertising or sales literature.

For each of the Class N and Class I Shares, Board has approved reimbursement payments to the Investment Manager for shareholder servicing expenses (“shareholder servicing fees”) incurred. Shareholder servicing fees include payments to financial intermediaries, such as broker-dealers (including fund supermarket platforms), banks, and trust companies who provide shareholder recordkeeping, account servicing and other services. The Fund may reimburse the Investment Manager for the actual amount incurred up to a maximum annual rate of the Fund’s average daily net asset value as shown in the table below.

The impact on the annualized expense ratios for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

Fund    Maximum Annual
Amount
Approved
     Actual    
Amount    
Incurred    
 

Class N

     0.25%        0.25%      

 

Class I

  

 

 

 

0.15%

 

 

  

 

 

 

0.15%    

 

 

The Board provides supervision of the affairs of the Trust and other trusts within the AMG Funds family. The Trustees of the Trust who are not affiliated with an Investment Manager receive an annual retainer and per meeting fees for regular, special and telephonic meetings, and they are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses incurred while carrying out their duties as Board members. The Chairman of the Board and the Audit Committee Chair receive additional annual retainers. Certain Trustees and Officers of the Fund are Officers and/or Directors of the Investment Manager, AMG and/or the Distributor.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) granted an exemptive order that permits the Fund to lend and borrow money for certain temporary purposes directly to and from other eligible funds in the AMG Funds family. Participation in this interfund lending program is voluntary for both the borrowing and lending funds, and an interfund loan is only made if it benefits each participating fund. The Administrator manages the program according to procedures approved by the Board, and the Board monitors the operation of the program. An interfund loan must comply with certain conditions set out in the exemptive order, which are designed to assure fairness and protect all participating funds. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the Fund lent a maximum of $4,417,211 for twelve days earning interest of $1,185. The interest income amount is included in the Statement of Operations as interest income. At December 31, 2017, the Fund had no interfund loans outstanding.

3. PURCHASES AND SALES OF SECURITIES

Purchases and sales of securities (excluding short-term securities and U.S. Government Obligations) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were $402,911,431 and $750,481,200, respectively.

The Fund had no purchases or sales of U.S. Government Obligations during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

 

 

 
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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

4. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES LOANED

The Fund participates in the Program providing for the lending of securities to qualified brokers. Securities lending income includes earnings of such temporary cash investments, plus or minus any rebate to a borrower. These earnings (after any rebate) are then divided between BNYM, as a fee for its services under the Program, and the Fund, according to agreed-upon rates. Collateral on all securities loaned is accepted in cash and is maintained at a minimum level of 102% (105% in the case of certain foreign securities) of the market value, plus interest, if applicable, of investments on loan. It is the Fund’s policy to obtain additional collateral from or return excess collateral to the borrower by the end of the next business day, following the valuation date of the securities loaned. Therefore, the value of the collateral held may be temporarily less than the value of the securities on loan. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to the Fund if and to the extent that the market value of the securities loaned were to increase and the borrower did not increase the collateral accordingly, and the borrower fails to return the securities. Under the terms of the Program, the Fund is indemnified for such losses by BNYM. Cash collateral is held in a separate omnibus account managed by BNYM, who is authorized to exclusively enter into joint repurchase agreements. BNYM bears the risk of any deficiency in the amount of the cash collateral available for return to the borrower due to any loss on the collateral invested.

The value of securities loaned on positions held and cash collateral received at December 31, 2017 was $35,725,082 and $36,492,537, respectively.

5. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its trustees and officers are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to the Trust. In addition, in the normal course of business, the Fund may enter into contracts and agreements that contain a variety of representations and warranties, which provide general indemnifications. The maximum exposure to the Fund under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred. However, based on experience, the Fund had no prior claims or losses and expects the risks of loss to be remote.

6. MASTER NETTING AGREEMENTS

The Fund may enter into master netting agreements with its counterparties for the securities lending program, and Repurchase Agreements, which provide the right, in the event of default (including bankruptcy or insolvency) for the non-defaulting party to liquidate the collateral and calculate net exposure to the defaulting party or request additional collateral. For financial reporting purposes, the Fund does not offset financial assets and financial liabilities that are subject to master netting agreements in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. For securities lending transactions, see Note 4.

 

 

The following table is a summary of the Fund’s open Repurchase Agreements that are subject to a master netting agreement as of December 31, 2017:

 

        Gross Amount Not Offset in the
        Statement of Assets and  Liabilities            
   
    Net Amounts of Assets
Presented in the Statement
of Assets and Liabilities
 

 

Financial

Instruments

Collateral

 

Cash Collateral

Received

  Net Amount
       

 

Bank of Nova Scotia

 

  $8,667,321     $8,667,321      

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc.

 

  8,667,321   8,667,321    

Daiwa Capital Markets America

 

  8,667,321   8,667,321    

Jefferies LLC

 

  1,823,253   1,823,253    

State of Wisconsin Investment Board

  8,667,321   8,667,321    
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totals

  $36,492,537       $36,492,537               —                       —            
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. REGULATORY UPDATES

On October 13, 2016, the SEC amended existing rules intended to modernize reporting and disclosure of information. These amendments relate to Regulation S-X, which sets forth the form and content of financial statements. Effective August 1, 2017, the Fund has adopted these amendments and noted no significant impact on the financial statements and accompanying notes.

8. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

The Fund has determined that no material events or transactions occurred through the issuance date of the Fund’s financial statements, which require an additional disclosure in or adjustment of the Fund’s financial statements.

 

 

 
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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

    

 

TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF AMG FUNDS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF AMG MANAGERS SKYLINE SPECIAL EQUITIES FUND

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of portfolio investments, of AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund (one of the funds constituting AMG Funds, referred to hereafter as the “Fund”) as of December 31, 2017, the related statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2017, the statement of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Fund as of December 31, 2017, the results of its operations for the year then ended, the changes in its net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017 and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Fund’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Fund in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of December 31, 2017 by correspondence with the custodian. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

February 27, 2018

We have served as the auditor of one or more investment companies in AMG Funds Family since 1993.

 

 

 
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Other Information

 

    

 

 

TAX INFORMATION

 

 

The AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund hereby designates the maximum amount allowable of its net taxable income as qualified dividends as provided in the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. The 2017 Form 1099-DIV you receive for the Fund will show the tax status of all distributions paid to you during the year.

Pursuant to section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund hereby designates $61,634,483 as a capital gain distribution with respect to the taxable fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, or if subsequently determined to be different, the net capital gains of such year.

 

 

 
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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers

 

    

 

The Trustees and Officers of the Trust, their business addresses, principal occupations for the past five years and ages are listed below. The Trustees provide broad supervision over the affairs of the Trust and the Funds. The Trustees are experienced executives who meet periodically throughout the year to oversee the Funds’ activities, review contractual arrangements with companies that provide services to the Funds, and  

review the Funds’ performance. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each Trustee or Officer is the address of the Trust: 600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830.

 

There is no stated term of office for Trustees. Trustees serve until their resignation, retirement or removal in

  accordance with the Trust’s organizational documents and policies adopted by the Board from time to time. The Chairman of the Trustees, President, Treasurer and Secretary of the Trust are elected by the Trustees annually. Other officers hold office at the pleasure of the Trustees.

Independent Trustees

The following Trustees are not “interested persons” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act:

 

  Number of Funds Overseen in

  Fund Complex

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee
   

• Trustee since 2012

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Bruce B. Bingham, 69

Partner, Hamilton Partners (real estate development firm) (1987-Present); Director of The Yacktman Funds (2000-2012).

   

• Trustee since 1999

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Edward J. Kaier, 72

Attorney at Law and Partner, Teeters Harvey Marrone & Kaier LLP (2007-Present); Attorney at Law and Partner, Hepburn Willcox Hamilton & Putnam, LLP (1977-2007); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Kurt A. Keilhacker, 54

Managing Member, TechFund Capital (1997-Present); Managing Member, TechFund Europe (2000-Present); Board Member, 6wind SA, (2002-Present); Managing Member, Elementum Ventures (2013-Present); Trustee, Gordon College (2001-2016).

   

• Trustee since 2004

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Steven J. Paggioli, 67

Independent Consultant (2002-Present); Formerly Executive Vice President and Director, The Wadsworth Group (1986-2001); Executive Vice President, Secretary and Director, Investment Company Administration, LLC (1990-2001); Vice President, Secretary and Director, First Fund Distributors, Inc. (1991-2001); Trustee, Professionally Managed Portfolios (32 portfolios); Advisory Board Member, Sustainable Growth Advisors, LP; Independent Director, Chase Investment Counsel (2008–Present).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Richard F. Powers III, 72

Adjunct Professor, U.S. Naval War College (2016); Adjunct Professor, Boston College (2010-2013); President and CEO of Van Kampen Investments Inc. (1998-2003).

   

• Independent Chairman

• Trustee since 1999

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Eric Rakowski, 59

Professor, University of California at Berkeley School of Law (1990-Present); Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Victoria L. Sassine, 52

Lecturer, Babson College (2007 – Present).

   

• Trustee since 2004

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Thomas R. Schneeweis, 70

Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts (2013-Present); Partner, S Capital Wealth Advisors (2015-Present); President, TRS Associates (1982-Present); Board Member, Chartered Alternative Investment Association (“CAIA”) (2002-Present); Director, CAIA Foundation (Education) (2010-Present); Director, Institute for GlobalAsset and Risk Management (Education) (2010-Present); Partner, S Capital Management, LLC (2007-2015); Director, CISDM at the University of Massachusetts, (1996-2013); President, Alternative Investment Analytics, LLC, (formerly Schneeweis Partners, LLC) (2001-2013); Professor of Finance, University of Massachusetts (1977-2013).

 

 
23


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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

    

 

Interested Trustees

Each Trustee in the following table is an “interested person” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act. Ms. Carsman is an interested person of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act by virtue of her position with, and interest in securities of, AMG.

 

  Number of Funds Overseen in

  Fund Complex

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee

• Trustee since 2011

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Christine C. Carsman, 65

Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2017-Present); Director (2010-Present) and Chair of the Board of Directors (2015-Present), AMG Funds plc; Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2011-2016); Senior Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2007-2011); Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2004-2007); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2004-2011); Senior Counsel, Vice President and Director of Operational Risk Management and Compliance, Wellington Management Company, LLP (1995-2004).

   
Officers    
   

  Position(s) Held with Fund

  and Length of Time Served

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years
   

• President since 2014

• Principal Executive Officer

  since 2014

• Chief Executive Officer

  since 2016

 

Jeffrey T. Cerutti, 50

Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2014-Present); Director, President and Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2014-Present); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Chief Executive Officer, President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Executive Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President, VP Distributors, (2011-2014); Executive Vice President, Head of Distribution, Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (2010-2014); Managing Director, Head of Sales, UBS Global Asset Management (2001-2010).

   

• Chief Operating Officer

  since 2007

 

Keitha L. Kinne, 59

Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2007-Present); Chief Investment Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2008-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2012-2014); Managing Partner, AMG Funds LLC (2007-2014); President, AMG Funds (2012-2014); President, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2012-2014); Managing Director, Legg Mason & Co., LLC (2006-2007); Managing Director, Citigroup Asset Management (2004-2006).

   

• Secretary since 2015

• Chief Legal Officer since 2015

 

Mark J. Duggan, 53

Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Attorney, K&L Gates, LLP (2009-2015).

   

• Chief Financial Officer

  since 2017

• Treasurer since 2017

• Principal Financial Officer

  since 2017

• Principal Accounting Officer

  since 2017

 

Thomas G. Disbrow, 52

Vice President, Mutual Fund Treasurer & CFO, AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Managing Director - Global Head of Traditional Funds Product Control, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2015-2017); Managing Director - Head of North American Funds Treasury, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2011-2015).

   

• Chief Compliance Officer

  since 2016

 

Gerald F. Dillenburg, 51

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2016-2017); Chief Compliance Officer and Sarbanes Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (1996-Present); Sarbanes-Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2016); Chief Operating Officer, Aston Funds (2003-2016); Secretary, Aston Funds (1996-2015); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Funds (1997-2010); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2010); Treasurer, Aston Funds (1996-2010).

   

• Deputy Treasurer since

  2017

 

John A. Starace, 47

Director, Mutual Fund Accounting, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Deputy Treasurer of Mutual Funds Services, AMG Funds LLC (2014-2017); Deputy Treasurer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Vice President, Citi Hedge Fund Services (2010-2014); Audit Senior Manager (2005-2010) and Audit Manager (2001-2005), Deloitte & Touche LLP.

 

 
24


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

    

 

 

  Position(s) Held with Fund

  and Length of Time Served

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years

• Controller since 2017

 

Christopher R. Townsend, 50

Vice President, Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Head of Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Chief Financial Officer and Financial and Operations Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2016-Present); Controller, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management LLC (2016); Head of Finance and Accounting, Allianz Asset Management (2006-2015).

• Anti-Money Laundering

    Compliance Officer since

    2014

 

Patrick J. Spellman, 43

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2011-2017); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc., (2010-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Compliance Manager, Legal and Compliance, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2005-2011).

• Assistant Secretary since

    2016

 

Maureen A. Meredith, 32

Director, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Assistant Secretary, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Associate, Ropes & Gray LLP (2011-2015); Law Fellow, Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice (2010-2011).

 

 
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LOGO

 

 

    

 

INVESTMENT MANAGER AND

ADMINISTRATOR

 

AMG Funds LLC

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

 

DISTRIBUTOR

 

AMG Distributors, Inc.

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

 

SUBADVISER

 

Skyline Asset Management, L.P.

120 South LaSalle Street, Suite 1320

Chicago, IL 60603

  

CUSTODIAN

 

The Bank of New York Mellon

111 Sanders Creek Parkway

East Syracuse, NY 13057

 

LEGAL COUNSEL

 

Ropes & Gray LLP

Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston Street

Boston, MA 02199-3600

 

TRANSFER AGENT

 

BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

Attn: AMG Funds

P.O. Box 9769

Providence, RI 02940

800.548.4539

  

This report is prepared for the Funds’ shareholders. It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by an effective prospectus. To receive a free copy of the prospectus or Statement of Additional Information, which includes additional information about Fund Trustees, please contact us by calling 800.835.3879. Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

Current net asset values per share for each Fund are available on the Funds’ website at amgfunds.com.

 

A description of the policies and procedures the Fund uses to vote its proxies is available: (i) without charge, upon request, by calling 800.835.3879, or (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) website at sec.gov. For information regarding the Fund’s proxy voting record for the 12-month period ended June 30, call 800.835.3879 or visit the SEC website at sec.gov.

 

The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Forms N-Q are available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. A Fund’s Forms N-Q may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1.800.SEC.0330. To review a complete list of the Fund’s portfolio holdings, or to view the most recent quarterly holdings report, semiannual report, or annual report, please visit amgfunds.com.

 

         
amgfunds.com           29  


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LOGO

 

    

 

 

AFFILIATE SUBADVISED FUNDS

 

BALANCED FUNDS

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

 

AMG FQ Global Risk-Balanced

First Quadrant, L.P.

 

EQUITY FUNDS

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

 

AMG FQ Tax-Managed U.S. Equity

AMG FQ Long-Short Equity

First Quadrant, L.P.

 

AMG Frontier Small Cap Growth

Frontier Capital Management Company, LLC

 

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap

AMG GW&K U.S. Small Cap Growth

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

AMG Renaissance International Equity

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth

The Renaissance Group LLC

 

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value II

AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value

AMG River Road Long-Short

AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value

AMG River Road Small Cap Value

River Road Asset Management, LLC

 

AMG SouthernSun Small Cap

AMG SouthernSun Global Opportunities

AMG SouthernSun U.S. Equity

SouthernSun Asset Management, LLC

 

AMG Systematic Mid Cap Value

Systematic Financial Management, L.P.

 

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth

TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC

  

AMG Trilogy Emerging Markets Equity

AMG Trilogy Emerging Wealth Equity

Trilogy Global Advisors, L.P.

 

AMG Yacktman

AMG Yacktman Focused

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities

Yacktman Asset Management LP

 

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

AMG GW&K Core Bond

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

OPEN-ARCHITECTURE FUNDS

 

ALTERNATIVE FUNDS

AMG Managers Lake Partners LASSO Alternative

Lake Partners, Inc.

 

BALANCED FUNDS

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Balanced

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

 

EQUITY FUNDS

AMG Managers Brandywine

AMG Managers Brandywine Advisors Mid Cap Growth

AMG Managers Brandywine Blue

Friess Associates, LLC

 

AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies

AMG Managers Cadence Mid Cap

Cadence Capital Management, LLC

 

AMG Managers CenterSquare Real Estate

CenterSquare Investment Management, Inc.

 

AMG Managers Emerging Opportunities

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

WEDGE Capital Management L.L.P.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC

RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc.

  

AMG Managers Essex Small/Micro Cap Growth

Essex Investment Management Co., LLC

 

AMG Managers Fairpointe ESG Equity

AMG Managers Fairpointe Mid Cap

Fairpointe Capital LLC

 

AMG Managers Guardian Capital Global Dividend

Guardian Capital LP

 

AMG Managers LMCG Small Cap Growth

LMCG Investments, LLC

 

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Growth

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Mid Cap Growth

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

 

AMG Managers Pictet International

Pictet Asset Management Limited

 

AMG Managers Silvercrest Small Cap

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC

 

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities

Skyline Asset Management, L.P.

 

AMG Managers Special Equity

Ranger Investment Management, L.P.

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

Smith Asset Management Group, L.P.

Federated MDTA LLC

 

AMG Managers Value Partners Asia Dividend

Value Partners Hong Kong Limited

 

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government

Amundi Pioneer Institutional Asset Management, Inc.

 

AMG Managers Doubleline Core Plus Bond

DoubleLine Capital LP

 

AMG Managers Global Income Opportunity

AMG Managers Loomis Sayles Bond

Loomis, Sayles & Co., L.P.

 

         
amgfunds.com          123117                    AR018


Table of Contents

LOGO

         ANNUAL REPORT

 

    

 

 

 

     AMG Funds        
 
     December 31, 2017        
 
     LOGO        
 
    

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

 

 

    

Class N: MRLTX

 

      

  Class I: MRLSX

 

       Class Z: MRLIX   
 
    

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

 

 

     Class N: RIEIX          Class I: RIESX        Class Z: RIELX   
    

    

    

    

            

 

 

    

 

 

             

 

amgfunds.com

 

     

 

123117                AR024

 


Table of Contents


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Funds

Annual Report — December 31, 2017

 

    

 

    

    

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

   PAGE  
   

LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS

     2  
 
   

ABOUT YOUR FUND’S EXPENSES

     3  
 
    PORTFOLIO MANAGER’S COMMENTS, FUND SNAPSHOTS AND SCHEDULES OF PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS   
 
   

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

     4  
 
   

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

     9  
 
   

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

  
 
   

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

     16  
 
   

Balance sheets, net asset value (NAV) per share computations and cumulative undistributed amounts

  
 
   

Statement of Operations

     18  
 
   

Detail of sources of income, expenses, and realized and unrealized gains (losses) during the fiscal year

  
 
   

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

     19  
 
   

Detail of changes in assets for the past two fiscal years

  
 
   

Financial Highlights

     20  
 
   

Historical net asset values per share, distributions, total returns, income and expense ratios, turnover ratios and net assets

  
 
   

Notes to Financial Statements

     26  
 
   

Accounting and distribution policies, details of agreements and transactions with Fund management and affiliates, and descriptions of certain investment risks

  
 
    REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM      33  
 
    OTHER INFORMATION      34  
 
    TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS      35  

Nothing contained herein is to be considered an offer, sale or solicitation of an offer to buy shares of any series of the AMG Funds family of mutual funds. Such offering is made only by prospectus, which includes details as to offering price and other material information.

    

 

 

 


Table of Contents
LOGO       Letter to Shareholders

 

    

 

Dear Shareholder:

The last 12 months was a strong period for equity markets as the health of the global economy improved and positive investor sentiment helped extend the U.S. bull market into its ninth year. The S&P 500® Index, a widely followed barometer of the U.S. equity market, returned 21.83% during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. By comparison, small cap stocks underperformed large caps with a 14.65% return for the small cap Russell 2000® Index.

The S&P 500 Index has notched positive performance in every month since the U.S. presidential election amidst the backdrop of strong corporate earnings, improving global economic growth and the passage of sweeping tax reform. 2017 also marked a turning point for the broader global economy as growth accelerated in a more coordinated fashion around the world, global trade improved and commodities recovered. U.S. equity market volatility remained extremely low despite saber rattling in North Korea and a devastating hurricane season. In fact, the S&P 500 Index has not seen a pullback greater than 5% since the summer of 2016.

In total, all but two sectors of the S&P 500 Index were positive during the last 12 months; however, there was significant dispersion in performance across sectors. Information technology and materials stocks led the Index with returns of 38.87% and 23.25%, respectively, while companies within the energy and telecommunication services sectors were the laggards with returns of (1.11)% and (1.49)%, respectively. Growth stocks outperformed value during all four quarters of the year and ended 2017 with returns of 30.2% and 13.7% for the Russell 1000® Growth and Russell 1000® Value Indexes, respectively. International equities outperformed domestic equities for the first time since 2012 as the global economy picked up and international returns were boosted by a weaker U.S. Dollar with the MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index returning 27.19% during the year. Meanwhile, emerging markets had their strongest year since 2009 with a 37.3% return for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

The U.S. bond market produced modestly positive returns for the year, as measured by the 3.54% return for the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a broad measure of U.S. bond market performance. The yield curve flattened as the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) continued to normalize monetary policy and short-term interest rates rose more than longer-term rates. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note rose 69 basis points during the year to yield 1.89% while the 10-year U.S. Treasury note ended 2017 at a 2.40% yield, five basis points lower than where it started. Investment grade corporates outperformed Treasuries and securitized credits with returns of 6.42%, 2.31% and 2.51%, respectively. Bond investors willing to accept more credit risk were rewarded with higher returns as high yield bonds performed strongly and credit spreads tightened. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index ended the period with a 7.50% return.

    

AMG Funds appreciates the privilege of providing investment tools to you and your clients. Our foremost goal is to provide investment solutions that help our shareholders successfully reach their long-term investment goals. By partnering with AMG’s affiliated investment boutiques, AMG Funds provides access to a distinctive array of actively managed return-oriented investment strategies. Additionally, we oversee and distribute a number of complementary open-architecture mutual funds subadvised by unaffiliated investment managers. We thank you for your continued confidence and investment in AMG Funds. You can rest assured that under all market conditions our team is focused on delivering excellent investment management services for your benefit.

Respectfully,

 

 

LOGO

Jeffery Cerutti

President

AMG Funds

 

Average Annual Total Returns   Periods ended
December 31, 2017*
 
Stocks:         1 Year     3 Years     5 Years  

Large Caps

   (S&P 500® Index)     21.83%       11.41%       15.79%  

Small Caps

   (Russell 2000® Index)     14.65%       9.96%       14.12%  

International

   (MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index)     27.19%       7.83%       6.80%  
Bonds:                           

Investment Grade

   (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index)     3.54%       2.24%       2.10%  

High Yield

   (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index)     7.50%       6.35%       5.78%  

Tax-exempt

   (Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index)     5.45%       2.98%       3.02%  

Treasury Bills

   (ICE BofAML 6-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index)     0.95%       0.62%       0.43%  

*Source: Factset. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

 

 

 
2


Table of Contents

    

    

    

  About Your Fund’s Expenses

 

    

 

As a shareholder of a Fund, you may incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, which may include sales charges (loads) on purchase payments; redemption fees; and exchange fees; and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution (12b-1) fees; and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. The example is based on $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period as indicated below.

 

ACTUAL EXPENSES

 

The first line of the following table provides information about the actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the

    

amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

 

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

 

The second line of the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed annual rate of return of 5% before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return.

    

    

    

The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds by comparing this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of other funds.

 

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads), redemption fees, or exchange fees. Therefore, the second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds.

 

 

 

Six Months Ended

December 31, 2017

  Expense
Ratio for
the Period
    Beginning
Account
Value
07/01/17
    Ending
Account
Value
12/31/17
    Expenses
Paid
During
the Period*
 
AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund        
Based on Actual Fund Return  

Class N

    1.03     $1,000       $1,115       $5.49      

Class I

    .77     $1,000       $1,117       $4.11      

Class Z

    .66     $1,000       $1,117       $3.52      
Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return  

Class N

    1.03     $1,000       $1,020       $5.24      

Class I

    .77     $1,000       $1,021       $3.92      

Class Z

    .66     $1,000       $1,022       $3.36      
       
AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund  
Based on Actual Fund Return  

Class N

    1.29     $1,000       $1,077       $6.75      

Class I

    .98     $1,000       $1,078       $5.13      

Class Z

    .85     $1,000       $1,080       $4.46      
Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return  

Class N

    1.29     $1,000       $1,019       $6.56      

Class I

    .98     $1,000       $1,020       $4.99      

Class Z

    .85     $1,000       $1,021       $4.33      

 

* Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized expense ratio multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half-year (184), then divided by 365.
            
 

 

 
3


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

    

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund (Class Z) (the “Fund”) returned 22.50%, compared to the 30.21% return for the Russell 1000® Growth Index.

 

MARKET OVERVIEW

 

The stock market continued to roll ahead in the fourth quarter, as the S&P 500® Index posted another all-time high and gained 6.6% for the quarter. Large cap stocks outperformed smaller cap issues, with technology, financials and consumer discretionary among the stronger performing sectors. Health care and utilities were among the lower performing sectors, and bonds posted slight price declines.

 

The economy is experiencing its most sustained growth in several years. The unemployment rate ended November at 4.1%, its lowest level in 18 years,1 while inflation remains muted, and GDP growth in recent quarters has been solidly positive. The U.S. economy has benefited not just from good business conditions domestically, but also from strong expansions in overseas markets. Even though the Federal Reserve has raised short-term interest rates three times over the past year, rates overall remain subdued.

 

As a result, the level of financial stress in the economy is at historically low levels. Over the last year, this led to very low levels of volatility in the stock market, a condition that may not repeat in 2018. Even so, economic fundamentals remain positive, and the passage of significant tax reform legislation in December should provide a boost to both consumer spending and corporate profits. We remain optimistic about another good year for stocks in 2018, albeit with a more normal level of volatility.

 

Low unemployment and strong GDP growth have contributed to the highest recorded levels of consumer confidence since the late 1990s. Job growth has remained strong throughout the past year, and signs have emerged recently of stronger wage gains as well. Tax cuts should be hitting paychecks early in 2018 for most consumers, with potentially further positive effects for confidence readings.

  

Investor confidence has surged as well, helped by extraordinarily low levels of market volatility. The S&P 500 is on track to go 68 weeks without having posted a 2% weekly drop, the longest such stretch for the Index since 1965.2 Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that the S&P 500 posted a positive total return in each month in 2017, the first time ever that the Index did not have at least one month of negative returns in a calendar year. We will go out on a limb and suggest that it is highly unlikely that this will be repeated in 2018. However, while returns may be negative over some shorter-term periods in 2018, we are still optimistic about the year as a whole.

 

A key reason for optimism is the ongoing rebound in corporate profits. From their lowest point in 2008, corporate profits have gained 176%,3 undermining the notion that gains in stock prices in recent years have been attributable only to low interest rates (although low rates have definitely helped). The tax reform legislation passed in December lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, allows the immediate expensing of certain capital expenditures and changes the rules on profits that U.S. companies earn overseas. Together, these measures should increase corporate cash flows in future years and provide further fundamental underpinning for the stock market.

 

A review of the past year would not be complete without at least a brief mention of cryptocurrencies. A cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as currency, utilizing encryption techniques to secure transactions and control the creation of additional currency units. Bitcoin is the most widely known cryptocurrency, and its price soared 1,204% in 2017, although not without incurring several 20%+ declines during the year, including a 34% decline over the last two weeks of December. Believers in cryptocurrencies say that “virtual” currencies could eventually supersede traditional currencies, due to their potential ease of use, anonymity and limitations on their eventual supply. However, the incredible volatility of Bitcoin over the past year suggests that it is highly inefficient as a medium of exchange. In addition, the supply of cryptocurrencies is growing, potentially driving down prices. There are now 26

  

cryptocurrencies with total market values over $1 billion, while only Bitcoin and Ethereum were in that range a year ago. While intriguing from an intellectual standpoint, we believe that the Bitcoin phenomenon is more akin to a speculative bubble than a replacement for traditional currencies.

 

In the world of traditional currencies, we continue to favor stocks. Strong economic conditions and rising corporate profits should continue to provide support for higher stock prices in 2018. However, consideration of individual stock valuations is likely to become even more important, given the price gains in the market over the past year. We continue to favor companies in the technology, consumer discretionary, health care and industrials sectors that have especially good combinations of growth opportunities and reasonable valuations.

 

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

 

For the year 2017 our selections in the industrial sector along with our under weighted position in the consumer staples sector made the most positive contribution to relative returns for the year. Notable performers over the period include Boeing (+95%), Lam Research (+76%) and Rockwell (+49%). On the negative side, our selections in consumer discretionary and information technology sectors detracted the most from our relative performance for the year. Notable underperformers include Dicks Sporting Goods (-43%), Kroger (-35%) and AutoZone (-29%). The Fund’s attention to valuations provided an additional headwind to relative performance, as high growth and momentum factors significantly outperformed value-oriented factors during the period.

 

1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

2Bloomberg

 

3FactSet Earnings Insight

 

This commentary reflects the viewpoint of the portfolio manager, The Renaissance Group LLC, as of December 31, 2017, and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results and is subject to change without notice.

 

 

 
4


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class Z shares on June 03, 2009 (commencement of operations) to a $10,000 investment made in the Russell 1000® Growth Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund and the Russell 1000® Growth Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

    Average Annual Total Returns1   One
Year
    Five
Years
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 
 

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund 2,3,4

 

 

Class N

    22.03%       15.97%       14.35%       06/03/09  
 

Class I

    22.46%       16.39%       14.71%       06/03/09  
   

Class Z

    22.50%       16.54%       14.89%       06/03/09  
   

Russell 1000® Growth Index 5

    30.21%       17.33%       16.62%       06/03/09  

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  The date reflects inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).

 

2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.

 

3  The Fund invests in growth stocks, which may be more sensitive to market movements because their prices tend to reflect future investor expectations rather than just current profits.

 

4  The Fund invests in large-capitalization companies that may underperform other stock funds (such as funds that focus on small- and medium-capitalization companies) when stocks of large-capitalization companies are out of favor.

 

5  The Russell 1000® Growth Index is a market capitalization weighted index that measures the performance of those Russell 1000® companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. Unlike the Fund, the Russell 1000® Growth Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

 

The Russell 1000® Growth Index is a trademark of the London Stock Exchange Group companies.

 

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

 

 
5


Table of Contents
   

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector    % of
Net Assets

Information Technology

       36.2

Health Care

       16.7

Industrials

       16.4

Consumer Discretionary

       14.8

Financials

       9.3

Materials

       3.4

Consumer Staples

       1.7

Short-Term Investments*

       1.1

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

       0.4

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.

 

** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name    % of
Net Assets

Texas Instruments, Inc.

   2.1

UnitedHealth Group, Inc.

   2.0

American Express Co.

   2.0

The Boeing Co.

   2.0

Cigna Corp.

   2.0

Aetna, Inc.

   2.0

Anthem, Inc.

   2.0

Varian Medical Systems, Inc.

   2.0

Citrix Systems, Inc.

   2.0

Dollar General Corp.

   2.0
    

 

Top Ten as a Group

   20.1
  

 

 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 
6


Table of Contents
   

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 98.5%

     

Consumer Discretionary - 14.8%

 

  

Carnival Corp.

     48,822        $3,240,316  

Comcast Corp., Class A

     81,952        3,282,178  

Darden Restaurants, Inc.

     34,767        3,338,327  

Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc.

     69,018        1,983,577  

Discovery Communications, Inc., Class A*,1

     107,615        2,408,424  

Dollar General Corp.

     39,066        3,633,529  

The Home Depot, Inc.

     17,362        3,290,620  

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc.*

     12,235        2,943,007  

Ross Stores, Inc.

     41,005        3,290,651  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        27,410,629  

Consumer Staples - 1.7%

     

CVS Health Corp.

     42,195        3,059,137  

Financials - 9.3%

     

American Express Co.

     37,840        3,757,891  

Ameriprise Financial, Inc.

     20,147        3,414,312  

The Charles Schwab Corp.

     63,501        3,262,046  

Prudential Financial, Inc.

     27,637        3,177,702  

T Rowe Price Group, Inc.

     34,478        3,617,777  

Total Financials

        17,229,728  

Health Care - 16.7%

     

Aetna, Inc.

     20,524        3,702,324  

Amgen, Inc.

     18,134        3,153,503  

Anthem, Inc.

     16,375        3,684,539  

Biogen, Inc.*

     11,210        3,571,170  

Celgene Corp.*

     24,389        2,545,236  

Cigna Corp.

     18,313        3,719,187  

Gilead Sciences, Inc.

     43,730        3,132,817  

UnitedHealth Group, Inc.

     17,154        3,781,771  

Varian Medical Systems, Inc.*

     33,008        3,668,839  

Total Health Care

        30,959,386  

Industrials - 16.4%

     

Alaska Air Group, Inc.

     33,590        2,469,201  

The Boeing Co.

     12,711        3,748,601  

Cummins, Inc.

     18,351        3,241,520  

Illinois Tool Works, Inc.

     21,237        3,543,393  

Masco Corp.

     80,318        3,529,173  

Rockwell Automation, Inc.

     18,065        3,547,063  

Southwest Airlines Co.

     53,317        3,489,598  

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.

     21,310        3,616,094  
       Shares        Value  

Union Pacific Corp.

     24,437        $3,277,002  

Total Industrials

        30,461,645  

Information Technology - 36.2%

 

  

Activision Blizzard, Inc.

     51,343        3,251,039  

Adobe Systems, Inc.*

     17,711        3,103,676  

Alphabet, Inc., Class A*

     3,227        3,399,322  

Apple, Inc.

     18,837        3,187,785  

Applied Materials, Inc.

     63,196        3,230,579  

Cisco Systems, Inc.

     85,706        3,282,540  

Citrix Systems, Inc.*

     41,659        3,665,992  

eBay, Inc.*

     87,054        3,285,418  

Facebook, Inc., Class A*

     17,502        3,088,403  

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.

     34,816        3,275,837  

International Business Machines Corp.

     18,761        2,878,313  

Juniper Networks, Inc.

     106,642        3,039,297  

Lam Research Corp.

     15,665        2,883,457  

Microsoft Corp.

     38,751        3,314,760  

NetApp, Inc.

     60,932        3,370,758  

Oracle Corp.

     61,636        2,914,150  

Skyworks Solutions, Inc.

     31,741        3,013,808  

Synopsys, Inc.*

     35,703        3,043,324  

Texas Instruments, Inc.

     36,221        3,782,921  

Total System Services, Inc.

     43,673        3,454,098  

Western Digital Corp.

     33,649        2,676,105  

Total Information Technology

 

     67,141,582  

Materials - 3.4%

     

Berry Global Group, Inc.*

     54,024        3,169,588  

Crown Holdings, Inc.*

     54,478        3,064,387  

Total Materials

        6,233,975  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $158,252,197)

        182,496,082  
    
Principal
Amount
 
 
  

Short-Term Investments - 1.1%

 

  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 0.9%2

 

  

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17,due 01/02/18, 1.410% total to be received $649,633 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 8.500%, 01/31/18 - 06/20/63, totaling $662,522)

     $649,531        649,531  
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
7


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

      Principal
Amount
     Value  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 0.9%
(continued)

 

  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.630% total to be received $1,000,181 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% - 3.875%, 01/15/19 - 02/15/46, totaling $1,027,770)

   $ 1,000,000      $ 1,000,000  

Total Joint Repurchase Agreements

        1,649,531  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 0.2%

 

  

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.18%3

     364,169        364,169  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $2,013,700)

        2,013,700  
     
    
       
Value
 

Total Investments - 99.6%
(Cost $160,265,897)

   $ 184,509,782  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - 0.4%

     746,733  

Net Assets - 100.0%

   $ 185,256,515  
  

 

 
* Non-income producing security.
1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $1,586,205 or 0.9% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.
2  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
3  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

 

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

   $ 182,496,082                    $ 182,496,082  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

          $ 1,649,531               1,649,531  

Other Investment Companies

     364,169                      364,169  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 182,860,251      $ 1,649,531                —      $ 184,509,782  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  All common stocks held in the Fund are Level 1 securities. For a detailed breakout of common stocks by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
8


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

    

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund (Class Z) (the “Fund”) returned 26.97%, compared to the 27.19% return for the MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index.

 

MARKET OVERVIEW

 

International equity markets finished 2017 on a strong note, propelling the MSCI ACWI ex-USA to a 27% gain (in U.S. Dollars) for the year and marking the first time since 2012 that foreign markets outpaced the S&P 500®. Favorable economic readings from Europe, China and the U.S. were more than enough to assuage geopolitical fears ranging from Brexit negotiations to the nuclear ambitions of North Korea. Indicative of the broad economic strength around the globe, the JPMorgan Global PMI Index reached multi-year highs in November and showed strength in both the manufacturing and services components.

 

Foreign index returns were led by emerging markets, which gained 7.4% for the fourth quarter and 37.3% for the year as measured by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. After an 11.2% rise in 2016, some investors are wondering if emerging markets may run out of steam in 2018. To put the gains in perspective, based on relative returns going back to the late 1980s, recent emerging market returns do not look excessive, and we may be in a situation of emerging markets performance simply catching up to U.S. markets.

 

The consistent theme of growth stocks outperforming value stocks in 2017 continued through the fourth quarter. For the year, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Growth Index climbed 32.0% compared to a 22.7% gain in the Value index. Growth stocks beat value stocks across the market cap spectrum and within developed and emerging market indices. Another theme that prevailed throughout 2017 was the decline of the U.S. Dollar, with the weaker greenback adding 9% to U.S. Dollar denominated returns of the MSCI ACWI ex-USA Index and helping ease the pain from the U.S. Dollar’s strength from 2013 to 2016.

 

During the fourth quarter, European politics also grabbed headlines with the focus on the inability of Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party to form a new coalition government following September’s national elections. Despite the uncertainty, the German DAX Index still gained for the quarter. Brexit negotiations continued, although attention late in the year was on the first rate hike by the Bank of England since the

  

middle of 2007. The widely expected move was in response to higher inflation brought on in part from the weaker pound following the Brexit vote in 2016.

 

Also boosting markets across the globe was the continued strength of the U.S. economy, which looks to solidify its 2018 economic growth prospects after Congress passed major tax reforms. A positive outlook for the U.S. should lift the economic tide for many nations. According to the October World Economic Outlook from the International Monetary Fund, global GDP growth for 2017 is estimated at 3.6%, rising to 3.7% in 2018, with both estimates up from earlier projections in April.

 

Breaking down GDP growth by emerging and developed countries, emerging markets have accounted for a large portion of overall global growth, and we believe this is likely to continue for years to come.

 

China remains the largest driver of world economic growth, and the Fund is positioned to take advantage of this opportunity, with an approximately 14% weighting to China/Hong Kong. One of the concerns with China’s growth has been growing debt levels relative to GDP. While the debt load has increased in recent years, China’s household debt burden compared to major developed countries is still very manageable. Furthermore, China is moving from a period of rapid growth to “a stage of high quality development,” as reported after the 19th National Congress held in October. This focus on quality should alleviate concerns of a debt bubble forming in China.

 

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

 

For the year 2017, our selections in both the information technology and materials sectors made the most positive contribution to relative returns for the year. Notable performers over the period include NetEase (+62%) and Akzo Nobel (+49%). On the negative side, our selections in consumer discretionary and health care sectors detracted the most from our relative performance for the year. Notable underperformers include Pandora (-14%) and Sanofi (-12%).

 

The energy sector performed well in the Fund and was the second best performing sector in our benchmark for the quarter. Crude oil (West Texas Intermediate) gained 16.8% for the final three months of the year, putting the 2017 gain at 12.3%. We remain underweight in the energy sector relative to our benchmark and believe crude oil prices are likely

  

range-bound in the near term as OPEC continues to curb production while U.S. shale production puts pressure on the supply side of the equation. One of the biggest potential boosts to energy prices is the continued increase in demand from China. China’s demand for oil has increased dramatically over the last 15 years, but other countries such as the United States and Japan have decreased their appetite for oil. Until we see a clearer picture of crude oil supply/demand dynamics, we will likely remain underweight in the energy sector.

 

Looking at performance by region, we enjoyed the most success in the Asia/Pacific area where we averaged an almost 40% weighting. Our Chinese holdings contributed the most to returns, while India detracted. Western Europe, our largest regional weight at 46%, was our weakest performing region as positive contributions from Germany were negated by poor returns in Denmark.

 

POSITIONING AND OUTLOOK

 

Relative to our benchmark, we ended the year with our largest overweights to the information technology sector, followed by consumer discretionary. We believe that attractive investment opportunities exist in higher growth areas such as semiconductors, autos and leisure, while the Fund remains underweight in slower growth sectors such as financials and consumer staples. Additionally, we remain overweight to emerging markets in the Fund as the asset class offers both better growth rates and attractive valuation.

 

Although the advances in global equity markets in 2017 were not unprecedented, what was unusual was the lack of volatility, as evidenced by the fact that the MSCI ACWI ex-USA was positive each month of the year. Many market prognosticators look for continued gains in 2018, buoyed in part by good earnings growth. According to earnings estimates compiled by FactSet, international firms are expected to increase 2018 earnings per share close to 10% year-over-year, well above the 4.5% average yearly growth rate since 2005.

 

Despite the run-up in foreign markets this year, we believe market valuations remain attractive compared to U.S. markets. Favorable valuations are a positive for international equity markets, but one concern for investors is the potential rise in inflation as economies expand. It is unlikely, though, that inflation will rise enough to offset positive growth, even as the U.S. Federal Reserve looks to move rates higher in 2018 and other major central banks look to

 

 
9


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

taper their monetary easing programs. Despite the almost 50% return in emerging markets since the end of 2015, we believe the asset class still presents opportunities. While emerging markets account for 34% of world GDP, those same countries only represent 21% of global market capitalization, suggesting that emerging equity markets have ample room to expand.   With market sentiment seemingly overwhelmingly bullish, we remain optimistic for 2018, but also cautious given the many uncertainties in the market. We have learned in managing international portfolios for over 23 years that market volatility will inevitably pick up, and we believe that as active   

managers we will be able to position the Fund to capitalize on the changing landscape while mitigating risk.

 

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of The Renaissance Group LLC as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results.

 

 
10


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class Z shares on June 16, 2014 (commencement of operations) to a $10,000 investment made in the MSCI ACWI ex-USA Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund and the MSCI ACWI ex-USA Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

    Average Annual Total Returns1   One
Year
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 
 

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund 2,3,4,5,6,7

 

 

Class N

    26.39%       3.05%       06/16/14  
 

Class I

    26.77%       3.40%       06/16/14  
   

Class Z

    26.97%       3.52%       06/16/14  
   

MSCI ACWI ex-USA 8

    27.19%       4.02%       06/16/14  

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  The date reflects inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2016. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).

 

2  From time to time, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.

 

3  Investments in international securities are subject to certain risks of overseas investing including currency fluctuations and changes in political and economic conditions, which could result in significant market fluctuations.

 

4  The Fund is subject to currency risk resulting from fluctuations in exchange rates that may affect the total loss or gain on a non-U.S. Dollar investment when converted back to U.S. Dollars.

 

5  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in emerging markets, such as erratic earnings patterns, economic and political instability, changing exchange controls, limitations on repatriation of foreign capital and changes in local governmental attitudes toward private investment, possibly leading to nationalization or confiscation of investor assets.

 

6  The Fund invests in growth stocks, which may be more sensitive to market movements because their prices tend to reflect future investor expectations rather than just current profits.

 

7  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in mid-capitalization companies such as greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than the stocks of larger, more established companies.

 

8  The MSCI All Country World Index (“ACWI”) ex-USA is a free float-adjusted market-capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed and emerging markets. The index consists of 46 country indices comprising 22 developed and 24 emerging market country indices. Unlike the Fund, the Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses. All MSCI data is provided ‘as is.’ The products described herein are not sponsored or endorsed and have not been reviewed or passed on by MSCI. In no event shall MSCI, its affiliates, or any MSCI data provider have any liability of any kind in connection with the MSCI data or the products described herein. Copying or redistributing the MSCI data is strictly prohibited.

 

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

 
11


Table of Contents
   

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector    % of
Net Assets
 

Industrials

     17.4  

Information Technology

     17.4  

Financials

     16.1  

Consumer Discretionary

     16.0  

Materials

     12.1  

Telecommunication Services

     6.8  

Health Care

     4.7  

Energy

     3.6  

Consumer Staples

     3.4  

Utilities

     1.5  

Short-Term Investments*

     8.9  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (7.9

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.

 

** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name    % of
Net Assets

DBS Group Holdings, Ltd., Sponsored ADR

   2.1

Teck Resources, Ltd., Class B

   2.1

KB Financial Group, Inc., ADR

   2.1

Kasikornbank PCL, ADR

   2.0

China Eastern Airlines Corp., Ltd., ADR

   2.0

Capgemini SE, ADR

   2.0

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Sponsored ADR

   1.9

NetEase, Inc., ADR

   1.9

Allianz SE, Sponsored ADR

   1.9

Pandora A/S, Sponsored ADR

   1.9
    

 

Top Ten as a Group

   19.9
  

 

 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 
12


Table of Contents
   

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 99.0%

 

  

Consumer Discretionary - 16.0%

 

  

Bridgestone Corp., ADR (Japan)

     2,019        $46,922  

Carnival PLC, ADR (United States)1

     740        49,047  

China Lodging Group, Ltd., Sponsored ADR (China)

     343        49,539  

GKN PLC, Sponsored ADR
(United Kingdom)

     11,550        49,030  

Magna International, Inc. (Canada)

     871        49,360  

Pandora A/S, Sponsored ADR (Denmark)

     1,948        53,054  

Persimmon PLC, ADR
(United Kingdom)1

     641        47,972  

Renault, S.A., ADR (France)1

     2,512        50,566  

Valeo, S.A., Sponsored ADR (France)

     1,319        49,245  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        444,735  

Consumer Staples - 3.4%

     

Unilever PLC, Sponsored ADR
(United Kingdom)

     846        46,818  

WH Group, Ltd., Sponsored ADR
(Hong Kong)

     2,121        47,934  

Total Consumer Staples

        94,752  

Energy - 3.6%

     

CNOOC, Ltd. (China)

     36,853        52,907  

LUKOIL PJSC, Sponsored ADR (Russia)

     841        48,483  

Total Energy

        101,390  

Financials - 16.1%

     

Allianz SE, Sponsored ADR (Germany)

     2,312        53,095  

AXA, S.A. (France)

     1,642        48,658  

DBS Group Holdings, Ltd., Sponsored ADR (Singapore)

     775        57,861  

Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico,S.A.B. de CV,
Series B shares, ADR (Mexico)

     5,101        37,288  

Kasikornbank PCL, ADR (Thailand)

     1,913        56,587  

KB Financial Group, Inc., ADR (South Korea)*

     968        56,638  

Manulife Financial Corp. (Canada)

     2,313        48,249  

ORIX Corp., Sponsored ADR (Japan)

     540        45,781  

SCOR SE, Sponsored ADR (France)1

     10,847        44,039  

Total Financials

        448,196  

Health Care - 4.7%

     

ICON PLC (Ireland)*

     419        46,991  

Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (Ireland)*

     309        41,607  

Sanofi (France)

     495        42,615  

Total Health Care

        131,213  

Industrials - 17.4%

     

ACS Actividades de Construccion y Servicios, S.A.(Spain)

     1,172        45,779  

AerCap Holdings, N.V. (Ireland)*

     909        47,822  
      Shares      Value  

Beijing Capital International Airport Co. Ltd.,
Class H (China)

     31,148        $46,964  

Canadian National Railway Co. (Canada)

     568        46,860  

China Eastern Airlines Corp., Ltd., ADR (China)

     1,557        56,270  

Deutsche Post AG, Sponsored ADR (Germany)

     1,060        50,440  

Mitsubishi Electric Corp., ADR (Japan)1

     1,558        51,819  

Ryanair Holdings PLC, Sponsored ADR (Ireland)*

     498        51,887  

SMC Corp., Sponsored ADR (Japan)

     2,327        47,820  

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, ADR (Denmark)

     1,638        37,805  

Total Industrials

        483,466  

Information Technology - 17.4%

     

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc., ADR(Taiwan)

     6,735        43,643  

Baidu, Inc., Sponsored ADR (China)*

     207        48,481  

Capgemini SE, ADR (France)

     2,361        56,050  

Check Point Software Technologies, Ltd. (Israel)*

     411        42,588  

Infineon Technologies AG, ADR (Germany)

     1,836        50,077  

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., ADR
(Japan)1

     1,281        43,029  

NetEase, Inc., ADR (China)1

     154        53,141  

NXP Semiconductors, N.V. (Netherlands)*

     394        46,133  

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Sponsored ADR (Taiwan)

     1,344        53,290  

Wipro, Ltd., ADR (India)

     8,432        46,123  

Total Information Technology

        482,555  

Materials - 12.1%

     

Akzo Nobel, N.V., Sponsored ADR (Netherlands)

     1,535        44,730  

Arkema, S.A., Sponsored ADR (France)1

     430        52,460  

CRH PLC, Sponsored ADR (Ireland)1

     1,257        45,365  

Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co., Ltd.,
Sponsored ADR (China)1

     854        48,678  

Solvay, S.A. (Belgium)

     319        44,353  

Teck Resources, Ltd., Class B (Canada)

     2,167        56,666  

Toray Industries, Inc., ADR (Japan)

     2,399        45,221  

Total Materials

        337,473  

Telecommunication Services - 6.8%

     

KDDI Corp., ADR (Japan)

     3,697        45,734  

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., ADR
(Japan)

     964        45,539  

SK Telecom Co., Ltd., Sponsored ADR
(South Korea)

     1,713        47,810  
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
13


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

     

    

Shares

     Value  

Telecommunication Services - 6.8%
(continued)

 

  

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (Turkey)

     12,437        $50,712  

Total Telecommunication Services

        189,795  

Utilities - 1.5%

     

Korea Electric Power Corp., Sponsored ADR
(South Korea)*

     2,324        41,158  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $2,277,417)

        2,754,733  
    
Principal
Amount
 
 
  

Short-Term Investments - 8.9%

 

  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 8.9%2

 

  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.630% total to be received $247,545 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% - 3.875%, 01/15/19 - 02/15/46, totaling $254,373)

     $247,500        247,500  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $247,500)

 

    

 

247,500

 

 

 

  
     

    

Value

 

    Total Investments - 107.9%

    (Cost $2,524,917)

   $ 3,002,233  

    Other Assets, less Liabilities - (7.9)%

     (220,207

    Net Assets - 100.0%

   $ 2,782,026  
           

 

 

 

 

 

*  Non-income producing security.
1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $240,704 or 8.7% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.
2  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
ADR  American Depositary Receipt
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
14


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

           

Industrials

   $ 437,687      $ 45,779             $ 483,466  

Information Technology

     482,555                      482,555  

Financials

     399,538        48,658               448,196  

Consumer Discretionary

     444,735                      444,735  

Materials

     293,120        44,353               337,473  

Telecommunication Services

     139,083        50,712               189,795  

Health Care

     88,598        42,615               131,213  

Energy

     48,483        52,907               101,390  

Consumer Staples

     94,752                      94,752  

Utilities

     41,158                      41,158  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

            247,500               247,500  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

   $ 2,469,709      $ 532,524                —      $ 3,002,233  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

Country    % of Long-Term
Investments

Belgium

       1.6

Canada

       7.3

China

       12.9

Denmark

       3.3

France

       12.5

Germany

       5.6

Hong Kong

       1.7

India

       1.7

Ireland

       8.5

Israel

       1.5

Japan

       13.5

Mexico

       1.3
Country    % of Long-Term
Investments

Netherlands

       3.3

Russia

       1.8

Singapore

       2.1

South Korea

       5.3

Spain

       1.7

Taiwan

       3.5

Thailand

       2.1

Turkey

       1.8

United Kingdom

       5.2

United States

       1.8
    

 

 

 
       100.0
    

 

 

 
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
15


Table of Contents
   

    

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

    AMG Renaissance
Large Cap

Growth Fund
    AMG Renaissance
International
Equity Fund
 

Assets:

   

Investments at Value* (including securities on loan valued at $1,586,205, and $240,704, respectively)

    $184,509,782       $3,002,233  

Foreign currency**

          659  

Receivable for investments sold

    2,611,902       43,818  

Dividend, interest and other receivables

    56,204       4,428  

Receivable for Fund shares sold

    42,270        

Receivable from affiliate

    9,631       8,106  

Prepaid expenses

    21,444       11,006  

Total assets

    187,251,233       3,070,250  

Liabilities:

   

Payable upon return of securities loaned

    1,649,531       247,500  

Payable for Fund shares repurchased

    164,458        

Due to custodian

          877  

Accrued expenses:

   

Investment advisory and management fees

    72,922       960  

Administrative fees

    23,763       360  

Distribution fees

    15,139       56  

Shareholder service fees

    7,903       214  

Professional fees

    35,093       29,988  

Trustee fees and expenses

    1,925       29  

Other

    23,984       8,240  

Total liabilities

    1,994,718       288,224  

 

 

Net Assets

    $185,256,515       $2,782,026  

* Investments at cost

    $160,265,897       $2,524,917  

** Foreign currency at cost

          $659  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
16


Table of Contents
   

    

    

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (continued)

 

    

 

    AMG Renaissance
Large Cap

Growth Fund
    AMG Renaissance
International
Equity Fund
 

Net Assets Represent:

   

Paid-in capital

    $158,874,055       $2,690,899  

Undistributed (distribution in excess of) net investment income

    3,681       (8,672

Accumulated net realized gain (loss) from investments

    2,134,894       (377,517

Net unrealized appreciation on investments

    24,243,885       477,316  

Net Assets

    $185,256,515       $2,782,026  

Class N:

   

Net Assets

    $70,780,792       $193,472  

Shares outstanding

    5,044,437       18,268  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

    $14.03       $10.59  

Class I:

   

Net Assets

    $13,635,293       $588,884  

Shares outstanding

    962,566       55,811  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

    $14.17       $10.55  

Class Z:

   

Net Assets

    $100,840,430       $1,999,670  

Shares outstanding

    7,201,566       189,436  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

    $14.00       $10.56  

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
17


Table of Contents
   

    

Statement of Operations

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

 

    

 

     AMG Renaissance
Large Cap
Growth Fund
  AMG Renaissance
International
Equity Fund

Investment Income:

        

Dividend income

       $1,975,747       $64,345

Securities lending income

       3,890       10,924

Foreign withholding tax

             (7,471 )

Total investment income

       1,979,637       67,798

Expenses:

        

Investment advisory and management fees

       601,712       10,257

Administrative fees

       183,759       3,846

Distribution fees - Class N

       79,157       899

Shareholder servicing fees - Class N

       38,194       596

Shareholder servicing fees - Class I

       14,480       458

Professional fees

       41,672       32,847

Registration fees

       61,561       53,410

Transfer agent fees

       17,695       416

Custodian fees

       9,717       9,636

Reports to shareholders

       33,388       3,260

Trustee fees and expenses

       7,862       170

Miscellaneous

       4,148       1,945

Total expenses before offsets

       1,093,345       117,740

Expense reimbursements

       (152,975 )       (93,990 )

Expense reductions

       (6,473 )       (954 )

Net expenses

       933,897       22,796
        

Net investment income

       1,045,740       45,002

Net Realized and Unrealized Gain:

        

Net realized gain on investments

       6,272,146       96,867

Net realized loss on foreign currency transactions

             (1,015 )

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

       17,629,825       432,692

Net realized and unrealized gain

       23,901,971       528,544
        

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

       $24,947,711       $573,546

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
18


Table of Contents
   

    

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

For the fiscal years ended December 31,

 

    

 

     AMG Renaissance
Large Cap
Growth Fund#
    AMG Renaissance
International
Equity Fund#
 
     2017     2016     2017     2016  

Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Resulting From Operations:

        

Net investment income

     $1,045,740       $552,593       $45,002       $41,696  

Net realized gain (loss) on investments

     6,272,146       1,749,376       95,852       (227,905

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     17,629,825       3,950,607       432,692       93,548  

Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations

     24,947,711       6,252,576       573,546       (92,661

Distributions to Shareholders:

        

From net investment income:

        

Class N

     (328,989     (12,054     (2,081     (7,871

Class I

     (70,668     (94,667     (10,255     (4,116

Class Z

     (642,121     (447,027     (36,068     (35,776

From net realized gain on investments:

        

Class N

     (1,856,088     (41,286            

Class I

     (353,807     (205,073            

Class Z

     (2,667,271     (778,779            

From paid in capital:

        

Class N

                       (3,077

Class I

                       (1,609

Class Z

                       (13,989

Total distributions to shareholders

     (5,918,944     (1,578,886     (48,404     (66,438

Capital Share Transactions:1

        

Net increase (decrease) from capital share transactions

     94,519,228       3,346,471       202,393       (906,207
        

Total increase (decrease) in net assets

     113,547,995       8,020,161       727,535       (1,065,306

Net Assets:

        

Beginning of year

     71,708,520       63,688,359       2,054,491       3,119,797  

End of year

     $185,256,515       $71,708,520       $2,782,026       $2,054,491  

End of year undistributed (distribution in excess of) net investment income

     $3,681             $(8,672     $(5,591
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

# Effective October 1, 2016, the Funds’ share classes were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
1 See Note 1(g) of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
19


Table of Contents
   

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class N    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

     $11.86       $11.10       $11.51       $11.80       $11.63  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.08       0.04       0.01       0.03       0.01  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     2.54       0.94       (0.18     2.30       3.95  

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     2.62       0.98       (0.17     2.33       3.96  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.07     (0.05           (0.03     (0.08

Net realized gain on investments

     (0.38     (0.17     (0.24     (2.59     (3.71

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.45     (0.22     (0.24     (2.62     (3.79

Net Asset Value, End of Year

     $14.03       $11.86       $11.10       $11.51       $11.80  

Total Return2

     22.03 %3      8.81 %3      (1.53 )%3      19.59     34.17

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets4

     1.02     1.15     1.14     1.14     1.17 %5 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets6

     1.16     1.44     1.58     1.97     1.71 %5 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.59     0.39     0.09     0.23     0.10 %5 

Portfolio turnover

     33     37     48     60     53

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

     $70,781       $3,069       $2,533       $7,239       $984  
   

 

 
20


Table of Contents
   

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class I    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

     $11.94       $11.17       $11.59       $11.87       $11.68  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.11       0.08       0.06       0.07       0.07  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     2.58       0.94       (0.20     2.33       3.97  

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     2.69       1.02       (0.14     2.40       4.04  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.08     (0.08     (0.04     (0.05     (0.11

Net realized gain on investments

     (0.38     (0.17     (0.24     (2.63     (3.74

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.46     (0.25     (0.28     (2.68     (3.85

Net Asset Value, End of Year

     $14.17       $11.94       $11.17       $11.59       $11.87  

Total Return2

     22.46 %3      9.12 %3       (1.23 )%3      20.08 %3      34.75 %3 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets4

     0.76     0.81     0.80     0.75     0.77 %5  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets6

     0.90     1.10     1.23     1.59     1.30 %5  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.85     0.73     0.52     0.51     0.49 %5  

Portfolio turnover

     33     37     48     60     53

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

     $13,635       $14,173       $17,189       $14,343       $11,336  
   

 

 
21


Table of Contents
   

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class Z    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

   $ 11.81     $ 11.04     $ 11.45     $ 11.76     $ 11.58  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.13       0.10       0.09       0.08       0.08  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     2.53       0.94       (0.21     2.31       3.94  

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     2.66       1.04       (0.12     2.39       4.02  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.09     (0.10     (0.05     (0.07     (0.13

Net realized gain on investments

     (0.38     (0.17     (0.24     (2.63     (3.71

Total distributions to shareholders

     (0.47     (0.27     (0.29     (2.70     3.84  

Net Asset Value, End of Year

   $ 14.00     $ 11.81     $ 11.04     $ 11.45     $ 11.76  

Total Return2

     22.50 %3       9.38 %3       (1.06 )%3      20.15 %3      34.95 %3 

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets4

     0.65     0.65     0.64     0.64     0.67 %5 

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets6

     0.79     0.94     1.07     1.51     1.16 %5 

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.96     0.89     0.76     0.63     0.58 %5 

Portfolio turnover

     33     37     48     60     53

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

   $ 100,840     $ 54,467     $ 43,966     $ 8,184     $ 3,612  
   

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, Investor Class, Service Class and Institutional Class were renamed Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
4  Includes reduction from broker recapture amounting to less than 0.01%, 0.01%, 0.02%, 0.02% and 0.01%, for the years ended 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, respectively.
5  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.019%, 0.019% and 0.021% of average net assets for the Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
6  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 
22


Table of Contents
   

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,   For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class N

       2017       2016#       2015       2014*

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

       $8.47       $8.90       $9.13       $10.00

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

                

Net investment income1,2

       0.14       0.12       0.06 3       0.03

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

       2.10       (0.33 )       (0.20 )       (0.87 )

Total income (loss) from investment operations

       2.24       (0.21 )       (0.14 )       (0.84 )

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

                

Net investment income

       (0.12 )       (0.16 )       (0.09 )       (0.03 )

Paid in capital

             (0.06 )            

Total distributions to shareholders

       (0.12 )       (0.22 )       (0.09 )       (0.03 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

       $10.59       $8.47       $8.90       $9.13

Total Return2

       26.39 %4       (2.37 )%4       (1.56 )%       (8.45 )%5

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets6

       1.23 %       1.30 %       1.29 %       1.12 %7

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets8

       4.94 %       4.00 %       4.78 %       7.85 %7

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

       1.41 %       1.36 %       0.68 %       0.49 %7

Portfolio turnover

       52 %       93 %       46 %       20 %5

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

       $193       $357       $1,010       $85
                                          

 

 
23


Table of Contents
   

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal years ended December 31,   For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class I

      2017       2016#       2015       2014*

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

      $8.47       $8.93       $9.12       $10.00

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

               

Net investment income1,2

      0.17       0.13       0.11 3       0.05

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

      2.10       (0.31 )       (0.21 )       (0.89 )

Total income (loss) from investment operations

      2.27       (0.18 )       (0.10 )       (0.84 )

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

               

Net investment income

      (0.19 )       (0.20 )       (0.09 )       (0.04 )

Paid in capital

            (0.08 )            

Total distributions to shareholders

      (0.19 )       (0.28 )       (0.09 )       (0.04 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

      $10.55       $8.47       $8.93       $9.12

Total Return2

      26.77 %4       (2.02 )%4       (1.11 )%4       (8.36 )%4,5

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets6

      0.93 %       0.90 %       0.87 %       0.87 %7

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets8

      4.64 %       4.00 %       4.28 %       7.98 %7

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

      1.71 %       1.54 %       1.17 %       0.86 %7

Portfolio turnover

      52 %       93 %       46 %       20 %5

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

      $589       $179       $177       $100
                                         

 

 
24


Table of Contents
   

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal years ended December 31,   For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class Z

      2017       2016#       2015       2014*

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

      $8.47       $8.92       $9.12       $10.00

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

               

Net investment income1,2

      0.18       0.15       0.13 3       0.05

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

      2.10       (0.31 )       (0.23 )       (0.88 )

Total income (loss) from investment operations

      2.28       (0.16 )       (0.10 )       (0.83 )

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

               

Net investment income

      (0.19 )       (0.21 )       (0.10 )       (0.05 )

Paid in capital

            (0.08 )            

Total distributions to shareholders

      (0.19 )       (0.29 )       (0.10 )       (0.05 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

      $10.56       $8.47       $8.92       $9.12

Total Return2

      26.97 %4       (1.83 )%4       (1.08 )%4       (8.32 )%4,5

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets6

      0.81 %       0.80 %       0.79 %       0.76 %7

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets8

      4.52 %       3.79 %       4.03 %       7.70 %7

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

      1.83 %       1.71 %       1.34 %       0.91 %7

Portfolio turnover

      52 %       93 %       46 %       20 %5

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

      $2,000       $1,519       $1,933       $1,944
                                         

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, Investor Class, Service Class and Institutional Class were renamed Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
*  Commencement of operations was on June 16, 2014.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per share would have been $0.05, $0.10, $0.12 for the Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively.
4  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
5  Not annualized.
6  Includes reduction from broker recapture amounting to 0.04%, 0.05% and 0.06% for the years ended December 31, 2017, December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, and Class N 0.10%, Class I and Class Z 0.09% for the period ended December 31, 2014, respectively.
7  Annualized.
8  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 
25


Table of Contents
   

    

Notes to Financial Statements

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

AMG Funds (the “Trust”) is an open-end management investment company, organized as a Massachusetts business trust, and registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Currently, the Trust consists of a number of different funds, each having distinct investment management objectives, strategies, risks, and policies. Included in this report are AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund (“Large Cap Growth”) and AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund (“International Equity”), each a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds.”

Each Fund offers three classes of shares; which effective October 1, 2016, were renamed. Each Fund previously offered the Investor Class, Service Class and Institutional Class shares which were renamed Class N, Class I, and Class Z, respectively. Each class represents an interest in the same assets of the respective Fund. Although all share classes generally have identical voting rights, each share class votes separately when required by law. Different share classes may pay different distribution amounts to the extent the net asset value per share and/or the expenses of such share classes differ. Each share class has its own expense structure. Please refer to a current prospectus for additional information on each share class.

Stocks in the information technology sector comprise a significant portion of the Fund’s portfolio at December 31, 2017. The information technology sector may be affected by technological obsolescence, short product cycles, falling prices and profits, competitive pressures and general market conditions.

The Funds’ financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”), including accounting and reporting guidance pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 applicable to investment companies. U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates and such differences could be material. The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Funds in the preparation of their financial statements:

a. VALUATION OF INVESTMENTS

Equity securities traded on a national securities exchange or reported on the NASDAQ national market system (“NMS”) are valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, if applicable, the NASDAQ official closing price or the official closing price of the relevant exchange or, lacking any sales, at the last quoted bid price or the mean between the last quoted bid and ask prices (the “exchange mean price”). Equity securities traded in the over-the-counter market (other than NMS securities) are valued at the exchange mean price. Foreign equity securities (securities principally traded in markets other than U.S. markets) are valued at the official closing price on the primary exchange or, for markets that either do not offer an official closing price or where the official closing price may not be representative of the overall market, the last quoted sale price.

Fixed income securities purchased with a remaining maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost, provided that the amortized cost value is approximately the same as the fair value of the security valued without the use of amortized cost. Investments in other open-end regulated investment companies are valued at their end of day net asset value per share.

The Funds’ portfolio investments are generally valued based on independent market quotations or prices or, if none, “evaluative” or other market based valuations provided by third party pricing services approved by the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”). Under certain circumstances, the value of certain Fund portfolio investments may be based on an evaluation of fair value, pursuant to procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Board. The Valuation Committee, which is comprised of the Independent Trustees of the Board, and the Pricing Committee, which is comprised of representatives from AMG Funds LLC (the “Investment Manager”) are the committees appointed by the Board to make fair value determinations. Each Fund may use the fair value of a portfolio investment to calculate its net asset value (“NAV”) in the event that the market quotation, price or market based valuation for the portfolio investment is not readily available or otherwise not determinable pursuant to the Board’s valuation procedures, if the Investment Manager or the Pricing Committee believes the quotation, price or market based valuation to be unreliable, or in certain other circumstances. When determining the fair value of an investment, the Pricing Committee and, if required under the Trust’s securities valuation procedures, the Valuation Committee, seeks to determine the price that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from current sale of that portfolio investment in an arms-length transaction. Fair value determinations shall be based upon consideration of all available facts and information, including, but not limited to (i) attributes specific to the investment; (ii) fundamental and analytical data relating to the investment; and (iii) the value of other comparable securities or relevant financial instruments, including derivative securities, traded on other markets or among dealers.

The values assigned to fair value portfolio investments are based on available information and do not necessarily represent amounts that might ultimately be realized in the future, since such amounts depend on future developments inherent in long-term investments. Because of the inherent uncertainty of valuation, those estimated values may differ significantly from the values that would have been used had a ready market for the investments existed, and the differences could be material. The Board will be presented with a quarterly report showing as of the most recent quarter end, all outstanding securities fair valued by the Fund, including a comparison with the prior quarter end and the percentage of the Fund that the security represents at each quarter end.

With respect to foreign equity securities and certain foreign fixed income securities, the Board has adopted a policy that securities held in a Fund that can be fair valued by the applicable fair value pricing service are fair valued on each business day provided that each individual price exceeds a pre-established confidence level.

U.S. GAAP defines fair value as the price that a fund would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. U.S. GAAP also establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and a three level hierarchy for fair value measurements based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability. Inputs may be observable or unobservable and refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Funds. Unobservable inputs reflect the Funds’ own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. Each investment is assigned a level based upon the observability of the inputs which are significant to the overall valuation.

 

 

 
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The three-tier hierarchy of inputs is summarized below:

Level 1 – inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical investments (e.g., equity securities, open-end investment companies)

Level 2 – other observable inputs (including, but not limited to: quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in markets that are active, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets or liabilities (such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks and default rates) or other market corroborated inputs) (e.g., debt securities, government securities, foreign currency exchange contracts, foreign securities utilizing international fair value pricing, fair valued securities with observable inputs)

Level 3 – inputs are significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions used to determine the fair value of investments) (e.g., fair valued securities with unobservable inputs)

Changes in inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may result in a transfer in or out of levels within the fair value hierarchy. The inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may not necessarily be an indication of the risk associated with investing in those investments. Transfers between different levels of the fair value disclosure hierarchy are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.

b. SECURITY TRANSACTIONS

Security transactions are accounted for as of trade date. Realized gains and losses on securities sold are determined on the basis of identified cost.

c. INVESTMENT INCOME AND EXPENSES

Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date. Dividends from foreign securities are recorded on the ex-dividend date, and if after the fact, as soon as the Funds become aware of the ex-dividend date, except for Korean securities where dividends are recorded on confirmation date. Interest income, which includes amortization of premium and accretion of discount on debt securities, is accrued as earned. Dividend and interest income on foreign securities is recorded gross of any withholding tax. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are

reported at the fair market value of the securities received. Other income and expenses are recorded on an accrual basis. Expenses that cannot be directly attributed to a Fund are apportioned among the funds in the Trust and other trusts within the AMG Funds family of mutual funds (collectively the “AMG Funds Family”) based upon their relative average net assets or number of shareholders. Investment income, realized and unrealized capital gains and losses, the common expenses of each Fund, and certain fund level expense reductions, if any, are allocated on a pro-rata basis to each class based on the relative net assets of each class to the total net assets of each Fund.

The Funds had certain portfolio trades directed to various brokers under a brokerage recapture program. Credits received from the brokerage recapture program are earned and paid on a monthly basis, and are recorded as expense offsets, which serve to reduce the Funds’ overall expense ratio. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the impact on the expense ratios were as follows: Large Cap Growth - $6,473 or less than 0.01% and International Equity - $954 or 0.04% .

d. DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

Fund distributions resulting from either net investment income or realized net capital gains, if any, will normally be declared and paid at least annually in December. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Distributions are determined in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which may differ from net investment income and net realized capital gains for financial statement purposes (U.S. GAAP). Differences may be permanent or temporary. Permanent differences are reclassified among capital accounts in the financial statements to reflect their tax character. Permanent book and tax basis differences, if any, relating to shareholder distributions will result in reclassifications to paid-in capital. Temporary differences arise when certain items of income, expense and gain or loss are recognized in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes; these differences will reverse at some time in the future. Temporary differences are due to differences between book and tax treatment of losses for excise tax purposes, mark-to-market of passive foreign investment companies and wash sales.

 

 

The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 were as follows:

 

    

Large Cap Growth

 

    

International Equity

 

 

 

  Distributions paid from:

 

  

 

2017      

 

    

 

2016      

 

    

 

2017      

 

    

 

2016      

 

 

  Ordinary income

     $1,042,059        $552,593        $48,404        $47,763  

  Short-term capital gains

     393,247        259,317                

  Long-term capital gains

     4,483,638        766,976                

  Return of capital

 

                          18,675  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
                 $5,918,944                    $1,578,886                    $48,404                    $66,438  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 
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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

As of December 31, 2017, the components of distributable earnings (excluding unrealized appreciation/depreciation) on tax basis consisted of:

 

     Large Cap Growth      International Equity  

Capital loss carryforward

            $244,507  

Undistributed ordinary income

     $3,681         

Undistributed short-term capital gains

             

Undistributed long-term capital gains

     2,177,168         

Late-year loss deferral

            1,194  

At December 31, 2017, the approximate cost of investments and the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation for federal income tax were as follows:

 

Fund    Cost      Appreciation      Depreciation     Net  

Large Cap Growth

     $160,308,171        $27,490,645        $(3,289,034     $24,201,611  

International Equity

     2,665,405        525,333        (188,505     336,828  

 

e. FEDERAL TAXES

Each Fund currently qualifies as an investment company and intends to comply with the requirements under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and to distribute substantially all of its taxable income and gains to its shareholders and to meet certain diversification and income requirements with respect to investment companies. Therefore, no provision for federal income or excise tax is included in the accompanying financial statements.

Additionally, based on each Fund’s understanding of the tax rules and rates related to income, gains and transactions for the foreign jurisdictions in which it invests, each Fund will provide for foreign taxes, and where appropriate, deferred foreign taxes.

Management has analyzed the Funds’ tax positions taken on federal income tax returns as of December 31, 2017, and for all open tax years (generally, the three prior taxable years), and has concluded that no provision for federal income tax is required in the Funds’ financial statements. Additionally, Management is not aware of any tax position for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change materially in the next twelve months.

Net capital losses incurred may be carried forward for an unlimited time period, and retain their tax character as either short-term or long-term capital losses.

f. CAPITAL LOSS CARRYOVERS AND DEFERRALS

As of December 31, 2017, the following Fund had accumulated net realized capital loss carryovers from securities transactions for federal income tax purposes as shown in the following chart. These amounts may be used to offset future realized capital gains, if any, for an unlimited time period.

     Capital Loss
Carryover Amounts
               
Fund    Short-Term      Long-Term      Total         

International Equtiy

     $145,601        $98,906        $244,507     

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the following Funds utilized capital loss carryovers in the amount of:

 

    Capital Loss Carryover
Utilized
                   
Fund   Short-Term       Long-Term      

International Equity

  $19,704     $26,089  

As of December 31, 2017, Large Cap Growth had no accumulated net realized capital loss carryovers from securities transactions for federal income tax purposes. Should the Fund incur net capital losses for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, such amounts may be used to offset future realized capital gains, for an unlimited time period.

g. CAPITAL STOCK

The Trust’s Declaration of Trust authorizes for each Fund the issuance of an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest, without par value. Each Fund records sales and repurchases of its capital stock on the trade date.

 

 

For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the capital stock transactions by class for the Funds were as follows:

 

            Large Cap Growth                    International Equity         
     December 31, 2017      December 31, 2016      December 31, 2017      December 31, 2016  
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  

Class N:

                       

Proceeds from sale of shares

     275,368        $3,582,061        138,761        $1,589,266        131,227        $1,271,713        197,520        $1,723,821  

Reinvestment of distributions

     133,176        1,877,777        4,416        53,340        197        2,081        1,266        10,712  

 

 
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          Large Cap Growth                 International Equity        
    December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016     December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016  
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  

Proceeds from sale of shares issued in connection with merger#

    4,949,178       $65,580,049                                      

Cost of shares repurchased

    (572,038     (7,719,590     (112,631     $(1,251,597     (155,265     $(1,520,989     (270,158     $(2,310,451
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

    4,785,684       $63,320,297       30,546       $391,009       (23,841     $(247,195     (71,372     $(575,918
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class I:

               

Proceeds from sale of shares

    314,464       $4,224,154       172,150       $1,951,891       40,197       $411,257       627       $5,438  

Reinvestment of distributions

    28,966       412,187       24,439       297,441       973       10,255       676       5,725  

Proceeds from sale of shares issued in connection with merger#

    357,760       4,782,255                                      

Cost of shares repurchased

    (925,238     (12,162,312     (549,050     (6,135,507     (6,497     (67,992            
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

    (224,048     $(2,743,716     (352,461     $(3,886,175     34,673       $353,520       1,303       $11,163  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Class Z:

               

Proceeds from sale of shares

    978,783       $12,649,655       1,447,385       $15,950,625       6,674       $60,000       7,377       $62,517  

Reinvestment of distributions

    155,290       2,184,928       47,804       575,081       3,422       36,068       5,882       49,765  

Proceeds from sale of shares issued in connection with merger#

    2,961,729       39,171,054                                      

Cost of shares repurchased

    (1,505,944     (20,062,990     (864,683     (9,684,069                 (50,512     (453,734
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

    2,589,858       $33,942,647       630,506       $6,841,637       10,096       $96,068       (37,253     $(341,452
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

# See Note 8 of the Notes to Financial Statements.

At December 31, 2017, certain unaffiliated shareholders of record held greater than 10% of the net assets of the Funds as follows: International Equity - two own 61%. Transactions by these shareholders may have a material impact on their respective Fund.

 

h. REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS AND JOINT REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS

The Funds may enter into third-party repurchase agreements for temporary cash management purposes and third-party joint repurchase agreements for reinvestment of cash collateral on securities lending transactions under the securities lending program offered by The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) (the “Program”) (collectively, “Repurchase Agreements”). The value of the underlying collateral, including accrued interest, must equal or exceed the value of the Repurchase Agreements during the term of the agreement. For joint repurchase agreements, the Funds participate on a pro rata basis with other clients of BNYM in its share of the underlying collateral under such joint repurchase agreements and in its share of proceeds from any repurchase or other disposition of the underlying collateral. The underlying collateral for all Repurchase Agreements is held in safekeeping by the Funds’ custodian or at the Federal Reserve Bank. If the seller defaults and the value of the collateral declines, or if bankruptcy proceedings commence with respect to the seller of the security, realization of the collateral by the Funds may be delayed or limited. Pursuant to the Program, the Funds are indemnified for such losses by BNYM on joint repurchase agreements.

At December 31, 2017, the market value of Repurchase Agreements outstanding for Large Cap Growth and International Equity were $1,649,531 and $247,500, respectively.

i. FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION

The books and records of the Funds are maintained in U.S. dollars. The value of investments, assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than U.S. dollars are translated into U.S. dollars based upon current foreign exchange rates. Purchases and sales of foreign investments, income and expenses are converted into U.S. dollars based on currency exchange rates prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions. Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on foreign currency transactions represent: (1) foreign exchange gains and losses from the sale and holdings of foreign currencies; (2) gains and losses between trade date and settlement date on investment securities transactions and forward foreign currency exchange contracts; and (3) gains and losses from the difference between amounts of interest and dividends recorded and the amounts actually received.

The Funds do not isolate the net realized and unrealized gain or loss resulting from changes in exchange rates from the fluctuations in market prices of securities held. Such fluctuations are included with the net realized and unrealized gain or loss on investments.

j. FOREIGN SECURITIES

International Equity invests in securities of foreign entities and in instruments denominated in foreign currencies which involve risks not typically associated

 

 

 
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with investments in domestic securities. Non-domestic securities carry special risks, such as exposure to currency fluctuations, less developed or less efficient trading markets, political instability, a lack of company information, differing auditing and legal standards, and, potentially, less liquidity. The Fund’s investments in emerging market countries are exposed to additional risks. The Fund’s performance will be influenced by political, social and economic factors affecting companies in emerging market countries. Emerging market countries generally have economic structures that are less diverse and mature, and political systems that are less stable, than those of developed countries. Realized gains in certain countries may be subject to foreign taxes at the Fund level and would pay such foreign taxes at the appropriate rate for each jurisdiction.

2. AGREEMENTS AND TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

For each of the Funds, the Trust has entered into an investment advisory agreement under which the Investment Manager, a subsidiary and the U.S. retail distribution arm of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (“AMG”), serves as investment manager to the Funds and is responsible for the Funds’ overall administration and operations. The Investment Manager selects one or more subadvisers for the Funds (subject to Board approval) and monitors each subadviser’s investment performance, security holdings and investment strategies. Each Fund’s investment portfolio is managed by The Renaissance Group LLC (“Renaissance”) who serves pursuant to a subadvisory agreement with the Investment Manager. AMG indirectly owns a majority interest in Renaissance.

Investment management fees are paid directly by the Funds to the Investment Manager based on average daily net assets. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the Funds’ investment management fees were paid at the following annual rates of each Fund’s respective average daily net assets:

 

Large Cap Growth*

  

on the first $50 million

     0.55%  

on the next $25 million

     0.50%  

on the next $25 million

     0.45%  

on balance over $100 million

     0.40%  

International Equity

     0.40%  

 

* Effective May 1, 2017, Large Cap Growth changed to a tiered management fee structure. Prior to May 1, 2017, the annual rate for Large Cap Growth’s investment management fee was 0.55% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

The Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2019 for Large Cap Growth and through at least May 1, 2018 for International Equity, to waive management fees and/or reimburse fund expenses in order to limit total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), shareholder servicing fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses) of Large Cap Growth and International Equity to 0.66% and 0.85%, respectively, of each Fund’s average daily net assets subject to later reimbursement by the Funds in certain circumstances.

The contractual expense limitation may only be terminated in the event the Investment Manager or a successor ceases to be the investment manager of the Fund or a successor fund, by mutual agreement between the Investment Manager and the Board, or in the event of the Fund’s liquidation unless the Fund is

reorganized or is a party to a merger in which the surviving entity is successor to the accounting and performance information of the Fund.

In general, for a period of up to 36 months, the Investment Manager may recover from each Fund fees waived and expenses paid pursuant to this contractual agreement, provided that such repayment would not cause the Fund’s total annual operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of the items noted in the parenthetical above) to exceed the contractual expense limitation amount.

At December 31, 2017, the Funds’ expiration of recoupment is as follows:

 

Expiration

Period

  Large Cap Growth     International Equity  

Less than 1 year

    $186,914       $81,993  

Within 2 years

    185,526       74,416  

Within 3 years

    152,975       93,990  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Amount Subject to Recoupment

    $525,415       $250,399  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

The Trust, on behalf of the Funds, has entered into an amended and restated Administration Agreement under which the Investment Manager serves as the Funds’ administrator (the “Administrator”) and is responsible for all non-portfolio management aspects of managing the Funds’ operations, including administration and shareholder services to each Fund. Each Fund pays a fee to the Administrator at the rate of 0.15% per annum of the Fund’s average daily net assets for this service. Prior to October 1, 2016, the Funds 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

The Funds are distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Investment Manager. The Distributor serves as the distributor and underwriter for each Fund and is a registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). Shares of each Fund will be continuously offered and will be sold directly to prospective purchasers and through brokers, dealers or other financial intermediaries who have executed selling agreements with the Distributor. Generally the Distributor bears all or a portion of the expenses of providing services pursuant to the distribution agreement, including the payment of the expenses relating to the distribution of prospectuses for sales purposes and any advertising or sales literature.

The Trust has adopted a distribution and service plan (the “Plan”) with respect to the Class N shares, in accordance with the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act and the requirements of the applicable rules of FINRA regarding asset-based sales charges. Pursuant to the Plan, each Fund may make payments to the Distributor for its expenditures in financing any activity primarily intended to result in the sale of each Fund’s Class N shares and for maintenance and personal service provided to existing shareholders of that class. The Plan authorizes payments to the Distributor of up to 0.25% annually of each Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to the Class N shares.

For each of the Class N and Class I shares, the Board has approved reimbursement payments to the Investment Manager for shareholder servicing expenses (“shareholder servicing fees”) incurred. Shareholder servicing fees include payments to financial intermediaries, such as broker-dealers (including fund supermarket platforms), banks, and trust companies who provide shareholder recordkeeping, account servicing and other services. The Class N and Class I shares may reimburse the Investment Manager for the actual amount incurred up

 

 

 
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to a maximum annual rate of each Class’s average daily net assets as shown in the table below.

The impact on the annualized expense ratios for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

Fund    Maximum Annual
Amount
Approved
     Actual
Amount
Incurred
 

Large Cap Growth

     

Class N*

     0.25%        0.12%  

Class I

     0.15%        0.11%  

International Equity

     

Class N*

     0.25%        0.17%  

Class I

     0.15%        0.12%  

*Effective February 27, 2017, the maximum annual rate was decreased to 0.15% from 0.25%.

The Board provides supervision of the affairs of the Trust and other trusts within the AMG Funds family. The Trustees of the Trust who are not affiliated with an Investment Manager receive an annual retainer and per meeting fees for regular, special and telephonic meetings, and they are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses incurred while carrying out their duties as Board members. The Chairman of the Board and the Audit Committee Chair receive additional annual retainers. Certain Trustees and Officers of the Funds are Officers and/or Directors of the Investment Manager, AMG and/or the Distributor.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) granted an exemptive order that permits the Funds to lend and borrow money for certain temporary purposes directly to and from other eligible funds in the AMG Funds family. Participation in this interfund lending program is voluntary for both the borrowing and lending funds, and an interfund loan is only made if it benefits each participating fund. The Administrator manages the program according to procedures approved by the Board, and the Board monitors the operation of the program. An interfund loan must comply with certain conditions set out in the exemptive order, which are designed to assure fairness and protect all participating funds. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the Funds neither borrowed from nor lent to other funds in the AMG Funds family. At December 31, 2017, the Funds had no interfund loans outstanding.

3. PURCHASES AND SALES OF SECURITIES

Purchases and sales of securities (excluding short-term securities and U.S. Government Obligations) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Long Term Securities  
Fund    Purchases      Sales  

Large Cap Growth

   $ 41,394,505      $ 51,768,333  

International Equity

     1,507,415        1,315,237  

The Funds had no purchases or sales of U.S. Government Obligations during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

4. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES LOANED

The Funds participate in the Program providing for the lending of securities to qualified brokers. Securities lending income includes earnings of such temporary cash investments, plus or minus any rebate to a borrower. These earnings (after any rebate) are then divided between BNYM, as a fee for its services under the Program, and the Funds, according to agreed-upon rates. Collateral on all securities loaned is accepted in cash and is maintained at a minimum level of 102% (105% in the case of certain foreign securities) of the market value, plus interest, if applicable, of investments on loan. It is the Funds’ policy to obtain additional collateral from or return excess collateral to the borrower by the end of the next business day, following the valuation date of the securities loaned. Therefore, the value of the collateral held may be temporarily less than the value of the securities on loan. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to the Funds if and to the extent that the market value of the securities loaned were to increase and the borrower did not increase the collateral accordingly, and the borrower fails to return the securities. Under the terms of the Program, the Funds are indemnified for such losses by BNYM. Cash collateral is held in a separate omnibus account managed by BNYM, who is authorized to exclusively enter into joint repurchase agreements. BNYM bears the risk of any deficiency in the amount of the cash collateral available for return to the borrower due to any loss on the collateral invested.

The value of securities loaned on positions held and cash collateral received at December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

Fund    Securities
Loaned
     Cash
Collateral
Received
 

Large Cap Growth

   $ 1,586,205      $ 1,649,531  

International Equity

     240,704        247,500  

5. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its trustees and officers are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to the Trust. In addition, in the normal course of business, the Funds may enter into contracts and agreements that contain a variety of representations and warranties, which provide general indemnifications. The maximum exposure to the Funds under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against a Fund that have not yet occurred. However, based on experience, the Funds had no prior claims or losses and expect the risks of loss to be remote.

6. MASTER NETTING AGREEMENTS

The Funds may enter into master netting agreements with their counterparties for the securities lending program, and Repurchase Agreements, which provide the right, in the event of default (including bankruptcy or insolvency) for the non-defaulting party to liquidate the collateral and calculate net exposure to the defaulting party or request additional collateral. For financial reporting purposes, the Funds do not offset financial assets and financial liabilities that are subject to master netting agreements in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. For securities lending transactions, see Note 4.

 

 

 
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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

The following table is a summary of the Funds’ open Repurchase Agreements that are subject to a master netting agreement as of December 31, 2017:

 

          Gross Amount Not Offset in the
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
    
Fund    Net Amounts of Assets
Presented in the Statement
of Assets and Liabilities
   Financial
Instruments
Collateral
   Cash Collateral
Received
   Net Amount

Large Cap Growth

           

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc.

   $649,531    $649,531      

State of Wisconsin Investment Board

   1,000,000     1,000,000       
  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

Totals

   $1,649,531       $1,649,531         
  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

International Equity

           

State of Wisconsin Investment Board

   $247,500     $247,500       
  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

7. REGULATORY UPDATES

On October 13, 2016, the SEC amended existing rules intended to modernize reporting and disclosure of information. These amendments relate to Regulation S-X, which sets forth the form and content of financial statements. Effective August 1, 2017, the Funds have adopted these amendments and noted no significant impact on the financial statements and accompanying notes.

8. FUND MERGER

On July 31, 2017, Large Cap Growth acquired all the net assets of AMG Managers Cadence Capital Appreciation Fund (“Capital Appreciation”) based on the respective valuations as of the close of business on July 28, 2017, pursuant to a Plan of Reorganization approved by the shareholders of Capital Appreciation on July 20, 2017.

The acquisition was accomplished by a tax-free exchange of 357,760 Class I shares of Large Cap Growth at a net asset value of $13.37 per share for 148,110 Class I shares of Capital Appreciation; 4,949,178 Class N shares of Large Cap Growth at a net asset value of $13.25 per share for 2,060,117 Class N shares of Capital Appreciation; and 2,961,729 Class Z shares of Large Cap Growth at a net asset value of $13.23 per share for 1,187,364 Class Z shares of Capital Appreciation.

The net assets of Large Cap Growth and Capital Appreciation immediately before the acquisition were $75,748,095 and $109,533,358, respectively, including unrealized depreciation of $125,340 for Capital Appreciation. Immediately after the acquisition, the combined net assets of Large Cap Growth amounted to

$185,281,453. For financial reporting purposes, assets received and shares issued by Large Cap Growth were recorded at fair value; however, the cost basis of the investments received from Capital Appreciation was carried forward to align ongoing reporting of Large Cap Growth’s realized and unrealized gains and losses with amounts distributable to shareholders for tax purposes.

Assuming this reorganization had been completed on January 1, 2017, the Large Cap Growth Fund’s results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2017 would have been as follows:

 

Net Investment Income

   $ 1,339,704  

Realized and Unrealized Gain on Investments

     39,367,419  

Net Increase to Net Assets from Operations

   $ 40,707,123  

Because the combined investment portfolios have been managed as a single portfolio since the reorganization was completed, it is not practical to separate the amounts of revenue and earnings to Large Cap Growth that have been included in its statements of operations since the reorganization.

9. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

The Funds have determined that no material events or transactions occurred through the issuance date of the Funds’ financial statements, which require an additional disclosure in or adjustment of the Funds’ financial statements.

 

 

 
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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

    

 

TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF AMG FUNDS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF AMG RENAISSANCE LARGE CAP GROWTH FUND AND AMG RENAISSANCE INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND

Opinions on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities, including the schedules of portfolio investments, of AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund and AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund (two of the funds constituting AMG Funds, hereafter collectively referred to as the “Funds”) as of December 31, 2017, the related statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2017, the statements of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of each of the Funds as of December 31, 2017, the results of each of their operations for the year then ended, the changes in each of their net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017 and each of the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinions

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Funds’ management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Funds’ financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Funds in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of December 31, 2017 by correspondence with the custodian. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

February 27, 2018

We have served as the auditor of one or more investment companies in AMG Funds Family since 1993.

 

 

 
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Other Information

 

    

 

 

TAX INFORMATION

 

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund and the AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund each hereby designates the maximum amount allowable of its net taxable income as qualified dividends as provided in the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. The 2017 Form 1099-DIV you receive for each Fund will show the tax status of all distributions paid to you during the calendar year.

In accordance with federal tax law, the following Fund elected to provide foreign taxes paid and the income sourced from foreign countries. Accordingly, the following Fund hereby makes the following designations regarding its period ended December 31, 2017:

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

u The total amount of taxes paid and income sourced from foreign countries was $7,462 and $66,083, respectively.

Pursuant to section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund and the AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund each hereby designates $4,483,638 and $0, respectively, as a capital gain distribution with respect to the taxable year ended December 31, 2017, or if subsequently determined to be different, the net capital gains of such year.

 

 

 

RESULTS OF SHAREHOLDER MEETING

At a special meeting of shareholders of AMG Managers Cadence Capital Appreciation Fund (“Cadence”), held on July 20, 2017, the shareholders of Cadence voted on the following proposal:

 

            Number of Eligible Voters         
Proposal 1    For     

Broker

Non-Votes

     Against      Abstain  

Approve an Agreement and Plan or Reorganization

     1,168,774        451,776        39,316        59.109  

 

 
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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers

 

    

 

The Trustees and Officers of the Trust, their business addresses, principal occupations for the past five years and ages are listed below. The Trustees provide broad supervision over the affairs of the Trust and the Funds. The Trustees are experienced executives who meet periodically throughout the year to oversee the Funds’ activities, review contractual arrangements with companies that provide services to the Funds, and   

review the Funds’ performance. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each Trustee or Officer is the address of the Trust: 600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830.

 

There is no stated term of office for Trustees. Trustees serve until their resignation, retirement or removal in

   accordance with the Trust’s organizational documents and policies adopted by the Board from time to time. The Chairman of the Trustees, President, Treasurer and Secretary of the Trust are elected by the Trustees annually. Other officers hold office at the pleasure of the Trustees.

Independent Trustees

The following Trustees are not “interested persons” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act:

 

  Number of Funds Overseen in

  Fund Complex

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee
   

• Trustee since 2012

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Bruce B. Bingham, 69

Partner, Hamilton Partners (real estate development firm) (1987-Present); Director of The Yacktman Funds (2000-2012).

   

• Trustee since 1999

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Edward J. Kaier, 72

Attorney at Law and Partner, Teeters Harvey Marrone & Kaier LLP (2007-Present); Attorney at Law and Partner, Hepburn Willcox Hamilton & Putnam, LLP (1977-2007); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Kurt A. Keilhacker, 54

Managing Member, TechFund Capital (1997-Present); Managing Member, TechFund Europe (2000-Present); Board Member, 6wind SA, (2002-Present); Managing Member, Elementum Ventures (2013-Present); Trustee, Gordon College (2001-2016).

   

• Trustee since 2004

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Steven J. Paggioli, 67

Independent Consultant (2002-Present); Formerly Executive Vice President and Director, The Wadsworth Group (1986-2001); Executive Vice President, Secretary and Director, Investment Company Administration, LLC (1990-2001); Vice President, Secretary and Director, First Fund Distributors, Inc. (1991-2001); Trustee, Professionally Managed Portfolios (32 portfolios); Advisory Board Member, Sustainable Growth Advisors, LP; Independent Director, Chase Investment Counsel (2008–Present).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Richard F. Powers III, 72

Adjunct Professor, U.S. Naval War College (2016); Adjunct Professor, Boston College (2010-2013); President and CEO of Van Kampen Investments Inc. (1998-2003).

   

• Independent Chairman

• Trustee since 1999

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Eric Rakowski, 59

Professor, University of California at Berkeley School of Law (1990-Present); Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Victoria L. Sassine, 52

Lecturer, Babson College (2007 – Present).

   

• Trustee since 2004

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Thomas R. Schneeweis, 70

Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts (2013-Present); Partner, S Capital Wealth Advisors (2015-Present); President, TRS Associates (1982-Present); Board Member, Chartered Alternative Investment Association (“CAIA”) (2002-Present); Director, CAIA Foundation (Education) (2010-Present); Director, Institute for GlobalAsset and Risk Management (Education) (2010-Present); Partner, S Capital Management, LLC (2007-2015); Director, CISDM at the University of Massachusetts, (1996-2013); President, Alternative Investment Analytics, LLC, (formerly Schneeweis Partners, LLC) (2001-2013); Professor of Finance, University of Massachusetts (1977-2013).

 

 

 
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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

    

 

Interested Trustees

Each Trustee in the following table is an “interested person” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act. Ms. Carsman is an interested person of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act by virtue of her position with, and interest in securities of, AMG.

 

  Number of Funds Overseen in

  Fund Complex

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee
   

• Trustee since 2011

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Christine C. Carsman, 65

Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2017-Present); Director (2010-Present) and Chair of the Board of Directors (2015-Present), AMG Funds plc; Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2011-2016); Senior Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2007-2011); Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2004-2007); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2004-2011); Senior Counsel, Vice President and Director of Operational Risk Management and Compliance, Wellington Management Company, LLP (1995-2004).

 

 
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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

    

 

Interested Trustees

Each Trustee in the following table is an “interested person” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act. Ms. Carsman is an interested person of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act by virtue of her position with, and interest in securities of, AMG.

 

  Position(s) Held with Fund

  and Length of Time Served

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years
   

• President since 2014

• Principal Executive Officer

  since 2014

• Chief Executive Officer

  since 2016

 

Jeffrey T. Cerutti, 50

Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2014-Present); Director, President and Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2014-Present); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Chief Executive Officer, President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Executive Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President, VP Distributors, (2011-2014); Executive Vice President, Head of Distribution, Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (2010-2014); Managing Director, Head of Sales, UBS Global Asset Management (2001-2010).

   

• Chief Operating Officer since

  2007

 

Keitha L. Kinne, 59

Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2007-Present); Chief Investment Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2008-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2012-2014); Managing Partner, AMG Funds LLC (2007-2014); President, AMG Funds (2012-2014); President, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2012-2014); Managing Director, Legg Mason & Co., LLC (2006-2007); Managing Director, Citigroup Asset Management (2004-2006).

   

• Secretary since 2015

• Chief Legal Officer since

  2015

 

Mark J. Duggan, 53

Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Attorney, K&L Gates, LLP (2009-2015).

   

• Chief Financial Officer since   2017

• Treasurer since 2017

• Principal Financial Officer

  since 2017

• Principal Accounting Officer

  since 2017

 

Thomas G. Disbrow, 52

Vice President, Mutual Fund Treasurer & CFO, AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Managing Director - Global Head of Traditional Funds Product Control, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2015-2017); Managing Director - Head of North American Funds Treasury, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2011-2015).

   

• Chief Compliance Officer

  since 2016

 

Gerald F. Dillenburg, 51

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2016-2017); Chief Compliance Officer and Sarbanes Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (1996-Present); Sarbanes-Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2016); Chief Operating Officer, Aston Funds (2003-2016); Secretary, Aston Funds (1996-2015); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Funds (1997-2010); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2010); Treasurer, Aston Funds (1996-2010).

   
• Deputy Treasurer since 2017  

John A. Starace, 47

Director, Mutual Fund Accounting, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Deputy Treasurer of Mutual Funds Services, AMG Funds LLC (2014-2017); Deputy Treasurer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Vice President, Citi Hedge Fund Services (2010-2014); Audit Senior Manager (2005-2010) and Audit Manager (2001-2005), Deloitte & Touche LLP.

   
• Controller since 2017  

Christopher R. Townsend, 50

Vice President, Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Head of Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Chief Financial Officer and Financial and Operations Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2016-Present); Controller, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management LLC (2016); Head of Finance and Accounting, Allianz Asset Management (2006-2015).

   

• Anti-Money Laundering

  Compliance Officer since 2014

 

Patrick J. Spellman, 43

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2011-2017); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc., (2010-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Compliance Manager, Legal and Compliance, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2005-2011).

   
• Assistant Secretary since 2016  

Maureen A. Meredith, 32

Director, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Assistant Secretary, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Associate, Ropes & Gray LLP (2011-2015); Law Fellow, Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice (2010-2011).

 

 
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LOGO

 

    

 

INVESTMENT MANAGER AND ADMINISTRATOR

 

AMG Funds LLC

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

 

DISTRIBUTOR

 

AMG Distributors, Inc.

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

 

SUBADVISER

 

The Renaissance Group LLC

625 Eden Park Drive, Suite 1200

Cincinnati, OH 45202

  

CUSTODIAN

 

The Bank of New York Mellon

111 Sanders Creek Parkway

East Syracuse, NY 13057

 

LEGAL COUNSEL

 

Ropes & Gray LLP

Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston Street

Boston, MA 02199-3600

 

TRANSFER AGENT

 

BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

Attn: AMG Funds

P.O. Box 9769

Providence, RI 02940

800.548.4539

  

This report is prepared for the Funds’ shareholders. It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by an effective prospectus. To receive a free copy of the prospectus or Statement of Additional Information, which includes additional information about Fund Trustees, please contact us by calling 800.835.3879. Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

Current net asset values per share for each Fund are available on the Funds’ website at amgfunds.com.

 

A description of the policies and procedures each Fund uses to vote its proxies is available: (i) without charge, upon request, by calling 800.835.3879, or (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) website at sec.gov. For information regarding each Fund’s proxy voting record for the 12-month period ended June 30, call 800.835.3879 or visit the SEC website at sec.gov.

 

Each Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Forms N-Q are available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. A Fund’s Forms N-Q may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1.800.SEC.0330. To review a complete list of the Funds’ portfolio holdings, or to view the most recent quarterly holdings report, semiannual report, or annual report, please visit amgfunds.com.

 

         

amgfunds.com

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LOGO

 

    

 

 

AFFILIATE SUBADVISED FUNDS

 

BALANCED FUNDS

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

 

AMG FQ Global Risk-Balanced

First Quadrant, L.P.

 

EQUITY FUNDS

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

 

AMG FQ Tax-Managed U.S. Equity

AMG FQ Long-Short Equity

First Quadrant, L.P.

 

AMG Frontier Small Cap Growth

Frontier Capital Management Company, LLC

 

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap

AMG GW&K U.S. Small Cap Growth

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

AMG Renaissance International Equity

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth

The Renaissance Group LLC

 

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value II

AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value

AMG River Road Long-Short

AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value

AMG River Road Small Cap Value

River Road Asset Management, LLC

 

AMG SouthernSun Small Cap

AMG SouthernSun Global Opportunities

AMG SouthernSun U.S. Equity

SouthernSun Asset Management, LLC

 

AMG Systematic Mid Cap Value

Systematic Financial Management, L.P.

 

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth

TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC

  

AMG Trilogy Emerging Markets Equity

AMG Trilogy Emerging Wealth Equity

Trilogy Global Advisors, L.P.

 

AMG Yacktman

AMG Yacktman Focused

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities

Yacktman Asset Management LP

 

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

AMG GW&K Core Bond

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

OPEN-ARCHITECTURE FUNDS

 

ALTERNATIVE FUNDS

AMG Managers Lake Partners LASSO Alternative

Lake Partners, Inc.

 

BALANCED FUNDS

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Balanced

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

 

EQUITY FUNDS

AMG Managers Brandywine

AMG Managers Brandywine Advisors Mid Cap Growth

AMG Managers Brandywine Blue

Friess Associates, LLC

 

AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies

AMG Managers Cadence Mid Cap

Cadence Capital Management, LLC

 

AMG Managers CenterSquare Real Estate

CenterSquare Investment Management, Inc.

 

AMG Managers Emerging Opportunities

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

WEDGE Capital Management L.L.P.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC

RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc.

  

AMG Managers Essex Small/Micro Cap Growth

Essex Investment Management Co., LLC

 

AMG Managers Fairpointe ESG Equity

AMG Managers Fairpointe Mid Cap

Fairpointe Capital LLC

 

AMG Managers Guardian Capital Global Dividend

Guardian Capital LP

 

AMG Managers LMCG Small Cap Growth

LMCG Investments, LLC

 

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Growth

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Mid Cap Growth

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

 

AMG Managers Pictet International

Pictet Asset Management Limited

 

AMG Managers Silvercrest Small Cap

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC

 

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities

Skyline Asset Management, L.P.

 

AMG Managers Special Equity

Ranger Investment Management, L.P.

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

Smith Asset Management Group, L.P.

Federated MDTA LLC

 

AMG Managers Value Partners Asia Dividend

Value Partners Hong Kong Limited

 

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government

Amundi Pioneer Institutional Asset Management, Inc.

 

AMG Managers Doubleline Core Plus Bond

DoubleLine Capital LP

 

AMG Managers Global Income Opportunity

AMG Managers Loomis Sayles Bond

Loomis, Sayles & Co., L.P.

 

         
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Table of Contents

LOGO

         ANNUAL REPORT

 

    

 

 

 

    

AMG Funds

       
 
     December 31, 2017        
 
     LOGO        
 
    

AMG Yacktman Fund

 

 

    

Class I: YACKX

 

            
 
    

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

 

 

     Class N: YAFFX      Class I: YAFIX        
 
    

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

 

 

     Class N: YFSNX      Class I: YFSIX        
 
    

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

 

 

     Class I: YASSX      Class Z: YASLX        
    

    

            

 

    

 

 

             

 

amgfunds.com

 

     

 

123117                AR071

 


Table of Contents


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Funds

Annual Report — December 31, 2017

 

    

 

    

    

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

   PAGE  
   

LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS

     2  
 
   

ABOUT YOUR FUND’S EXPENSES

     3  
 
    PORTFOLIO MANAGER’S COMMENTS, FUND SNAPSHOTS AND SCHEDULES OF PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS   
 
   

AMG Yacktman Fund

     4  
 
   

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

     12  
 
   

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

     20  
 
   

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

     27  
 
   

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

  
 
   

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

     37  
 
   

Balance sheets, net asset value (NAV) per share computations and cumulative undistributed amounts

  
 
   

Statement of Operations

     39  
 
   

Detail of sources of income, expenses, and realized and unrealized gains (losses) during the fiscal year

  
 
   

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

     40  
 
   

Detail of changes in assets for the past two fiscal years

  
 
   

Financial Highlights

     42  
 
   

Historical net asset values per share, distributions, total returns, income and expense ratios, turnover ratios and net assets

  
 
   

Notes to Financial Statements

     49  
 
   

Accounting and distribution policies, details of agreements and transactions with Fund management and affiliates, and descriptions of certain investment risks

  
 
    REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM      57  
 
    OTHER INFORMATION      58  
 
    TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS      59  
 
    APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT TO INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AND SUBADVISORY AGREEMENT      62  

Nothing contained herein is to be considered an offer, sale or solicitation of an offer to buy shares of any series of the AMG Funds family of mutual funds. Such offering is made only by prospectus, which includes details as to offering price and other material information.

    

 

 

 


Table of Contents
LOGO  

    Letter to Shareholders

 

    

 

Dear Shareholder:

The last 12 months was a strong period for equity markets as the health of the global economy improved and positive investor sentiment helped extend the U.S. bull market into its ninth year. The S&P 500® Index, a widely followed barometer of the U.S. equity market, returned 21.83% during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. By comparison, small cap stocks underperformed large caps with a 14.65% return for the small cap Russell 2000® Index.

The S&P 500 Index has notched positive performance in every month since the U.S. presidential election amidst the backdrop of strong corporate earnings, improving global economic growth and the passage of sweeping tax reform. 2017 also marked a turning point for the broader global economy as growth accelerated in a more coordinated fashion around the world, global trade improved and commodities recovered. U.S. equity market volatility remained extremely low despite saber rattling in North Korea and a devastating hurricane season. In fact, the S&P 500 Index has not seen a pullback greater than 5% since the summer of 2016.

In total, all but two sectors of the S&P 500 Index were positive during the last 12 months; however, there was significant dispersion in performance across sectors. Information technology and materials stocks led the Index with returns of 38.87% and 23.25%, respectively, while companies within the energy and telecommunication services sectors were the laggards with returns of (1.11)% and (1.49)%, respectively. Growth stocks outperformed value during all four quarters of the year and ended 2017 with returns of 30.2% and 13.7% for the Russell 1000® Growth and Russell 1000® Value Indexes, respectively. International equities outperformed domestic equities for the first time since 2012 as the global economy picked up and international returns were boosted by a weaker U.S. Dollar with the MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index returning 27.19% during the year. Meanwhile, emerging markets had their strongest year since 2009 with a 37.3% return for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

The U.S. bond market produced modestly positive returns for the year, as measured by the 3.54% return for the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a broad measure of U.S. bond market performance. The yield curve flattened as the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) continued to normalize monetary policy and short-term interest rates rose more than longer-term rates. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note rose 69 basis points during the year to yield 1.89% while the 10-year U.S. Treasury note ended 2017 at a 2.40% yield, five basis points lower than where it started. Investment grade corporates outperformed Treasuries and securitized credits with returns of 6.42%, 2.31% and 2.51%, respectively. Bond investors willing to accept more credit risk were rewarded with higher returns as high yield bonds performed strongly and credit spreads tightened. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index ended the period with a 7.50% return.

    

AMG Funds appreciates the privilege of providing investment tools to you and your clients. Our foremost goal is to provide investment solutions that help our shareholders successfully reach their long-term investment goals. By partnering with AMG’s affiliated investment boutiques, AMG Funds provides access to a distinctive array of actively managed return-oriented investment strategies. Additionally, we oversee and distribute a number of complementary open-architecture mutual funds subadvised by unaffiliated investment managers. We thank you for your continued confidence and investment in AMG Funds. You can rest assured that under all market conditions our team is focused on delivering excellent investment management services for your benefit.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Jeffery Cerutti

President

AMG Funds

 

Average Annual Total Returns

    
Periods ended
December 31, 2017*
 
 

Stocks:

         1 Year       3 Years       5 Years  

Large Caps

  (S&P 500® Index)      21.83     11.41     15.79

Small Caps

  (Russell 2000® Index)      14.65     9.96     14.12
  (MSCI All Country World       

International

  ex-USA Index)      27.19     7.83     6.80

Bonds:

                            

Investment Grade

  (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index)      3.54     2.24     2.10

High Yield

  (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index)      7.50     6.35     5.78

Tax-exempt

  (Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index)      5.45     2.98     3.02

Treasury Bills

  (ICE BofAML 6-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index)      0.95     0.62     0.43

 

*Source: Factset. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
 

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

    

    

About Your Fund’s Expenses

 

    

 

As a shareholder of a Fund, you may incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, which may include sales charges (loads) on purchase payments; redemption fees; and exchange fees; and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution (12b-1) fees; and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. The example is based on $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period as indicated below.

 

ACTUAL EXPENSES

 

The first line of the following table provides information about the actual account values and

    

actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

 

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

 

The second line of the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed annual rate of return of 5% before expenses, which is not the Fund’s

    

actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds by comparing this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of other funds.

 

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads), redemption fees, or exchange fees. Therefore, the second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds.

 

 

 

Six Months Ended
December 31, 2017
   Expense
Ratio for
the Period
    Beginning
Account
Value
07/01/17
     Ending
Account
Value
12/31/17
     Expenses
Paid
During
the Period*
 

AMG Yacktman Fund

 

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

  

Class I

     .71%       $1,000        $1,094        $3.75  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

Class I

     .71%       $1,000        $1,022        $3.62  
          

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

 

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

  

Class N

     1.20%       $1,000        $1,098        $6.34  

Class I

     1.04%       $1,000        $1,099        $5.50  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

Class N

     1.20%       $1,000        $1,019        $6.11  

Class I

     1.04%       $1,000        $1,020        $5.30  
          

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

 

Based on Actual Fund Return

 

  

Class N

     1.08%       $1,000        $1,127        $5.79  

Class I

     1.08%       $1,000        $1,127        $5.79  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

Class N

     1.08%       $1,000        $1,020        $5.50  

Class I

     1.08%       $1,000        $1,020        $5.50  
Six Months Ended
December 31, 2017
   Expense
Ratio for
the Period
  Beginning
Account
Value
07/01/17
   Ending
Account
Value
12/31/17
   Expenses
Paid
During
the Period*
 

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

 

Based on Actual Fund Return

  

Class I

   2.06%   $1,000    $1,133      $11.07  

Class Z

   1.91%   $1,000    $1,133      $10.27  

Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return

 

Class I

   2.06%   $1,000    $1,015      $10.46  

Class Z

   1.91%   $1,000    $1,016      $9.70  

 

*  Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized expense ratio multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half-year (184), then divided by 365.

 

  Includes a performance adjustment amounting to 0.28% of average daily net assets. (See Note 2 of Notes to Financial Statements.)
 

 

 

 
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AMG Yacktman Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

    

 

2017 was a year in which risks were largely cast aside and markets rocketed higher, led in large part by already expensive growth companies. Volatility levels in markets set record lows and valuations expanded yet again. The Russell 1000® Growth Index was up more than 30% while the Russell 1000® Value Index appreciated 13.7%. Given our goal of generating solid returns over time while managing the level of risk, we were gratified that the AMG Yacktman Fund (“the Fund”) returned more than 18% for the year. This was accomplished even though value was out of favor and excess cash reduced our returns.

 

We achieved strong results in 2017 through outstanding security selection. Some of our top holdings such as Samsung Electronics Preferred (Samsung) and 21st Century Fox (Fox) delivered exceptional returns for the Fund, enabling us to capture most of the S&P 500® Index’s rise while bearing less risk than the benchmark. We were comfortable owning large positions in Samsung and Fox because we believed they sold at extremely low levels relative to their value. As always, the make-up of the Fund’s portfolio and position weightings will be based on the attributes of individual investments and not on the level of the market.

 

We recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of the AMG Yacktman Fund. For the 25-year period ending December 31, 2017, the Fund appreciated 10.5% annually compared to 9.7% for the S&P 500 Index. This annual outperformance of nearly 1% over 25 years means that $10,000 invested in the Fund compounded to $111,250 versus $100,988 for an investment in the Index.1 The Fund’s outperformance was particularly impactful during the down markets of 2000–2002 and 2008–2009. The Fund was never constructed to look like a benchmark, and in most years it performed differently than the general market. Our outperformance versus the general market over the 25-year period was especially notable because 1) most managers have underperformed over that time, leading to many investors deciding to purchase index funds in recent years, 2) we achieved our results largely by owning higher quality securities and holding excess cash to manage risk when it was difficult to find bargains and 3) much of our best outperformance came during the down markets of 2000–2002, when the Fund appreciated each year, and 2008–2009.

 

Today’s market environment reminds us of other periods where investors ignored risks, chased growth and paid little attention to valuations. The combination of these factors can be dangerous, with

 

more potential downside scenarios than long-term upside cases. Investing in an expensive market is especially challenging for fund managers like us who are focused on protecting capital, and we are pleased to have navigated 2017 so successfully.

 

For some historical perspective, the last momentum-oriented growth chasing market like this was in 1999, a year when the Fund declined -16.9% compared to a 21.0% rise in the S&P 500 Index. The insanity of that investment environment set up a remarkable decade for the Fund where it delivered 11.9% annualized returns compared to the S&P 500 Index which declined by 1.0% annually over the same period.2 Translated to Dollars, this return differential means an investor in the Fund ended the decade with $30,816 for each $10,000 invested, compared to only $9,090 for an investment in the S&P 500 Index.3

 

Top contributors included Samsung, Fox, and Cisco Systems (Cisco)

 

Samsung’s stock produced strong performance in 2017. The shares were up more than 60% as the company’s operating profit rose more than 70%, largely due to strength in its semiconductor businesses. In 2017, Samsung achieved a significant milestone, becoming the largest semiconductor company in the world by sales and profits, passing Intel—the first time a company has dethroned Intel from its #1 position in 25 years. Samsung’s semiconductor growth has been organic, while Intel and many other competitors have attained their size via significant acquisitions, making Samsung’s #1 ranking all the more impressive. Due to strong earnings growth, Samsung’s shares remain exceptionally cheap at less than 5 times our expectation of 2018 earnings after adjusting for excess cash and investments. We think Samsung is extremely well positioned for continued growth over time as advances in artificial intelligence, smart homes, virtual reality, connected homes and cities and autonomous vehicles will likely require greater amounts of memory chips for many years to come.

 

Toward the end of 2017, Fox and The Walt Disney Company (Disney) entered into a transformative transaction in which Fox will merge the majority of its assets in exchange for Disney stock in a deal we expect to receive approval from regulatory agencies. In addition to Disney shares, Fox shareholders will receive shares in “New Fox” which will retain valuable businesses including Fox News, Fox Sports,

 

Fox Network, television stations, real estate and investments. New Fox and Disney will both benefit significantly from the lower corporate tax rate which was passed in the U.S. in late December.

 

For several years, we have been puzzled as others looked past the significant value we observed at Fox. We felt the market was largely ignoring Fox’s global businesses that were underearning because management was investing for future growth. Competitors in the industry better understood the value and importance of Fox’s businesses, which was demonstrated by press reports of significant interest in ownership of Star and investment stakes in Sky and Hulu by not only Disney but also Comcast, Sony and Verizon. We believe the proposed transaction with Disney, resulting in a large ownership stake in Disney’s stock, represents an exciting long-term opportunity for Fox investors, and we applaud the Murdoch family and board of directors of Fox for being fantastic stewards for shareholders and always thinking and investing for the long term.

 

The recent result of our Fox investment should reinforce for the Fund’s shareholders that a combination of patience and a significant discount to fair value should work well over time. Another key takeaway is that we dynamically adjust our position size in response to valuation as a core part of our process. In mid-2014 the Fox position was 7% of assets. Today the weighting has increased because Fox’s business value grew substantially in the ensuing years. In addition to an inexpensive absolute valuation, we believe Fox is a far better deal compared to alternative investment opportunities, which have gotten more expensive through multiple expansion (people paying a higher price for a given level of earnings).

 

Many investors seek a catalyst that they think will help move shares higher in the short term. Most of the time, our investments lack such a well-defined trigger to unlock value in the near term as we are more interested in a quality business selling at a substantial discount to what we think it is worth. We are willing to wait as long as we see significantly more value than the current trading price. We think our patience is a huge competitive advantage, one that exists because Yacktman is a boutique firm. Your Fund managers control the day-to-day decisions in the Fund and at the firm, and we only answer to ourselves, our Fund board and our investors about long-term results.

 

 
4


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

Cisco shares appreciated in 2017 along with strength in the information technology sector. Microsoft and Oracle were also strong contributors for the year. Cisco continues to migrate its business from larger one-time sales toward subscription services, which makes the company significantly more stable, predictable and valuable. We feel the shares remain attractively priced and the company possesses a strong balance sheet.

 

Detractors included Avon Products (Avon), Exxon Mobil (Exxon) and Aggreko

 

In 2017, there were only a handful of securities which produced negative returns. Cash was the biggest negative drag for the Fund, but one we felt was necessary given current valuations and risks.

 

Avon’s ongoing business struggles led to a stock price decline in 2017. We continue to think Avon has significant brand value and believe a new CEO can significantly improve the business results and restore investor confidence.

 

Exxon declined with general weakness in the energy sector, one of the few areas of the market to struggle last year. We typically maintain only a modest weighting in energy stocks due to challenges in predicting commodity prices. A further worry is that potential consumption changes are being created by technological developments, especially in the electric vehicle and solar markets.

 

Aggreko’s stock declined modestly as the company struggled with disappointing orders for its utility business. Revenue growth at Aggreko has also been

  

impacted as its energy-related customers faced challenges and competition increased due to industry softness. The recent increase in oil prices may lead to a better environment for Aggreko’s customers in North America.

 

OTHER

 

We made several new investments in 2017. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp and Infosys are both information technology service firms which sell at modest valuations and have significant excess net cash on their balance sheets. Bollore is a diversified French conglomerate with a leading global port business on four continents as well as investments in media and telecommunications. Perhaps that one falls under the category “any port (business) in a storm.”

 

After a long proxy battle, Procter & Gamble (PG) announced it would add Nelson Peltz of Trian Partners to the board of directors in 2018. We think Mr. Peltz, a significant shareholder and important voice for all owners, will improve PG’s focus. Several of our other highly successful investments—such as Sysco Corporation (where Trian Partners has two board seats), Microsoft and Fox—have benefited greatly from having a shareholder advocate in the boardroom.

 

CONCLUSION

 

Despite high market valuations and an investment environment that has fewer true bargains than we would like, we believe we can produce solid returns

  

over time while managing risk, even if it takes time to deploy the cash we hold. As always, as we find individual investment opportunities, we make investments regardless of general market valuations.

 

We are pleased with the strong absolute returns that the Fund delivered in 2017. A market driven by growth-oriented shares in an already expensive investment climate is not one we would have expected to largely keep up with given our strong focus on quality, attractive valuations and risk management. Security selection allowed us to achieve good results and we believe this ability will allow us to thrive going forward. As always, we will continue to be diligent, disciplined and patient in managing the Fund.

 

1 Dollar figure for the S&P 500 Index does not include potential costs such as fees and transaction costs.

 

2 Annualized returns for the period 2000–2009.

 

3 Dollar figure for the S&P 500 Index does not include potential costs such as fees and transaction costs.

 

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, Yacktman Asset Management, L.P. as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject to change without notice.

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG Yacktman Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class I shares on December 31, 2007, to a $10,000 investment made in the S&P 500® Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG Yacktman Fund and the S&P 500® Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

    Average Annual Total Returns1   One Year     Five Year     Ten Year  
 

AMG Yacktman Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

 

   

Class I

    18.23%       12.03%       10.85%  
   

S&P 500® Index11

    21.83%       15.79%       8.50%  

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).

 

2  From time to time the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.

 

3  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in debt securities, such as default risk and fluctuations in

   the perception of the debtor’s ability to pay its creditors. Changing interest rates may adversely affect the value of an investment. An increase in interest rates typically causes the value of bonds and other fixed income securities to fall.

 

4  High-yield bonds (also known as “junk bonds”) may be subject to greater levels of interest rate, credit, and liquidity risk than investments in higher rated securities. These securities are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments. The issuers of the Fund’s holdings may be involved in bankruptcy proceedings, reorganizations, or financial restructurings, and are not as strong financially as higher-rated issuers.

 

5  Investments in international securities are subject to certain risks of overseas investing including currency fluctuations and changes in political and economic conditions, which could result in significant market fluctuations. These risks are magnified in emerging markets.

 

6  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in mid-capitalization companies such as greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than the stocks of larger, more established companies.

 

7  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in small-capitalization companies, such as erratic earnings patterns, competitive conditions, limited earnings history and a reliance on one or a limited number of products.

 

8  Companies that are in similar businesses may be similarly affected by particular economic or market events; to the extent the Fund has substantial holdings within a particular sector, the risks associated with that sector increase.

 

9  The Fund invests in value stocks, which may perform differently from the market as a whole and may be undervalued by the market for a long period of time.

 

10 A short-term redemption fee of 2% will be charged on shares held for less than 60 days.

 

11 The S&P 500® Index is a capitalization-weighted index of 500 stocks. The S&P 500® Index is designed to measure performance of the broad domestic economy through changes in the aggregate market value of 500 stocks representing all major industries. Unlike the Fund, the S&P 500® Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

 

The S&P 500® Index is proprietary data of Standard & Poor’s, a division of McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

 

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector    % of
Net Assets
 

Consumer Staples

     24.5  

Information Technology

     19.6  

Consumer Discretionary

     12.6  

Health Care

     7.2  

Financials

     6.1  

Energy

     2.4  

Industrials

     2.0  

Short-Term Investments*

     26.8  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (1.2

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.

 

** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name    % of
Net Assets

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class A

   8.4

The Procter & Gamble Co.

   8.2

PepsiCo, Inc.

   4.9

Cisco Systems, Inc.

   4.8

Johnson & Johnson

   4.7

The Coca-Cola Co.

   4.6

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 1.330%

   4.6

Oracle Corp.

   4.3

Microsoft Corp.

   3.6

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class B

   3.4
    

 

Top Ten as a Group

   51.5
  

 

 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

For the six months ended December 31, 2017

 

    

 

NEW EQUITY POSITIONS

 

  New Purchases    Current
Shares Held
 

Bollore SA

     8,913,027  

Micro Focus International PLC, Sponsored ADR

     247,187  

 

 

CORPORATE BONDS & NOTES SALES

 

  Sales    Net Principal
Sold
     Current
Principal Held
 

CNX Resources Corp. 5.875%, 04/15/22

     22,554,000        42,970,000  

 

EQUITY PURCHASES & SALES

 

  Purchases    Net Shares
Purchased
     Current
Shares Held
 

Infosys, Ltd., Sponsored ADR

     1,255,900        2,800,000  
     
     
  Sales    Net Shares
Sold
     Current
Shares Held
 

Anthem, Inc.

     150,000        700,000  

Bank of America Corp.

     200,000        800,000  

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.

     200,000        500,000  

Cisco Systems, Inc.

     1,200,000        11,000,000  

The Coca-Cola Co.

     50,000        8,800,000  

ConocoPhillips

     300,000        1,500,000  

Corning, Inc.

     200,000        1,100,000  

Intel Corp.

     950,000        -  

Johnson & Johnson

     200,000        2,900,000  

Microsoft Corp.

     1,400,000        3,700,000  

Oracle Corp.

     261,000        7,900,000  

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 1.330%

     54,202        204,000  

Staples, Inc.

     2,000,000        -  

Stryker Corp.

     150,000        400,000  

Sysco Corp.

     1,790,000        4,610,000  

Unilever NV

     200,000        800,000  

US Bancorp

     100,000        3,000,000  

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

     800,000        -  

    

 

 

 
8


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 68.3%

 

  

Consumer Discretionary - 12.6%

 

  

Comcast Corp., Class A

     1,700,000        $68,085,000  

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class A

     21,200,000        732,036,000  

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class B

     8,700,000        296,844,000  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        1,096,965,000  

Consumer Staples - 23.5%

 

  

Avon Products, Inc. (United Kingdom)*

     10,100,000        21,715,000  

The Coca-Cola Co.

     8,800,000        403,744,000  

Colgate-Palmolive Co.

     1,100,000        82,995,000  

Hengan International Group Co., Ltd. (China)

     6,935,400        76,788,670  

PepsiCo, Inc.

     3,550,000        425,716,000  

The Procter & Gamble Co.

     7,800,000        716,664,000  

Qinqin Foodstuffs Group Cayman Co., Ltd. (China)*

     1,387,080        372,830  

Sysco Corp.

     4,610,000        279,965,300  

Unilever NV (United Kingdom)1

     800,000        45,056,000  

Total Consumer Staples

        2,053,016,800  

Energy - 2.4%

     

ConocoPhillips

     1,500,000        82,335,000  

Exxon Mobil Corp.

     1,500,000        125,460,000  

Total Energy

        207,795,000  

Financials - 6.1%

     

Bank of America Corp.

     800,000        23,616,000  

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

     2,500,000        134,650,000  

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

     130,000        33,118,800  

State Street Corp.

     900,000        87,849,000  

US Bancorp

     3,000,000        160,740,000  

Wells Fargo & Co.

     1,600,000        97,072,000  

Total Financials

        537,045,800  

Health Care - 7.2%

     

Anthem, Inc.

     700,000        157,507,000  

Johnson & Johnson

     2,900,000        405,188,000  

Stryker Corp.

     400,000        61,936,000  

Total Health Care

        624,631,000  

Industrials - 1.5%

     

Aggreko PLC (United Kingdom)1

     3,728,228        40,120,291  

Bollore SA (France)

     8,913,027        48,351,086  

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.1

     500,000        44,545,000  

Total Industrials

        133,016,377  

Information Technology - 15.0%

 

  

Cisco Systems, Inc.

     11,000,000        421,300,000  

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., Class A

     630,000        44,742,600  
      Shares      Value  

Corning, Inc.

     1,100,000        $35,189,000  

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

     1,800,000        25,848,000  

HP, Inc.

     1,700,000        35,717,000  

Infosys, Ltd., Sponsored ADR (India)1

     2,800,000        45,416,000  

Micro Focus International PLC,

     

Sponsored ADR (United Kingdom)*

     247,187        8,303,011  

Microsoft Corp.

     3,700,000        316,498,000  

Oracle Corp.

     7,900,000        373,512,000  

Total Information Technology

        1,306,525,611  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $3,329,292,257)    

        5,958,995,588  
    
Principal
Amount
 
 
  

Corporate Bonds and Notes - 1.5%

 

  

Consumer Staples - 1.0%

     

Avon Products, Inc. (United Kingdom)
6.600%, 03/15/201,2

     $10,000,000        9,300,000  

7.000%, 03/15/231,2

     81,630,000        65,916,225  

8.950%, 03/15/432

     15,485,000        11,749,244  

Total Consumer Staples

        86,965,469  

Industrials - 0.5%

     

CNX Resources Corp. 5.875%, 04/15/22

     42,970,000        43,883,113  

Total Corporate Bonds and Notes
(Cost $108,114,602)

 

     130,848,582  
     Shares     

Preferred Stock - 4.6%

     

Information Technology - 4.6%

 

  

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 1.330% (South Korea)
(Cost $185,188,247)

     204,000        397,272,136  
    
Principal
Amount
 
 
  

Short-Term Investments - 26.8%

 

  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 1.1%3

 

  

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.410% total to be received $22,274,417 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 8.500%, 01/31/18 - 06/20/63, totaling $22,716,347)

     $22,270,928        22,270,928  

Daiwa Capital Markets America, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.430% total to be received $22,274,467 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 6.500%, 01/11/18 - 12/01/51, totaling $22,716,347)

     22,270,928        22,270,928  
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
9


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

     

Principal

Amount

     Value  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 1.1%
(continued)

 

  

Jefferies LLC, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.500% total to be received $4,685,917 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 1.750%, 09/13/18 - 04/30/22, totaling $4,778,840)

   $ 4,685,136      $ 4,685,136  

RBC Dominion Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.400% total to be received $22,274,392 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 1.875% - 8.875%, 02/15/19 - 12/20/47, totaling $22,716,347)

     22,270,928        22,270,928  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.630% total to be received $22,274,962 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% - 3.875%, 01/15/19 - 02/15/46, totaling $22,889,382)

     22,270,928        22,270,928  

Total Joint Repurchase Agreements

 

     93,768,848  

 

      Shares      Value  

Other Investment Companies - 25.7%

 

  

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.18%4

     937,711,364      $ 937,711,364  

JPMorgan U.S. Government Money Market Fund, Capital Shares, 1.16%4

     1,307,332,166        1,307,332,166  

Total Other Investment Companies

 

     2,245,043,530  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $2,338,812,378)

 

     2,338,812,378  

Total Investments - 101.2%
(
Cost $5,961,407,484)

 

     8,825,928,684  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (1.2)%

 

     (103,553,230 ) 

Net Assets - 100.0%

 

   $ 8,722,375,454  
 

 

* Non-income producing security.
1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $90,379,707 or 1.0% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.
2  Step Bond: A debt instrument with either deferred interest payments or an interest rate that resets at specific times during its term.
3  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
4  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

ADR  American Depositary Receipt

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
10


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

           

Consumer Staples

     $1,976,228,130        $76,788,670               $2,053,016,800  

Information Technology

     1,306,525,611                      1,306,525,611  

Consumer Discretionary

     1,096,965,000                      1,096,965,000  

Health Care

     624,631,000                      624,631,000  

Financials

     537,045,800                      537,045,800  

Energy

     207,795,000                      207,795,000  

Industrials

     44,545,000        88,471,377               133,016,377  

Corporate Bonds and Notes

            130,848,582               130,848,582  

Preferred Stock

            397,272,136               397,272,136  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

            93,768,848               93,768,848  

Other Investment Companies

     2,245,043,530                      2,245,043,530  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

     $8,038,779,071        $787,149,613            —        $8,825,928,684  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)
†† All corporate bonds and notes held in the Fund are level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of corporate bonds and notes by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.
††† All preferred stocks held in the Fund are Level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of preferred stocks by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had transfers between level 1 and level 2 as follows:

 

     Transfer
into
Level 11
     Transfer
out of
Level 11
     Transfer
into
Level 21
     Transfer
out of
Level 21
 

Assets:

           

Common Stocks

     $470,745                      $(470,745)  

1 As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
11


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

    

 

2017 was a year in which risks were largely cast aside and markets rocketed higher, led in large part by already expensive growth companies. Volatility levels in markets set record lows and valuations expanded yet again. The Russell 1000® Growth Index was up more than 30% while the Russell 1000® Value Index appreciated 13.7%. Given our goal of generating solid returns over time while managing the level of risk, we were gratified that the AMG Yacktman Focused Fund (“the Fund”) returned more than 20% for the year. This was accomplished even though value was out of favor and excess cash reduced our returns.

 

We achieved strong results in 2017 through outstanding security selection. Some of our top holdings such as Samsung Electronics Preferred (Samsung) and 21st Century Fox (Fox) delivered exceptional returns for the Fund, enabling us to capture most of the S&P 500® Index’s rise while bearing less risk than the benchmark. We were comfortable owning large positions in Samsung and Fox because we believed they sold at extremely low levels relative to their value. As always, the make-up of the Fund’s portfolio and position weightings will be based on the attributes of individual investments and not on the level of the market.

 

We recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the AMG Yacktman Focused Fund. For the 20-year period ending December 31, 2017, the Fund appreciated 9.3% annually compared to 7.2% for the S&P 500 Index. This annual outperformance of roughly 2% over 20 years means that $10,000 invested in the Fund compounded to $59,014 versus only $40,135 for an investment in the Index.1 The Fund’s outperformance was particularly impactful during the down markets of 2000–2002 and 2008–2009. The Fund was never constructed to look like a benchmark, and in most years it performed differently than the general market. Our outperformance versus the general market over the 20-year period was especially notable because 1) most managers have underperformed over that time period, leading to many investors deciding to purchase index funds in recent years, 2) we achieved our results largely by owning higher quality securities and holding excess cash to manage risk when it was difficult to find bargains and 3) much of our best outperformance came during the down markets of 2000–2002, when the Fund appreciated each year, and 2008–2009.

 

Today’s market environment reminds us of other periods during which investors ignored risks, chased growth and paid little attention to valuations. The

  

combination of these factors can be dangerous, with more potential downside scenarios than long-term upside cases. Investing in an expensive market is especially challenging for fund managers like us who are focused on protecting capital, and we are pleased to have navigated 2017 so successfully.

 

For some historical perspective, the last momentum-oriented growth chasing market like this was in 1999, a year when the Fund declined 21.9% compared to a 21.0% rise in the S&P 500 Index. The insanity of that investment environment set up a remarkable decade for the Fund in which it delivered 11.8% annualized returns compared to the S&P 500 Index which declined by 1.0% annually over the same period.2 Translated to Dollars, this return differential means an investor in the Fund ended the decade with $30,569 for each $10,000 invested, compared to only $9,090 for an investment in the S&P 500 Index.3

 

Top contributors included Samsung, Fox, and Cisco Systems (Cisco)

 

Samsung’s stock produced strong performance in 2017. The shares were up more than 60% as the company’s operating profit rose more than 70%, largely due to strength in its semiconductor businesses. In 2017, Samsung achieved a significant milestone, becoming the largest semiconductor company in the world by sales and profits, passing Intel—the first time a company has dethroned Intel from its #1 position in 25 years. Samsung’s semiconductor growth has been organic, while Intel and many other competitor shave attained their size via significant acquisitions, making Samsung’s #1 ranking all the more impressive. Due to strong earnings growth, Samsung’s shares remain exceptionally cheap at less than 5 times our expectation of 2018 earnings after adjusting for excess cash and investments. We think Samsung is extremely well positioned for continued growth over time as advances in artificial intelligence, smart homes, virtual reality, connected homes and cities and autonomous vehicles will likely require larger amounts of memory chips for many years to come.

 

Toward the end of 2017, Fox and The Walt Disney Company (Disney) entered into a transformative transaction in which Fox will merge the majority of its assets in exchange for Disney stock in a deal we expect to receive approval from regulatory agencies. In addition to Disney shares, Fox shareholders will receive shares in “New Fox” which will retain valuable businesses including Fox News, Fox Sports,

  

Fox Network, television stations, real estate and investments. New Fox and Disney will both benefit significantly from the lower corporate tax rate which was passed in the U.S. in late December.

 

For several years, we have been puzzled as others looked past the significant value we observed at Fox. We felt the market was largely ignoring Fox’s global businesses that were underearning because management was investing for future growth. Competitors in the industry better understood the value and importance of Fox’s businesses, which was demonstrated by press reports of significant interest in ownership of Star and investment stakes in Sky and Hulu by not only Disney but also Comcast, Sony and Verizon. We believe the proposed transaction with Disney, resulting in a large ownership stake in Disney’s stock, represents an exciting long-term opportunity for Fox investors, and we applaud the Murdoch family and board of directors of Fox for being fantastic stewards for shareholders and always thinking and investing for the long term.

 

The recent result of our Fox investment should reinforce for the Fund’s shareholders that a combination of patience and a significant discount to fair value should work well over time. Another key takeaway is that we dynamically adjust our position size in response to valuation as a core part of our process. In mid-2014, the Fox position was 7% of assets. Today the weighting has more than doubled because Fox’s business value grew substantially in the ensuing years. In addition to an inexpensive absolute valuation, we believe Fox is a far better deal compared to alternative investment opportunities which have gotten more expensive through multiple expansion (people paying a higher price for a given level of earnings).

 

Many investors seek a catalyst that they think will help move shares higher in the short term. Most of the time, our investments lack such a well-defined trigger to unlock value in the near term as we are more interested in a quality business selling at a substantial discount to what we think it is worth. We are willing to wait as long as we need to if we see significantly more value than the current trading price. We see our patience as a huge competitive advantage, one that exists because Yacktman is a boutique firm. Your Fund managers control the day-to-day decisions in the Fund and at the firm, and we only answer to ourselves, our Fund board and our investors about long-term results.

 

 
12


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

Cisco shares appreciated in 2017 along with strength in the information technology sector. Microsoft and Oracle were also strong contributors for the year. Cisco continues to migrate its business from larger one-time sales toward subscription services, which makes the company significantly more stable, predictable and valuable. We feel the shares remain attractively priced and the company possesses a strong balance sheet.

 

Detractors included Avon Products (Avon), Exxon Mobil (Exxon) and Aggreko

 

In 2017, there were only a handful of securities that produced negative returns. Cash was the biggest negative drag for the Fund, but one we felt was necessary given current valuations and risks.

 

Avon’s ongoing business struggles led to a stock price decline in 2017. We continue to think Avon has significant brand value and believe a new CEO can significantly improve the business results and restore investor confidence.

 

Exxon declined with general weakness in the energy sector, one of the few areas of the market to struggle last year. We typically maintain only a modest weighting in energy stocks due to challenges in predicting commodity prices. A further worry is that potential consumption changes are being created by technological developments, especially in the electric vehicle and solar markets.

 

Aggreko’s stock declined modestly as the company struggled with disappointing orders for its utility business. Revenue growth at Aggreko has also been

  

impacted as its energy-related customers faced challenges and competition increased due to industry softness. The recent increase in oil prices may lead to a better environment for Aggreko’s customers in North America.

 

OTHER

 

We made several new investments in 2017. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp and Infosys are both information technology service firms which sell at modest valuations and have significant excess net cash on their balance sheets. Bollore is a diversified French conglomerate with a leading global port business on four continents as well as investments in media and telecommunications. Perhaps that one falls under the category “any port (business) in a storm.”

 

After a long proxy battle, Procter & Gamble (PG) announced it would add Nelson Peltz of Trian Partners to the board of directors in 2018. We think Mr. Peltz, a significant shareholder and important voice for all owners, will improve PG’s focus. Several of our other highly successful investments—such as Sysco Corporation (where Trian Partners has two board seats), Microsoft and Fox—have benefited greatly from having a shareholder advocate in the boardroom.

 

CONCLUSION

 

Despite high market valuations and an investment environment that has fewer true bargains than we would like, we believe we can produce solid returns

  

over time while managing risk, even if it takes time to deploy the cash we hold. As always, as we find individual investment opportunities, we make investments regardless of general market valuations.

 

We are pleased with the strong absolute returns that the Fund delivered in 2017. A market driven by growth-oriented shares in an already expensive investment climate is not one we would have expected to largely keep up with given our strong focus on quality, attractive valuations and risk management. Security selection allowed us to achieve good results and we believe this ability will allow us to thrive going forward. As always, we will continue to be diligent, disciplined and patient in managing the Fund.

 

1 Dollar figure for the S&P 500 Index does not include potential costs such as fees and transaction costs.

 

2 Annualized returns for the period 2000–2009.

 

3 Dollar figure for the S&P 500 Index does not include potential costs such as fees and transaction costs.

 

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, Yacktman Asset Management, L.P. as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject to change without notice.

 

 
13


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class N (formerly Class S) shares on December 31, 2007, to a $10,000 investment made in the S&P 500® Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG Yacktman Focused Fund and the S&P 500® Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

    Average Annual Total Returns1   One
Year
    Five
Years
    Ten
Years
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 
 

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

         
 

Class N12

    20.03%       12.25%       11.42%       9.73%       05/01/97  
   

Class I

    20.25%       12.45%             12.63%       07/24/12  
   

S&P 500® Index13

    21.83%       15.79%       8.50%       8.03%       05/01/97  

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects the inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).

2  From time to time the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.

 

3  The Fund may suffer significant losses on assets that it sells short. Unlike the possible loss on a security that is purchased, there is no limit on the amount of loss on an appreciating security that is sold short.

 

4  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in debt securities, such as default risk and fluctuations in the perception of the debtor’s ability to pay its creditors. Changing interest rates may adversely affect the value of an investment. An increase in interest rates typically causes the value of bonds and other fixed income securities to fall.

 

5  The Fund may invest in derivatives such as options and futures; the complexity and rapidly changing structure of derivatives markets may increase the possibility of market losses.

 

6  A greater percentage of the Fund’s holdings may be focused in a smaller number of securities which may place the Fund at greater risk than a more diversified fund.

 

7  High-yield bonds (also known as “junk bonds”) may be subject to greater levels of interest rate, credit, and liquidity risk than investments in higher rated securities. These securities are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments. The issuers of the Fund’s holdings may be involved in bankruptcy proceedings, reorganizations, or financial restructurings, and are not as strong financially as higher-rated issuers.

 

8  Investments in international securities are subject to certain risks of overseas investing including currency fluctuations and changes in political and economic conditions, which could result in significant market fluctuations.

 

9  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in mid-capitalization companies such as greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than the stocks of larger, more established companies.

 

10 The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in small-capitalization companies, such as erratic earnings patterns, competitive conditions, limited earnings history and a reliance on one or a limited number of products.

11 A short-term redemption fee of 2% will be charged on redemptions of fund shares within 60 days of purchase.

 

12 Effective February 27, 2017, Class S was renamed Class N.

 

13 The S&P 500® Index is a capitalization-weighted index of 500 stocks. The S&P 500® Index is designed to measure performance of the broad domestic economy

 

 

 

 
14


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

through changes in the aggregate market value of 500 stocks representing all major industries. Unlike the Fund, the S&P 500® Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.    The S&P 500® Index is proprietary data of Standard & Poor’s, a division of McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.    Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 
15


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector    % of
Net Assets
 

Consumer Staples

     28.0  

Information Technology

     21.9  

Consumer Discretionary

     16.8  

Health Care

     4.6  

Financials

     1.9  

Energy

     1.9  

Industrials

     1.8  

Short-Term Investments*

     23.8  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (0.7

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.

 

** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name    % of
Net Assets

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class B

   10.4

The Procter & Gamble Co.

   10.1

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 1.330%

   8.6

PepsiCo, Inc.

   7.4

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class A

   6.5

Cisco Systems, Inc.

   4.8

The Coca-Cola Co.

   4.7

Johnson & Johnson

   4.6

Oracle Corp.

   4.4

Microsoft Corp.

   2.9
    

 

Top Ten as a Group

   64.4
  

 

 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 
16


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

For the six months ended December 31, 2017

 

    

 

NEW EQUITY POSITIONS

 

New Purchases    Current
Shares Held

Bollore SA

       4,489,183

CORPORATE BOND & NOTE SALES

 

Sales    Net Principal
Sold
   Current
Principal Held

CNX Resources Corp. 5.875%, 04/15/22

       13,080,000        24,920,000

EQUITY PURCHASES & SALES

 

Purchases    Net Shares
Purchased
   Current
Shares Held

Infosys, Ltd., Sponsored ADR

       682,380        1,500,000
Sales    Net Shares
Sold
   Current
Shares Held

Cisco Systems, Inc.

       900,000        5,500,000

The Coca-Cola Co.

       200,000        4,500,000

ConocoPhillips

       150,000        750,000

Johnson & Johnson

       150,000        1,450,000

Microsoft Corp.

       600,000        1,500,000

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 1.330%

       141,271        194,000

Oracle Corp.

       176,000        4,100,000

Sysco Corp.

       650,000        1,900,000

US Bancorp

       50,000        850,000

    

 

 

 
17


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

 

       Shares        Value  

Common Stocks - 66.3%

 

  

Consumer Discretionary - 16.8%

 

  

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class A

     8,200,000      $ 283,146,000  

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class B

     13,300,000        453,796,000  

Total Consumer Discretionary

 

     736,942,000  

Consumer Staples - 26.6%

 

  

Avon Products, Inc. (United Kingdom)*

     5,400,000        11,610,000  

The Coca-Cola Co.

     4,500,000        206,460,000  

Hengan International Group Co., Ltd. (China)

     5,872,300        65,018,039  

PepsiCo, Inc.

     2,700,000        323,784,000  

The Procter & Gamble Co.

     4,800,000        441,024,000  

Sysco Corp.

     1,900,000        115,387,000  

Total Consumer Staples

 

     1,163,283,039  

Energy - 1.9%

     

ConocoPhillips

     750,000        41,167,500  

Exxon Mobil Corp.

     500,000        41,820,000  

Total Energy

        82,987,500  

Financials - 1.9%

     

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

     700,000        37,702,000  

US Bancorp

     850,000        45,543,000  

Total Financials

 

     83,245,000  

Health Care - 4.6%

     

Johnson & Johnson

     1,450,000        202,594,000  

Industrials - 1.2%

     

Aggreko PLC (United Kingdom)1

     2,800,000        30,131,423  

Bollore SA (France)

     4,489,183        24,352,767  

Total Industrials

 

     54,484,190  

Information Technology - 13.3%

 

  

Cisco Systems, Inc.

     5,500,000        210,650,000  

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., Class A

     330,000        23,436,600  

Infosys, Ltd., Sponsored ADR (India)1

     1,500,000        24,330,000  

Microsoft Corp.

     1,500,000        128,310,000  

Oracle Corp.

     4,100,000        193,848,000  

Total Information Technology

 

     580,574,600  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $1,824,616,313)

        2,904,110,329  
     Principal
Amount
        

Corporate Bonds and Notes - 2.0%

 

  

Consumer Staples - 1.4%

 

  

Avon Products, Inc. (United Kingdom)
7.000%, 03/15/231,2

   $ 14,105,000        11,389,787  
      Principal
Amount
     Value  

Avon Products, Inc. (United Kingdom)
8.950%, 03/15/432

   $ 65,740,000      $ 49,880,225  

Total Consumer Staples

        61,270,012  

Industrials - 0.6%

     

CNX Resources Corp.
5.875%, 04/15/22

     24,920,000        25,449,550  

Total Corporate Bonds and Notes
(Cost $78,356,127)

 

     86,719,562  
     Shares     

Preferred Stock - 8.6%

     

Information Technology - 8.6%

 

  

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 1.330% (South Korea)
(Cost $156,574,260)

     194,000        377,798,012  
     Principal
Amount
        

Short-Term Investments - 23.8%

 

  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 0.6%3

 

  

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.410% total to be received $5,770,498 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 8.500%, 01/31/18 - 06/20/63, totaling $5,884,986)

   $ 5,769,594        5,769,594  

Daiwa Capital Markets America, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.430% total to be received $5,770,511 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 6.500%, 01/11/18 - 12/01/51, totaling $5,884,986)

     5,769,594        5,769,594  

HSBC Securities USA, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.380% total to be received $5,770,479 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 0.375%, 05/15/18 - 08/15/46, totaling $5,885,035)

     5,769,594        5,769,594  

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.400% total to be received $1,214,552 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 1.875% - 2.750%, 07/31/22 - 08/15/42, totaling $1,238,650)

     1,214,363        1,214,363  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.630% total to be received $5,770,639 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% - 3.875%, 01/15/19 - 02/15/46, totaling $5,929,813)

     5,769,594        5,769,594  

Total Joint Repurchase Agreements

 

     24,292,739  
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
18


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Other Investment Companies - 23.2%

 

  

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.18%4

     384,800,563      $ 384,800,563  

JPMorgan U.S. Government Money Market Fund, Capital Shares, 1.16%4

     633,771,876        633,771,876  

Total Other Investment Companies

        1,018,572,439  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $1,042,865,178)

        1,042,865,178  
              
              Value  

Total Investments - 100.7%
(Cost $3,102,411,878)

      $ 4,411,493,081  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (0.7)%

 

     (29,487,841

Net Assets - 100.0%

      $ 4,382,005,240  
              
 

 

* Non-income producing security.
1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $23,727,358 or 0.5% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.
2  Step Bond: A debt instrument with either deferred interest payments or an interest rate that resets at specific times during its term.
3  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
4  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

ADR    American Depositary Receipt

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

           

Consumer Staples

     $1,098,265,000        $65,018,039               $1,163,283,039  

Consumer Discretionary

     736,942,000                      736,942,000  

Information Technology

     580,574,600                      580,574,600  

Health Care

     202,594,000                      202,594,000  

Financials

     83,245,000                      83,245,000  

Energy

     82,987,500                      82,987,500  

Industrials

            54,484,190               54,484,190  

Corporate Bonds and Notes

            86,719,562               86,719,562  

Preferred Stock

            377,798,012               377,798,012  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

            24,292,739               24,292,739  

Other Investment Companies

     1,018,572,439                      1,018,572,439  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

     $3,803,180,539        $608,312,542            —        $4,411,493,081  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)
†† All corporate bonds and notes held in the Fund are level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of corporate bonds and notes by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.
††† All preferred stocks held in the Fund are Level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of preferred stocks by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
19


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

    

 

Early in 2017, we launched the AMG Yacktman Focused Fund—Security Selection Only Fund (the Fund). We started the Fund due to investor demand for a product that has a limited cash allocation, showcasing our investing skills, even though it reduces our ability to manage risk by carrying excess cash in the absence of bargains. Nothing has changed in our core philosophy or approach that risk management always matters. The Fund was launched to fill a need in the marketplace for advisors who have already made asset allocation decisions to manage risk and want market exposure and our security selection.

 

We achieved strong results in 2017 through outstanding security selection. Some of our top holdings such as Samsung Electronics Preferred (Samsung) and 21st Century Fox (Fox) delivered exceptional returns for the Fund, enabling us to outperform the S&P 500® Index. We were comfortable owning large positions in Samsung and Fox because we believed they sold at extremely low levels relative to their value. As always, the make-up of the Fund’s portfolio and position weightings will be based on the attributes of individual investments and not on the level of the market.

 

Top contributors included Samsung, Fox and PepsiCo (Pepsi)

 

Samsung’s stock produced strong performance in 2017. The shares were up more than 60% as the company’s operating profit rose more than 70%, largely due to strength in its semiconductor businesses. In 2017 Samsung achieved a significant milestone, becoming the largest semiconductor company in the world by sales and profits, passing Intel, and marking the first time a company has dethroned Intel from its leadership position in 25 years. Samsung’s semiconductor growth has been organic, while Intel and many other competitors have attained their size via significant acquisitions, making Samsung’s #1 ranking all the more impressive. Due to strong earnings growth, Samsung’s shares remain exceptionally cheap at less than 5 times our expectation of 2018 earnings after adjusting for excess cash and investments. We think Samsung is extremely well positioned for continued growth over time as advances in artificial intelligence, smart homes, virtual reality, connected homes and cities and autonomous vehicles will likely require greater amounts of memory chips for many years to come.

  

Toward the end of 2017, Fox and The Walt Disney Company (Disney) entered into a transformative transaction where Fox will merge the majority of its assets in exchange for Disney stock in a deal we expect to receive approval from regulatory agencies. In addition to Disney shares, Fox shareholders will receive shares in “New Fox” which will retain valuable businesses including Fox News, Fox Sports, Fox Network, television stations, real estate and investments. New Fox and Disney will both benefit significantly from the lower corporate tax rate which was passed in the U.S. in late December.

 

For several years we have been puzzled as others looked past the significant value we observed at Fox. We felt the market was largely ignoring Fox’s global businesses that were underearning because management was investing for future growth. Competitors in the industry better understood the value and importance of Fox’s businesses, which was demonstrated by press reports of significant interest in ownership of Star and investment stakes in Sky and Hulu by not only Disney but also Comcast, Sony and Verizon. We believe the proposed transaction with Disney, resulting in a large ownership stake in Disney’s stock, represents an exciting long-term opportunity for Fox investors, and we applaud the Murdoch family and board of directors of Fox for being fantastic stewards for shareholders and always thinking and investing for the long term.

 

Many investors seek a catalyst that they think will help move shares higher in the short term. Most of the time, our investments lack a well-defined trigger to unlock value in the near term as we are more interested in a quality business selling at a substantial discount to what we think it is worth. We are willing to wait as long as we need to if we see significantly more value than the current trading price. We think our patience is a huge competitive advantage, one that exists because Yacktman is a boutique firm. Your Fund managers control the day-to-day decisions in the Fund and at our firm, and we only answer to ourselves, our Fund board and our investors about long-term results.

 

Pepsi’s shares appreciated in 2017 along with general strength in the consumer staples sector. We feel the company continues to be one of the finest and best positioned consumer companies in the world.

  

Detractors included Avon Products (Avon) and Aggreko

 

Avon’s ongoing business struggles led to a stock price decline in 2017. We continue to think Avon has significant brand value and believe a new CEO can significantly improve the business results and restore investor confidence.

 

Aggreko’s stock declined modestly as the company struggled with disappointing orders for its utility business. Revenue growth at Aggreko has also been impacted as its energy-related customers faced challenges and competition increased due to industry softness. The recent increase in oil prices may lead to a better environment for Aggreko’s customers in North America.

 

OTHER

 

After a long proxy battle, Procter & Gamble (PG) announced it would add Nelson Peltz of Trian Partners to the board of directors in 2018. We think Mr. Peltz, a significant shareholder and important voice for all owners, will improve PG’s focus. Several of our other highly successful investments—such as Sysco Corporation (where Trian Partners has two board seats), Microsoft and Fox—have benefited greatly from having a shareholder advocate in the boardroom.

 

CONCLUSION

 

We are pleased with the strong returns that the Fund delivered since its launch in early 2017. A market driven by growth-oriented shares in an already expensive investment climate is not one we would have expected to outperform given our strong focus on quality, attractive valuations and risk management. Security selection allowed us to achieve good results, and we believe this ability will allow us to thrive going forward. As always, we will continue to be diligent, disciplined and patient in managing the Fund.

 

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, Yacktman Asset Management, L.P. as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject to change without notice.

 

20


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class I shares on January 30, 2017 (inception date), to a $10,000 investment made in the S&P 500® Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only and the S&P 500® Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

    Average Annual Total Returns1   Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 
 

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

   
 

Class N

    20.81%       01/30/17  
   

Class I

    20.81%       01/30/17  
   

S&P 500® Index14

    19.46%       01/30/17  

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects the inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).

 

2  From time to time the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.

 

3  The Fund may invest greater than 5% of its assets in money market securities, cash, or cash equivalents as a temporary defensive measure in response to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions.

 

4  The Fund may suffer significant losses on assets that it sells short. Unlike the possible loss on a security that is purchased, there is no limit on the amount of loss on an appreciating security that is sold short.

 

5  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in debt securities, such as default risk and fluctuations in the perception of the debtor’s ability to pay its creditors. Changing interest rates may adversely affect the value of an investment. An increase in interest rates typically causes the value of bonds and other fixed income securities to fall.

 

6  The Fund invests in value stocks, which may perform differently from the market as a whole and may be undervalued by the market for a long period of time.

 

7  The Fund may invest in derivatives such as options and futures; the complexity and rapidly changing structure of derivatives markets may increase the possibility of market losses.

 

8  A greater percentage of the Fund’s holdings may be focused in a smaller number of securities which may place the Fund at greater risk than a more diversified fund.

 

9  High-yield bonds (also known as “junk bonds”) may be subject to greater levels of interest rate, credit, and liquidity risk than investments in higher rated securities. These securities are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments. The issuers of the Fund’s holdings may be involved in bankruptcy proceedings, reorganizations, or financial restructurings, and are not as strong financially as higher-rated issuers.

 

10 Investments in international securities are subject to certain risks of overseas investing including currency fluctuations and changes in political and economic conditions, which could result in significant market fluctuations. These risks are magnified in emerging markets.

 

11 The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in mid-capitalization companies such as greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than the stocks of larger, more established companies.

 

12 The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in small-capitalization companies, such as erratic earnings patterns, competitive conditions, limited earnings history and a reliance on one or a limited number of products.

 

 

 

 
21


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

13 A short-term redemption fee of 2% will be charged on redemptions of fund shares within 60 days of purchase.

 

14 The S&P 500® Index is a capitalization-weighted index of 500 stocks. The S&P 500® Index is designed to measure performance of the broad domestic economy

   through changes in the aggregate market value of 500 stocks representing all major industries. Unlike the Fund, the S&P 500® Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses.

 

The S&P 500® Index is proprietary data of Standard & Poor’s, a division of McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 
22


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

 

Sector    % of
Net Assets

Consumer Staples

       32.0

Information Technology

       30.6

Consumer Discretionary

       20.5

Health Care

       6.3

Industrials

       4.5

Financials

       2.0

Energy

       1.9

Short-Term Investments*

       3.2

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

       (1.0 )

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.

 

** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

  
Security Name    % of
Net Assets
 

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class B

     14.5  

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 1.330%

     11.8  

PepsiCo, Inc.

     8.5  

The Procter & Gamble Co.

     8.5  

Cisco Systems, Inc.

     4.6  

Johnson & Johnson

     4.5  

Microsoft Corp.

     4.3  

The Coca-Cola Co.

     4.2  

Oracle Corp.

     4.0  

Hyundai Home Shopping Network Corp.

     3.6  
    

 

 

 

Top Ten as a Group

     68.5  
  

 

 

 
 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 
23


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

For the six months ended December 31, 2017

 

    

 

NEW EQUITY POSITIONS

 

New Purchases          Current
Shares Held

Bollore SA

            1,500

Hyundai Home Shopping Network Corp.

            450

CORPORATE BOND & NOTE SALES

 

Sales    Net Principal
Sold
   Current
Principal Held

CNX Resources Corp. 5.875%, 04/15/22

       2,000        10,000

EQUITY PURCHASES & SALES

 

Sales   Net Shares
Sold
  Current
Shares Held

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 1.330%

      25       85

    

 

 

 
24


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

    

       
Shares
     Value  

Common Stocks - 78.8%

 

  

Consumer Discretionary - 20.5%

 

  

America’s Car-Mart, Inc. *

     750        $33,487  

Hyundai Home Shopping Network Corp. (South Korea)

     450        50,652  

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class B

     6,000        204,720  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        288,859  

Consumer Staples - 27.9%

 

  

The Coca-Cola Co.

     1,300        59,644  

Hengan International Group Co., Ltd. (China)

     2,000        22,144  

PepsiCo, Inc.

     1,000        119,920  

The Procter & Gamble Co.

     1,300        119,444  

Sysco Corp.

     810        49,191  

Unilever NV (United Kingdom)

     400        22,528  

Total Consumer Staples

        392,871  

Energy - 1.9%

     

ConocoPhillips

     265        14,546  

Exxon Mobil Corp.

     145        12,128  

Total Energy

        26,674  

Financials - 2.0%

     

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

     240        12,926  

US Bancorp

     280        15,003  

Total Financials

        27,929  

Health Care - 6.3%

     

Anthem, Inc.

     115        25,876  

Johnson & Johnson

     450        62,874  

Total Health Care

        88,750  

Industrials - 3.8%

     

Aggreko PLC (United Kingdom)

     1,000        10,761  

Bollore SA (France)

     1,500        8,137  

Oliver Corp. (Japan)

     1,700        34,853  

Total Industrials

        53,751  

Information Technology - 16.4%

 

  

CAC Holdings Corp. (Japan)

     2,300        21,635  

Cisco Systems, Inc.

     1,700        65,110  

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., Class A

     200        14,204  

Infosys, Ltd., Sponsored ADR (India)1

     850        13,787  

Microsoft Corp.

     715        61,161  

Oracle Corp.

     1,175        55,554  

Total Information Technology

        231,451  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $965,003)

        1,110,285  
      Principal
Amount
     Value  

Corporate Bonds and Notes - 3.8%

 

  

Consumer Staples - 3.1%

 

  

Avon Products, Inc. (United Kingdom) 8.950%, 03/15/432

     $58,000        $44,007  

Industrials - 0.7%

     

CNX Resources Corp. 5.875%, 04/15/22

     10,000        10,213  

Total Corporate Bonds and Notes
(Cost $63,284)

        54,220  
     Shares         

Preferred Stocks - 15.2%

     

Consumer Staples - 1.0%

 

  

Amorepacific Corp., 0.960%
(South Korea)
(Cost $11,849)

     85        13,180  

Information Technology - 14.2%

 

  

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 1.330% (South Korea)

     85        165,530  

Samsung SDI Co., Ltd., 1.050% (South Korea)

     400        34,886  

Total Information Technology

        200,416  

Total Preferred Stocks
(Cost $154,752)

        213,596  
     Principal
Amount
        

Short-Term Investments - 3.2%

     

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 0.8%3

 

  

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.410% total to be received $10,515 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.000% - 8.500%, 01/31/18 - 06/20/63, totaling $10,723)

     $10,513        10,513  
     Shares         

Other Investment Companies - 2.4%

 

  

Dreyfus Preferred Government Money Market Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.25%4

     34,175        34,175  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $44,688)

        44,688  

Total Investments - 101.0%
(Cost $1,227,727)

        1,422,789  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (1.0)%

 

     (13,766 ) 

Net Assets - 100.0%

        $1,409,023  
     

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
25


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

* Non-income producing security.

 

1  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $10,332 or 0.7% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.

 

2  Step Bond: A debt instrument with either deferred interest payments or an interest rate that resets at specific times during its term.

 

3  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.
4  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

ADR    American Depositary Receipt

 

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

           

Consumer Staples

     $370,727        $22,144               $392,871  

Consumer Discretionary

     288,859                      288,859  

Information Technology

     209,816        21,635               231,451  

Health Care

     88,750                      88,750  

Industrials

     34,853        18,898               53,751  

Financials

     27,929                      27,929  

Energy

     26,674                      26,674  

Corporate Bonds and Notes

            54,220               54,220  

Preferred Stocks

           

Information Technology

            200,416               200,416  

Consumer Staples

     13,180                      13,180  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

            10,513               10,513  

Other Investment Companies

     34,175                      34,175  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

     $1,094,963        $327,826            —        $1,422,789  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)
  All corporate bonds and notes held in the Fund are level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of corporate bonds and notes by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no transfers between levels from the beginning of the reporting period.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

    

 

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund - Year-End Commentary - Dec. 31, 2017

For the twelve months ending December 31, 2017, the AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund (the “Fund”) returned 34.7% compared to 24.0% (Class I) for the MSCI All Country World Index All Cap, outperforming our benchmark by 10.7%. 2017 was a successful year and builds on a strong 2016. Importantly, the Fund continues to trade at less than half of the market on an enterprise value/earnings before interest and taxes (EV/EBIT) basis without sacrificing quality. This valuation disparity is notable in a period where most investment options are expensive.

One byproduct of our go-anywhere approach is a tendency to gravitate toward investments that are unpopular or undiscovered. While many managers are limited by a long list of artificial constraints, we believe investing with freedom is a competitive advantage. Our flexibility leads us to a unique set of opportunities. While we believe being different is necessary for long-term outperformance, it sometimes produces results that vary widely (both up and down) from the benchmark in any given year. To us, the true measuring stick is the value embedded within our holdings relative to their business quality and growth potential. We are pleased with the Fund’s positioning on this measure as we head into 2018.

Fund Portfolio Review

2017’s strong performance led to trimming or exiting holdings where the forward rate of return was less attractive, and replacing those closed positions with new opportunities. Valuation discipline and investment process are even more critical during periods of good performance. Our focus remains sharp.

We had four positions that were acquired or announced pending mergers during 2017. It is satisfying when third parties recognize the value in our companies, especially when the offer is at a significant premium to our average price. While we do not count on acquisitions, they will continue to be an avenue to unlock value, although a repeat of 2017’s success rate is unlikely. These acquisitions leave cash to redeploy and only reinforce our appreciation of a broad investment universe.

 

Financial
Metrics1
   YASLX/
YASSX
     MSCI ACWI
All-Cap
     S&P 500      Russell 2000  

P/E

     13.04x        19.25x        23.05x        22.92x  

Price/Book Value (P/BV)

     1.40x        2.22x        3.17x        2.21x  

P/Cash Flow (CF)

     8.12x        11.39x        14.06x        12.11x  

P/Sales

     0.99x        1.77x        2.51x        1.70x  

EV/EBIT

     7.64x        16.10x        16.90x        16.39x  

Debt to Equity

     63.1%        86.4%        94.5%        75.8%  

ROA%

     5.6%        6.4%        7.9%        3.8%  

We have shown the above metrics in the past several letters as a way to compare the businesses we own relative to the market. The Fund continues to trade at a 30-50% valuation discount while maintaining our emphasis on quality businesses with conservative leverage. While these numbers are attractive at face value, we believe the underlying metrics are even better. Two nuances from the above table are explained below:

1) Many of our businesses avoid debt and hold large net cash positions. Cash earning close to zero does not flatter a return on assets (ROA%) calculation. Adjusted for excess cash, our portfolio companies’ return on operating assets is far higher than average. This is consistent with our goal of owning high-quality businesses.

2) The table above only reports the past, but investing is about the future. We spend a great deal of time understanding the financials of our companies to estimate their future earnings potential. On our forecasts, many holdings are under-earning versus their “normalized” profit potential (for example, due to growth investments for the future). We applaud management teams who sacrifice short-term profits for long-term shareholder gain.

The valuation of Bentham IMF (“Bentham”) illustrates this second point. Bentham is a litigation finance company in Australia and our largest holding at year-end. The company provides funding for lawsuits in exchange for a percentage of any winning legal judgments. The business relies on the cycle of the justice system, leading to

lumpy and unpredictable settlement results. Case outcomes therefore have a material impact on Bentham’s short-term profit figures.

On traditional metrics like a price-to-earnings ratio (“P/E”), Bentham appears expensive—but this trailing P/E number can swing wildly on a single case win or loss. In our view, the key metric underpinning Bentham’s business is management’s value of the case portfolio. This portfolio is a direct investment in future profits as Bentham’s cases mature over an average of 2–3 years. The value of Bentham’s case portfolio has doubled since we initiated the investment 3.5 years ago, and despite strong performance, the stock price is up slightly less. Therefore, the value we are paying for each dollar of cases has declined. Despite a higher P/E, Bentham now is cheaper relative to its future earnings potential. Paying less for a dollar of future earnings is the essence of value investing.

The Fund holds 50 investments with the ten largest positions representing 43% of capital. We have a sizable commitment to our top ideas with the balance of the Fund rounded out by positions with smaller weightings. Our hope is some of these smaller investments will upgrade to larger weightings if the discount to our calculation of business value increases. (A period of lower prices would help in this area!) Investments hail from more than a dozen countries, including Norway, Finland, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Africa. We have searched far and wide for the best opportunities and this geographic diversity showcases the value of our flexible approach.

Another advantage of our Fund is the ability to invest in both equity and debt. One of the biggest contributors to our gains in the past several years was our investment in the bonds of Emeco Holdings (“Emeco”). 7% of the Fund is invested in fixed income securities at the end of 2017 and we believe our debt investments offer equity-like rates of return with much less risk. Accounting for downside risk is always important, but especially in today’s expensive markets.

Deep Value in Japan - A Basket Approach

We believe concentration is a key to long-term success, so why do we hold 50 positions? Many of the companies in the lower half of the Fund’s portfolio are smaller and less liquid, which may limit the amount of capital in some positions. However, the combination of smaller opportunities with similar themes can add up to a meaningful weighting of the Fund.

 

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

Our investments in Japan demonstrate the value of this approach. We believe the Japanese stock market is one of the cheapest in the world, thanks to a mixture of a decades-long bear market, stagnant economic growth and poor demographic trends. Japan also features hundreds of domestic-oriented businesses that are too small for index funds but languish as forgotten small-caps. We have invested in a number of these stocks and have grouped five of our current Japanese companies into a mini-portfolio, the “Japan Deep Value” basket. This basket, representing roughly 5% of the Fund, is aggregated below (all figures in U.S. Dollars).

 

Japan Deep Value*     Valuation     Growth % - 10YR
CAGR
    Returns  

Market Cap

  $ 872m     Price/TBV     1.42x     Sales     2.5   Assets ex-cash   $ 509m  

Net Cash

  $ 440m     TEV/EBIT     4.58x     EBITDA     4.1   EBIT   $ 84m  

% of Mkt. Cap

    50.4%     Payout Yield     1.3%     TBV     7.6   Pre-tax ROA%     16.4%  

The aggregated holdings are growing, returning capital to shareholders (via dividends and share repurchases), and earning attractive returns on operating assets. The median gain in 2017 for these stocks was 40%, outperforming both the Japanese stock market and our benchmark by a wide margin. Despite these positive attributes, this basket of stocks trades at approximately 4.5x operating profits when adjusted for net cash. We believe there is more room to go, as owning good businesses at such low valuations makes it easy to be patient.

Contributors/Detractors

Among our largest contributors were holdings of Bentham, Emeco Holdings 2020/2022 bonds, and Samsung Electronics Pfd. (“Samsung”). It would be hard for the top performers to be more diverse—a fixed income security in a mining equipment company, a litigation finance company in Australia and one of the largest technology companies in the world. Investable ideas do not always follow the same pattern.

Bentham entered the year as one of our largest positions and rewarded shareholders with a total return of more than 80%. After struggling with a period of uncharacteristic case losses in 2015, the company reverted to historical averages with several wins. Bentham’s most important news was the launch of two investment funds to leverage third party capital for case investments. This adds a more stable revenue stream via management fees and reduces Bentham’s requirements to hold excess cash. As investments under the old model mature, this new structure should allow greater returns to shareholders. We have trimmed back the position, but believe Bentham continues to trade at an attractive valuation relative to the earnings potential of its case portfolio.

This past year was a pivotal one for our investment in Emeco. Management completed its ambitious recapitalization and merger plan with two mining equipment rental companies. The merger coincided with an upswing in the mining cycle and improved earnings, allowing Emeco to raise fresh equity and strengthen the company’s balance sheet. Emeco’s market capitalization responded by increasing over 16-fold in 2017. We reduced our position in the bonds as they now trade at a premium to par value.

Samsung’s business continues to perform well as it rides a strong semiconductor cycle. While the stock was up more than 60% in U.S. Dollar terms in 2017, operating profit increased more than 70%. The majority of the profit increase is due to Samsung’s leadership position in memory. The number of competitors in the memory market has shrunk considerably over the last decade. At the same time, semiconductor complexity has only increased, meaning fewer companies are competitive in leading-edge memory. While we remain conscious of the “boom/bust” dynamic of semiconductor markets, structural changes in the competitive landscape may moderate future cycles. Demand should continue to grow, as it is hard to envision a future where the number of computer chips in the world is lower than today. We believe Samsung remains one of the cheapest large-cap stocks in the world.

Among our largest detractors were holdings of Master Drilling Limited, CB Industrial Product Holding and the JAKKS Pacific 4.875% 2020 convertible bonds. The combined impact on performance was less than 0.5%. Given such a nominal loss, we will chalk this up to normal market movements. Several other holdings underperformed a strong benchmark despite generating positive returns. We added capital to these positions where appropriate.

Conclusion

We are closing in on nine years since the market bottom in 2009, yet the market continues its upward ascent. 2017 was the first time in history that the S&P 500® Index showed a positive total return in every calendar month.

Volatility is at historical lows and market valuations are near all-time highs. The market’s optimism causes us to be cautious rather than euphoric. It is hard to predict what will trigger the next market decline, but we are confident that that such a downturn will arrive at some point. We take comfort in owning quality businesses at a steep discount to the broader market.

 

We feel that our Fund’s structure provides the greatest possible advantage in uncovering opportunities to deploy capital in a measured and disciplined fashion. This unconstrained approach not only helps us navigate through an expensive market but should serve us well in sorting through the rubble in the next bear market. Another key attribute is a like-minded and patient investor base that sees the merits of investing with our unique approach. Thank you for your continued support.

 

This commentary reflects the viewpoints of the portfolio manager, Yacktman Asset Management, L.P. as of December 31, 2017 and is not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and is subject to change without notice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class Z shares on June 30, 2014 (inception date), to a $10,000 investment made in the MSCI ACWII All Cap Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund and the MSCI ACWII All Cap Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

    Average Annual Total Returns1   One
Year
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 
 

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

     
 

Class I

    34.67%       16.20%       06/30/15  
   

Class Z

    34.81%       9.36%       06/30/14  
   

MSCI ACWI All Cap Index19

    24.00%       7.41%       06/30/14  

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects the inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2016. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).

 

2  During the period, the Fund’s advisor has waived its fees and/or absorbed Fund expenses, which has resulted in higher returns.

 

3  A short-term fee of 2% will be charged on redemptions of Fund shares within 60 days of purchase.

 

4  The Fund’s investment management fees are subject to a performance adjustment, which could increase or reduce the investment management fees paid by the Fund. The prospect of a positive or negative performance adjustment may create an incentive for the Fund’s portfolio manager to take greater risks with the Fund’s portfolio. In addition, because performance adjustments are based upon past performance, a shareholder may pay a higher or lower management fee for performance that occurred prior to the shareholder’s investment in the Fund. The performance adjustment could increase the Investment Manager’s fee (and, in turn, the Subadvisor’s fee) even if the Fund’s shares lose value during the performance period provided that the Fund outperformed its benchmark index, and could decrease the Investment Manager’s fee (and, in turn, the Subadvisor’s fee) even if the Fund’s shares increase in value during the performance period provided that the Fund underperformed its benchmark index.

 

5  The Fund is subject to currency risk resulting from fluctuations in exchange rates that may affect the total loss or gain on a non-U.S. Dollar investment when converted back to U.S. Dollars.

 

6  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in debt securities, such as default risk and fluctuations in the perception of the debtor’s ability to pay its creditors. Changing interest rates may adversely affect the value of an investment. An increase in interest rates typically causes the value of bonds and other fixed income securities to fall.

 

7  The Fund may invest in derivatives such as options and futures; the complexity and rapidly changing structure of derivatives markets may increase the possibility of market losses.

 

8  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in emerging markets, such as erratic earnings patterns, economic and political instability, changing exchange controls, limitations on repatriation of foreign capital and changes in local governmental attitudes toward private investment, possibly leading to nationalization or confiscation of investor assets.

 

9  A greater percentage of the Fund’s holdings may be focused in a smaller number of securities which may place the Fund at greater risk than a more diversified fund.

 

10 High-yield bonds (also known as “junk bonds”) may be subject to greater levels of interest rate, credit, and liquidity risk than investments in higher rated securities. These securities are considered

 

 

 

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments. The issuers of the Fund’s holdings may be involved in bankruptcy proceedings, reorganizations, or financial restructurings, and are not as strong financially as higher-rated issuers.

 

11 Investments in international securities are subject to certain risks of overseas investing including currency fluctuations and changes in political and economic conditions, which could result in significant market fluctuations.

 

12 The Fund invests in large-capitalization companies that may underperform other stock funds (such as funds that focus on small- and medium-capitalization companies) when stocks of large-capitalization companies are out of favor.

 

13 The Fund is subject to the special risks associated with investments in micro-cap companies, such as relatively short earnings history competitive conditions, less publicly available corporate information, and reliance on a limited number of products.

 

14 The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in mid-capitalization companies such as

  

greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than the stocks of larger, more established companies.

 

15 Companies that are in similar businesses may be similarly affected by particular economic or market events; to the extent the Fund has substantial holdings within a particular sector, the risks associated with that sector increase.

 

16 The Fund may suffer significant losses on assets that it sells short. Unlike the possible loss on a security that is purchased, there is no limit on the amount of loss on an appreciating security that is sold short.

 

17 The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in small-capitalization companies, such as erratic earnings patterns, competitive conditions, limited earnings history and a reliance on one or a limited number of products.

 

18 The Fund invests in value stocks, which may perform differently from the market as a whole and may be undervalued by the market for a long period of time.

 

19 The MSCI ACWI All Cap Index captures large, mid, small and micro cap representation across 23 Developed Markets (DM) countries and large, mid and small cap representation across 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries.

  

The index is comprehensive, covering approximately 99% of the global equity investment opportunity set. The developed market country indices included are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. The emerging market country indices included are: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Qatar, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. Please go to msci.com for most current list of countries represented by the index. Unlike the Fund, the MSCI ACWI All Cap Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment and does not incur expenses. All MSCI data is provided ‘as is.’ The product described herein is not sponsored or endorsed and has not been reviewed or passed on by MSCI. In no event shall MSCI, its affiliates, or any MSCI data provider have any liability of any kind in connection with the MSCI data or the product described herein. Copying or redistributing the MSCI data is strictly prohibited.

 

Not FDIC Insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 
30


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector    % of
Net Assets
 

Consumer Discretionary

     28.6  

Industrials

     23.0  

Information Technology

     11.2  

Energy

     9.9  

Financials

     9.8  

Consumer Staples

     5.6  

Materials

     3.2  

Telecommunication Services

     1.2  

Utilities

     0.8  

Health Care

     0.8  

Short-Term Investments*

     6.6  

Other Assets Less Liabilities**

     (0.7

 

* Includes reinvestment of cash collateral into joint repurchase agreements on security lending transactions.

 

** Includes repayment of cash collateral on security lending transactions.

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name    % of
Net Assets

IMF Bentham, Ltd.

   6.3

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 1.330%

   4.6

Retail Holdings, N.V.

   4.5

Reading International, Inc., Class A

   4.1

America’s Car-Mart, Inc.

   4.1

Ocean Wilsons Holdings, Ltd.

   3.9

Computer Services, Inc.

   3.9

Texhong Textile Group, Ltd.

   3.6

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class A

   3.5

Pardee Resources Co., Inc.

   3.4
    

 

Top Ten as a Group

   41.9
  

 

 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

For the six months ended December 31, 2017

 

    

 

NEW EQUITY POSITIONS

 

New Purchases    Current
Shares Held

Apetit OYJ

       27,795

Arcus ASA

       62,000

CB Industrial Product Holding Bhd

       1,881,900

Mondo TV SpA

       55,000

Otelco, Inc., Class A

       34,031

Reckon, Ltd.

       540,000

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class B

       15,000

NEW CORPORATE BOND & NOTE POSITIONS

 

New Purchases    Current
Principal Held

JAKKS Pacific, Inc. 4.875%, 06/01/20

       1,500,000

CORPORATE BOND & NOTE SALES

 

Sales    Net Principal
Sold
   Current
Principal Held

Emeco Pty, Ltd., Series B, 9.250%, 03/31/22

       1,000,000        1,020,859

EQUITY PURCHASES & SALES

 

Purchases    Net Shares
Purchased
   Current
Shares Held

Aggreko PLC

       31,000        60,000

America’s Car-Mart, Inc.

       938        34,238

Cambria Automobiles PLC

       165,000        550,000

Catering International Services

       24,788        52,679

Computer Services, Inc.

       3,279        31,219

Daekyo Co., Ltd., 4.990%

       5,800        34,000

Lamprell PLC

       628,641        1,153,641

Master Drilling Group, Ltd.

       380,000        760,000

Maxim Power Corp.

       50,000        140,000

Nam Lee Pressed Metal Industries, Ltd.

       90,000        600,000

Ocean Wilsons Holdings, Ltd.

       23,500        100,500

Oliver Corp.

       3,100        10,100

Pardee Resources Co., Inc.

       550        6,550

Reading International, Inc., Class A

       69,310        93,310

Retail Holdings, N.V.

       13,350        76,000

Sapporo Clinical Laboratory, Inc.

       100        9,100

SK Kaken Co., Ltd.

       2,000        4,000

Texhong Textile Group, Ltd.

       300,000        1,050,000

Trilogy International, Ltd.

       265,000        580,000

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class A

       8,000        38,000

Vertu Motors PLC

       99,417        500,000
Sales    Net Shares
Sold
   Current
Shares Held

Agro-Kanesho Co., Ltd.

       10,800        -

Dollar General Corp.

       2,300        -

Emeco Holdings, Ltd.

       3,999,604        -

HUB Co., Ltd.

       9,000        27,000

IMF Bentham, Ltd.

       21,831        1,028,639

Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings PLC

       75,000        -

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc., Class A

       3,500        -

Lai Sun Development Co., Ltd.

       12,000,000        -

Maruzen Co., Ltd.

       11,000        -

Nexen Corp., 1.430%

       11,833        -

Rocky Mountain Dealerships, Inc.

       15,100        13,000

Stallergenes Greer PLC

       4,565        6,450
 

 

 
32


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 81.7%

     

Consumer Discretionary - 28.2%

 

  

America’s Car-Mart, Inc.
(United States)*

     34,238      $ 1,528,727  

Automodular Corp. (Canada)*,1

     88,406        168,794  

Cambria Automobiles PLC (United Kingdom)

     550,000        452,975  

HUB Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     27,000        417,925  

Marshall Motor Holdings PLC (United Kingdom)

     210,000        474,914  

Mondo TV SpA (Italy)

     55,000        420,404  

Reading International, Inc., Class A (United States)*

     93,310        1,558,277  

Retail Holdings, N.V. (Curaçao)*

     76,000        1,694,800  

Sotsu Co., Ltd. (Japan)

     17,500        390,615  

Texhong Textile Group, Ltd. (Hong Kong)

     1,050,000        1,362,755  

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class A (United States)

     38,000        1,312,140  

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., Class B (United States)

     15,000        511,800  

Vertu Motors PLC (United Kingdom)

     500,000        340,912  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        10,635,038  

Consumer Staples - 5.6%

     

Apetit OYJ (Finland)

     27,795        470,898  

Arcus ASA (Norway)2

     62,000        351,131  

Sapporo Clinical Laboratory, Inc. (Japan)

     9,100        138,671  

Trilogy International, Ltd. (New Zealand)

     580,000        1,163,264  

Total Consumer Staples

        2,123,964  

Energy - 9.9%

     

Hargreaves Services PLC (United Kingdom)

     278,682        1,250,130  

Lamprell PLC (United Arab Emirates)*

     1,153,641        1,214,916  

Pardee Resources Co., Inc. (United States)

     6,550        1,270,700  

Total Energy

        3,735,746  

Financials - 9.2%

     

Gruppo MutuiOnline SpA (Italy)

     26,000        413,395  

IMF Bentham, Ltd. (Australia)

     1,028,639        2,383,710  

Spice Private Equity AG (Switzerland)*

     23,500        679,150  

Total Financials

        3,476,255  

Health Care - 0.8%

     

Stallergenes Greer PLC (United Kingdom)*

     6,450        298,029  

Industrials - 16.5%

     

Aggreko PLC (United Kingdom)

     60,000        645,673  

Catering International Services (France)

     52,679        1,073,882  

CB Industrial Product Holding Bhd (Malaysia)

     1,881,900        837,020  

CMI, Ltd. (Australia)

     450,000        452,935  

Judges Scientific PLC (United Kingdom)

     13,000        365,604  

Mitani Corp. (Japan)

     12,800        681,762  
     
      Shares      Value  

Nam Lee Pressed Metal Industries, Ltd. (Singapore)

     600,000        $179,446  

Ocean Wilsons Holdings, Ltd. (Bermuda)

     100,500        1,485,803  

Oliver Corp. (Japan)

     10,100        207,065  

Rocky Mountain Dealerships, Inc. (Canada)

     13,000        141,687  

Utoc Corp. (Japan)

     33,600        161,296  

Total Industrials

        6,232,173  

Information Technology - 6.3%

 

  

Computer Services, Inc. (United States)

     31,219        1,451,684  

Reckon, Ltd. (Australia)

     540,000        661,496  

Tessi, S.A. (France)

     1,233        260,376  

Total Information Technology

        2,373,556  

Materials - 3.2%

     

Master Drilling Group, Ltd. (South Africa)

     760,000        773,974  

SK Kaken Co., Ltd. (Japan)3

     4,000        425,433  

Total Materials

        1,199,407  

Telecommunication Services - 1.2%

 

  

Otelco, Inc., Class A
(United States)*

     34,031        454,314  

Utilities - 0.8%

     

Maxim Power Corp. (Canada)*

     140,000        306,285  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $25,555,334)

        30,834,767  
     Principal
Amount
        

Corporate Bonds and Notes - 6.6%

 

  

Financials - 0.6%

     

WesternOne, Inc. (Canada) 6.250%, 06/30/20

     $335,000        229,330  

Industrials - 6.0%

     

Emeco Pty, Ltd. (Australia) Series B 9.250%, 03/31/22

     1,020,859        1,078,027  

JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (United States) 4.875%, 06/01/202

     1,500,000        1,172,813  

Total Industrials

        2,250,840  

Total Corporate Bonds and Notes
(Cost $2,433,878)

        2,480,170  
     Shares         

Preferred Stocks - 5.8%

 

  

Consumer Discretionary - 0.4%

 

  

Daekyo Co., Ltd., 4.990% (South Korea)

     34,000        159,115  

Industrials - 0.5%

     

Daelim Industrial Co., Ltd., 1.010% (South Korea)

     2,600        80,389  
     
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
33


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Industrials - 0.5% (continued)

     

Sebang Co., Ltd., 2.430% (South Korea)

     13,300        $95,909  

Total Industrials

 

     176,298  

Information Technology - 4.9%

     

Daeduck GDS Co., Ltd., 3.090% (South Korea)

     10,705        96,722  

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 1.330% (South Korea)

     900        1,752,671  

Total Information Technology

 

     1,849,393  

Total Preferred Stocks
(Cost $1,260,845)

        2,184,806  
     Principal
Amount
        

Short-Term Investments - 6.6%

 

  

Joint Repurchase Agreements - 0.8%4

     

State of Wisconsin Investment Board, dated 12/29/17, due 01/02/18, 1.630% total to be received $301,784 (collateralized by various U.S. Government Agency Obligations, 0.125% - 3.875%, 01/15/19 - 02/15/46, totaling $310,108)

 

 

   $

 

 

301,729

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

301,729

 

 

 

 

 

      Shares      Value  

Other Investment Companies - 5.8%

 

  

Dreyfus Preferred Government Money Market Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.25%5

     2,172,722        $2,172,722  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $2,474,451)

        2,474,451  

Total Investments - 100.7%
(Cost $31,724,508)

        37,974,194  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - (0.7)%

        (263,047

Net Assets - 100.0%

       

 

 

$37,711,147

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*  Non-income producing security.

 

1  Security’s value was determined by using significant unobservable inputs.

 

2  Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. This security may be resold in transactions exempt from registration, normally to qualified buyers. At December 31, 2017, the value of these securities amounted to $1,523,944 or 4.0% of net assets.

 

3  Some or all of these securities, amounting to $287,172 or 0.8% of net assets, were out on loan to various brokers.

 

4  Collateral received from brokers for securities lending was invested in these joint repurchase agreements.

 

5  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
34


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

           

Consumer Discretionary

     $9,627,915        $838,329        $168,794        $10,635,038  

Industrials

     4,377,838        1,854,335               6,232,173  

Energy

     3,735,746                      3,735,746  

Financials

     3,062,860        413,395               3,476,255  

Information Technology

     2,373,556                      2,373,556  

Consumer Staples

     2,123,964                      2,123,964  

Materials

     773,974        425,433               1,199,407  

Telecommunication Services

     454,314                      454,314  

Utilities

     306,285                      306,285  

Health Care

     298,029                      298,029  

Corporate Bonds and Notes

            2,480,170               2,480,170  

Preferred Stocks

           

Information Technology

            1,849,393               1,849,393  

Industrials

     176,298                      176,298  

Consumer Discretionary

     159,115                      159,115  

Short-Term Investments

           

Joint Repurchase Agreements

            301,729               301,729  

Other Investment Companies

     2,172,722                      2,172,722  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

     $29,642,616        $8,162,784        168,794        $37,974,194  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)
  All corporate bonds and notes held in the Fund are level 2 securities. For a detailed breakout of corporate bonds and notes by major industry classification, please refer to the Fund’s Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had transfers between level 1 and level 2 as follows:

 

     Transfer
into
Level 11
     Transfer
out of
Level 11
     Transfer
into
Level 21
     Transfer
out of
Level 21
 

Assets:

           

Common Stocks

     $2,977,306        $(619,655)        $460,311        $(2,600,604)  

1 As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
35


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

The following table below is a reconciliation of investments in which significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) were used in determining fair value at December 31, 2017:

 

     Common
Stock*
 

 

Balance as of December 31, 2016

 

  

 

 

 

 

$376,702

 

 

 

 

Accrued discounts (premiums)

      

Realized gain (loss)

      

Change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation

     9,450  

Purchases

      

Sales

      

Transfers in to Level 3

     159,344  

Transfers out of Level 3

     (376,702

 

Balance as of December 31, 2017

 

  

 

 

 

 

$168,794

 

 

 

 

      

 

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments still held at December 31, 2017

 

  

 

 

 

 

$9,450

 

 

 

 

* During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the Fund had transfers in and out of Level 3. A security was transferred into Level 3 due to the security halting trading in response to a pending merger and was valued using the last traded market price. Additionally, another security was transferred from Level 3 due to the security resumed trading.

The following table summarizes the quantitative inputs and assumptions used for items categorized in Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2017. The table below is not intended to be all-inclusive, but rather provides information on the significant Level 3 inputs as they relate to the Fund’s fair value measurements:

Quantitative Information about Level 3 Fair Value Measurements

 

            Fair Value at
December 31, 2017
     Valuation
Technique(s)
     Unobservable
Inputs(s)
     Range      Average  

Common Stock

        $168,794        Recent Market Price        Price        N/A        N/A  
     

 

 

             

Total

        $168,794              
     

 

 

             

 

Country

 

  

% of Long-Term
Investments

 

 

Australia

 

  

 

12.9

 

 

Bermuda

 

  

 

4.2

 

 

Canada

 

  

 

2.4

 

 

Curaçao

 

  

 

4.8

 

 

Finland

 

  

 

1.3

 

 

France

 

  

 

3.8

 

 

Hong Kong

 

  

 

3.8

 

 

Italy

 

  

 

2.3

 

 

Japan

 

  

 

6.8

 

 

Malaysia

 

  

 

2.4

 

 

New Zealand

  

 

3.3

Country

 

  

% of Long-Term
Investments

 

 

Norway

 

  

 

1.0

 

 

Singapore

 

  

 

0.5

 

 

South Africa

 

  

 

2.2

 

 

South Korea

 

  

 

6.1

 

 

Switzerland

 

  

 

1.9

 

 

United Arab Emirates

 

  

 

3.4

 

 

United Kingdom

 

  

 

10.8

 

 

United States

 

  

 

26.1

  

 

  

 

100.0

  

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

36


Table of Contents
   

    

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

    AMG Yacktman
Fund
    AMG Yacktman
Focused Fund#
    AMG Yacktman
Focused Fund - Security
Selection Only
    AMG Yacktman
Special
Opportunities Fund
 

Assets:

       

Investments at Value* (including securities on loan valued at $90,379,707, $23,727,358, $10,332, and $287,172, respectively)

    $8,825,928,684       $4,411,493,081       $1,422,789       $37,974,194  

Foreign currency**

                      94,410  

Receivable for investments sold

    1,049,699                    

Dividend, interest and other receivables

    10,824,461       6,842,547       4,591       79,675  

Receivable for Fund shares sold

    9,667,217       6,507,976              

Receivable from affiliate

    55,305       26,811             11,158  

Prepaid expenses

    37,952       36,502       21,857       10,574  

Total assets

    8,847,563,318       4,424,906,917       1,449,237       38,170,011  

Liabilities:

       

Payable upon return of securities loaned

    93,768,848       24,292,739       10,513       301,729  

Payable for investments purchased

    3,509,581       1,736,337             36,645  

Payable for Fund shares repurchased

    21,572,048       11,878,991              

Accrued expenses:

       

Investment advisory and management fees

    3,213,628       3,275,176       4,446       60,697  

Administrative fees

    1,124,975       564,686       177       4,620  

Shareholder service fees

    890,998       478,395             676  

Professional fees

    228,679       136,165       22,071       33,270  

Trustee fees and expenses

    91,502       46,151       8       375  

Other

    787,605       493,037       2,999       20,852  

Total liabilities

    125,187,864       42,901,677       40,214       458,864  

 

 

 

Net Assets

    $8,722,375,454       $4,382,005,240       $1,409,023       $37,711,147  

* Investments at cost

    $5,961,407,484       $3,102,411,878       $1,227,727       $31,724,508  

** Foreign currency at cost

                      $93,257  

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
37


Table of Contents
   

    

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (continued)

 

    

 

    AMG Yacktman
Fund
    AMG Yacktman
Focused Fund#
    AMG Yacktman
Focused Fund - Security
Selection Only
    AMG Yacktman
Special
Opportunities Fund
 

Net Assets Represent:

       

Paid-in capital

    $5,698,532,044       $2,971,823,997       $1,210,444       $31,098,315  

Undistributed (distribution in excess of) net investment income

    299,848       297,199       (11,216     (150,001

Accumulated net realized gain from investments

    159,016,669       100,797,427       14,725       511,962  

Net unrealized appreciation on investments

    2,864,526,893       1,309,086,617       195,070       6,250,871  

Net Assets

    $8,722,375,454       $4,382,005,240       $1,409,023       $37,711,147  

Class N:

       

Net Assets

          $2,803,230,100       $17,016        

Shares outstanding

          132,659,502       1,446        

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

          $21.13       $11.77        

Class I:

       

Net Assets

    $8,722,375,454       $1,578,775,140       $1,392,007       $8,377,138  

Shares outstanding

    381,740,963       74,855,755       118,246       696,610  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

    $22.85       $21.09       $11.77       $12.03  

Class Z:

       

Net Assets

                      $29,334,009  

Shares outstanding

                      2,434,846  

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

                      $12.05  

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, the Fund’s Class S shares were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
38


Table of Contents
   

    

Statement of Operations

For the fiscal period ended December 31, 2017

 

    

 

     AMG Yacktman
Fund
  AMG Yacktman
Focused Fund#
  AMG Yacktman
Focused Fund - Security
Selection Only##
  AMG Yacktman
Special
Opportunities Fund

Investment Income:

                

Dividend income

       $164,033,033       $86,100,544       $23,863       $554,694 1 

Interest income

       18,546,212       11,168,953       5,327       313,817

Securities lending income

       110,102       16,097       16       8,265

Foreign withholding tax

       (2,459,769 )       (2,962,912 )       (1,551 )       (39,978 )

Total investment income

       180,229,578       94,322,682       27,655       836,798

Expenses:

                

Investment advisory and management fees

       36,922,602       38,835,627       9,884       579,826

Administrative fees

       12,918,787       6,695,798       1,704       44,393

Shareholder servicing fees - Class N

             5,585,152            

Shareholder servicing fees - Class I

       8,941,917                   4,134

Professional fees

       729,765       402,590       22,122       39,062

Registration fees

       151,328       102,221       1,925       39,621

Transfer agent fees

       365,910       227,924       127       1,203

Custodian fees

       602,646       405,402       3,417       13,751

Reports to shareholders

       391,182       119,804       3,955       14,858

Trustee fees and expenses

       592,509       312,827       49       1,853

Miscellaneous

       174,879       89,062       1,357       2,422

Total expenses before offsets

       61,791,525       52,776,407       44,540       741,123

Expense reimbursements

                   (32,271 )       (77,255 )

Fee waivers

       (769,760 )       (372,370 )            

Net expenses

       61,021,765       52,404,037       12,269       663,868
                

Net investment income

       119,207,813       41,918,645       15,386       172,930

Net Realized and Unrealized Gain:

                

Net realized gain on investments

       804,297,003       491,501,998       25,756       2,133,120

Net realized gain (loss) on foreign currency transactions

       175,514       253,039       (1,519 )       (28,383 )

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

       523,240,992       287,387,626       195,062       6,391,848

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on foreign currency translations

       5,693       5,414       8       1,626

Net realized and unrealized gain

       1,327,719,202       779,148,077       219,307       8,498,211
                

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

       $1,446,927,015       $821,066,722       $234,693       $8,671,141

 

#  Effective February 27, 2017, the Fund’s Class S shares were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
##  Commencement of operations was January 30, 2017.
1  Includes non-recurring dividends of $55,952.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
39


Table of Contents
   

    

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

For the fiscal years ended December 31,

 

    

 

     AMG Yacktman
Fund
    AMG Yacktman
Focused Fund
 
     2017     2016#     2017##     2016#  

Increase in Net Assets Resulting From Operations:

        

Net investment income

     $119,207,813       $131,418,087       $41,918,645       $48,568,488  

Net realized gain on investments

     804,472,517       544,335,369       491,755,037       356,596,227  

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

     523,246,685       242,782,534       287,393,040       121,106,280  

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

     1,446,927,015       918,535,990       821,066,722       526,270,995  

Distributions to Shareholders:

        

From net investment income:

        

Class N

                 (24,704,545     (48,706,189

Class I

     (119,083,479     (151,070,259     (17,169,940     (17,183,317

From net realized gain on investments:

        

Class N

                 (274,734,682     (325,156,552

Class I

     (736,717,154     (530,811,366     (156,041,818     (101,407,185

Total distributions to shareholders

     (855,800,633     (681,881,625     (472,650,985     (492,453,243

Capital Share Transactions:1

        

Net decrease from capital share transactions

     (395,915,227     (646,097,575     (497,518,385     (877,375,268
        

Total increase (decrease) in net assets

     195,211,155       (409,443,210     (149,102,648     (843,557,516

Net Assets:

        

Beginning of year

     8,527,164,299       8,936,607,509       4,531,107,888       5,374,665,404  

End of year

     $8,722,375,454       $8,527,164,299       $4,382,005,240       $4,531,107,888  

End of year undistributed net investment income

     $299,848             $297,199        
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, the Funds’ share classes were renamed or redesignated as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
##  Effective February 27, 2017, the Fund’s Class S shares were renamed as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
1  See Note 1(g) of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
40


Table of Contents
   

    

Statements of Changes in Net Assets (continued)

For the fiscal periods ended December 31,

 

    

 

     AMG Yacktman
Focused Fund - Security
Selection Only
  AMG Yacktman
Special
Opportunities Fund
     2017#   2017   2016##

Increase in Net Assets Resulting From Operations:

            

Net investment income

       $15,386       $172,930       $443,628

Net realized gain (loss) on investments

       24,237       2,104,737       (30,791 )

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

       195,070       6,393,474       3,990,543

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

       234,693       8,671,141       4,403,380

Distributions to Shareholders:

            

From net investment income:

            

Class N

       (303 )            

Class I

       (24,780 )       (91,697 )       (13,298 )

Class Z

             (337,180 )       (446,336 )

From net realized gain on investments:

            

Class N

       (133 )            

Class I

       (10,898 )       (290,394 )       (7,080 )

Class Z

             (1,021,519 )       (237,650 )

Total distributions to shareholders

       (36,114 )       (1,740,790 )       (704,364 )

Capital Share Transactions:1

            

Net increase from capital share transactions

       1,210,444       8,561,808       1,260,095
            

Total increase in net assets

       1,409,023       15,492,159       4,959,111

Net Assets:

            

Beginning of period

             22,218,988       17,259,877

End of period

           $1,409,023       $37,711,147       $22,218,988

End of period distribution in excess of net investment income

       $(11,216 )           $(150,001 )       $(75,438 )
    

 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

#  Commencement of operations was January 30, 2017.
##  Effective October 1, 2016, the Funds’ share classes were renamed or redesignated as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Financial Statements.
1  See Note 1(g) of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
41


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class I    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

     $21.39       $20.87       $25.12       $23.54       $19.12  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.32       0.33       0.31       0.26       0.23  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     3.58       2.03       (1.71     2.43       5.07  

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     3.90       2.36       (1.40     2.69       5.30  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.34     (0.41     (0.34     (0.27     (0.21

Net realized gain on investments

     (2.10     (1.43     (2.51     (0.84     (0.67

Total distributions to shareholders

     (2.44     (1.84     (2.85     (1.11     (0.88

Net Asset Value, End of Year

     $22.85       $21.39       $20.87       $25.12       $23.54  

Total Return2,3

     18.23     11.20     (5.63 )%      11.33     27.74

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     0.71     0.71     0.71     0.71     0.74 %4  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     0.72     0.72     0.72     0.71     0.75 %4  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     1.38     1.51     1.29     1.08     1.05 %4  

Portfolio turnover

     2     4     2     9     17

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

     $8,722,375       $8,527,164       $8,936,608       $14,217,017       $13,931,446  
   

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, the Service Class was renamed Class I.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
4  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.019% of average net assets.
5  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 
42


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class N    2017##     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

     $19.69       $19.77       $25.88       $25.15       $20.52  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.19       0.19       0.22       0.17       0.15  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     3.75       2.05       (1.51     2.54       5.39  

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     3.94       2.24       (1.29     2.71       5.54  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.21     (0.30     (0.24     (0.18     (0.14

Net realized gain on investments

     (2.29     (2.02     (4.58     (1.80     (0.77

Total distributions to shareholders

     (2.50     (2.32     (4.82     (1.98     (0.91

Net Asset Value, End of Year

     $21.13       $19.69       $19.77       $25.88       $25.15  

Total Return2,3

     20.03     11.29     (5.08 )%      10.67     27.01

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     1.22     1.23     1.22     1.22     1.25 %4  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     1.23     1.24     1.22     1.23     1.26 %4  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     0.89     0.94     0.86     0.65     0.62 %4  

Portfolio turnover

     2     4     6     16     17

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

     $2,803,230       $3,479,880       $4,062,291       $7,847,093       $8,630,019  
   

 

 
43


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal year

 

    

 

     For the fiscal years ended December 31,  
Class I    2017     2016#     2015     2014     2013  

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year

     $19.66       $19.75       $25.88       $25.15       $20.52  

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

          

Net investment income1,2

     0.23       0.23       0.26       0.21       0.19  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

     3.74       2.04       (1.50     2.56       5.39  

Total income (loss) from investment operations

     3.97       2.27       (1.24     2.77       5.58  

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

          

Net investment income

     (0.25     (0.34     (0.30     (0.23     (0.18

Net realized gain on investments

     (2.29     (2.02     (4.59     (1.81     (0.77

Total distributions to shareholders

     (2.54     (2.36     (4.89     (2.04     (0.95

Net Asset Value, End of Year

     $21.09       $19.66       $19.75       $25.88       $25.15  

Total Return2,3

     20.25     11.46     (4.89 )%      10.88     27.19

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

     1.05     1.05     1.05     1.05     1.08 %4  

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets5

     1.06     1.06     1.05     1.06     1.09 %4  

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

     1.06     1.11     1.03     0.82     0.78 %4  

Portfolio turnover

     2     4     6     16     17

Net assets end of year (000’s) omitted

     $1,578,775       $1,051,228       $1,312,374       $3,414,602       $3,301,204  
   

 

##  Effective February 27, 2017, Class S was renamed Class N.
#  Effective October 1, 2016, the Service Class and Institutional Class were renamed Class S and Class I, respectively.
1  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
2  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
3  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
4  Includes non-routine extraordinary expenses amounting to 0.020% and 0.017% of average net assets for the Class N and Class I, respectively.
5  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 
44


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class N

      2017 1

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

      $10.00

Income from Investment Operations:

   

Net investment income2,3

      0.14

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

      1.94

Total income from investment operations

      2.08

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

   

Net investment income

      (0.22 )

Net realized gain on investments

      (0.09 )

Total distributions to shareholders

      (0.31 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

      $11.77

Total Return3,4

      20.81 %5

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

      1.08 %6

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets7

      3.77 %8

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets3

      1.35 %6

Portfolio turnover

      12 %5

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

      $17
           

 

 
45


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class I

      20171

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

      $10.00

Income from Investment Operations:

   

Net investment income2,3

      0.14

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

      1.94

Total income from investment operations

      2.08

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

   

Net investment income

      (0.22 )

Net realized gain on investments

      (0.09 )

Total distributions to shareholders

      (0.31 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

      $11.77

Total Return3,4

      20.81 %5

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

      1.08 %6

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets7

      3.77 %8

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets3

      1.35 %6

Portfolio turnover

      12 %5

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

      $1,392
           

 

1  Commencement of operations was on January 30, 2017.
2  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
3  Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
4  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
5  Not annualized.
6  Annualized.
7  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)
8  Ratio does not reflect the annualization of audit expenses.

 

 
46


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal years ended December 31,   For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class I

      2017      
2016#

      20151

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

      $9.37       $7.75       $9.40

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

           

Net investment income3,4

      0.06 5       0.18       0.20

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

      3.18       1.75       (1.49 )

Total income (loss) from investment operations

      3.24       1.93       (1.29 )

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

           

Net investment income

      (0.14 )       (0.20 )       (0.23 )

Net realized gain on investments

      (0.44 )             (0.13 )

Paid in capital

            (0.11 )      

Total distributions to shareholders

      (0.58 )       (0.31 )       (0.36 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

      $12.03       $9.37       $7.75

Total Return4

      34.67 %7       24.88 %       (13.77 )%8

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

      2.33 %9       1.90 %10       1.27 %11,12

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets13

      2.59 %9       2.29 %10       1.88 %11,12

Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets4

      0.50 %9       2.08 %10       3.40 %11,12

Portfolio turnover

      36 %       29 %       30 %8

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

      $8,377       $700       $83
                               

 

 
47


Table of Contents
   

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal years ended December 31,   For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class Z

      2017       2016 #       2015       2014 2

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

      $9.38       $7.75       $9.45       $10.00

Income (loss) from Investment Operations:

               

Net investment income3,4

      0.07 5       0.20       0.22       (0.00 )6

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments

      3.19       1.74       (1.56 )       (0.54 )

Total income (loss) from investment operations

      3.26       1.94       (1.34 )       (0.54 )

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

               

Net investment income

      (0.15 )       (0.20 )       (0.23 )       (0.01 )

Net realized gain on investments

      (0.44 )             (0.13 )      

Paid in capital

            (0.11 )            

Total distributions to shareholders

      (0.59 )       (0.31 )       (0.36 )       (0.01 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

      $12.05       $9.38       $7.75       $9.45

Total Return4

      34.81 %7       25.05 %7       (14.22 )%       (5.39 )%7,8

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

      2.23 %9       1.63 %10       1.24 %12       1.65 %11

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets13

      2.49 %9       2.01 %10       1.74 %12       2.60 %11

Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets4

      0.60 %9       2.34 %10       2.47 %12       (0.04 )%11

Portfolio turnover

      36 %       29 %       30 %       7 %8

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

      $29,334       $21,519       $17,177       $17,545
                                         

 

#  Effective October 1, 2016, the Service Class and Institutional Class were renamed Class I and Class Z, respectively.
1  Commencement of operations was on July 1, 2015.
2  Commencement of operations was on June 30, 2014.
3  Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.
4  Total returns and net investment income (loss) would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.
5  Includes non-recurring dividends. Without these dividends, net investment income per share would have been $0.04 and $0.05 for Class I and Class Z, respectively.
6  Rounds to less than $(0.01) per share or (0.01)%.
7  The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.
8  Not annualized.
9  Includes a performance adjustment amounting to 0.59% of average daily net assets. (See Note 2 of Notes to Financial Statements).
10  Includes a performance adjustment amounting to (0.02)% of average daily net assets. (See Note 2 of Notes to Financial Statements).
11  Annualized.
12  Includes a performance adjustment amounting to (0.42)% of average daily net assets. (See Note 2 of Notes to Financial Statements).
13  Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

 
48


Table of Contents
   

    

Notes to Financial Statements

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

AMG Funds (the “Trust”) is an open-end management investment company, organized as a Massachusetts business trust, and registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Currently, the Trust consists of a number of different funds, each having distinct investment management objectives, strategies, risks, and policies. Included in this report are AMG Yacktman Fund (“Yacktman Fund”), AMG Yacktman Focused Fund (“Yacktman Focused”), AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only (“Yacktman Focused Selection Only”) and AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund (“Yacktman Special Opportunities”), each a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds.”

Each Fund offers different classes of shares, which, effective October 1, 2016, were renamed. Yacktman Fund and Yacktman Special Opportunities have established Investor Class shares, Service Class shares and Institutional Class shares which were renamed Class N, Class I and Class Z, respectively. Currently, Yacktman Fund offers only Class I shares and Yacktman Special Opportunities offers Class I shares and Class Z shares. Yacktman Focused has established Investor Class, Service Class and Institutional Class which were renamed Class N, Class S and Class I, respectively. Effective February 27, 2017, Yacktman Focused’s Class S shares were renamed Class N. Currently, Yacktman Focused offers Class N shares and Class I shares. Yacktman Focused Selection Only has established Class N shares and Class I shares. Each class represents an interest in the same assets of the respective Fund. Although all share classes generally have identical voting rights, each share class votes separately when required by law. Different share classes may pay different distribution amounts to the extent the net asset value per share and/or the expenses of such share classes differ. Each share class has its own expense structure. Please refer to a current prospectus for additional information on each share class.

Yacktman Focused, Yacktman Focused Selection Only and Yacktman Special Opportunities are non-diversified. A greater percentage of the Funds’ holdings may be focused in a smaller number of securities which may place the Funds at greater risk than a more diversified fund.

The Funds’ financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”), including accounting and reporting guidance pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 applicable to investment companies. U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates and such differences could be material. The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Funds in the preparation of their financial statements:

a. VALUATION OF INVESTMENTS

Equity securities traded on a national securities exchange or reported on the NASDAQ national market system (“NMS”) are valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, if applicable, the NASDAQ official closing price or the official closing price of the relevant exchange or, lacking any sales, at the last quoted bid price or the mean between the last quoted bid and ask prices (the “exchange mean price”). Equity securities traded in the over-the-counter market (other than NMS securities) are valued at the exchange mean price. Foreign equity securities (securities principally traded in markets other than U.S. markets) are valued at the official closing price on the primary exchange or, for markets that

either do not offer an official closing price or where the official closing price may not be representative of the overall market, the last quoted sale price.

Fixed income securities purchased with a remaining maturity exceeding 60 days are valued at the evaluated bid price or the mean price provided by an authorized pricing service or, if an evaluated price is not available, by reference to other securities which are considered comparable in credit rating, interest rate, due date and other features (generally referred to as “matrix pricing”) or other similar pricing methodologies. Investments in certain mortgage-backed and stripped mortgage-backed securities, preferred stocks, convertible securities, derivatives and other debt securities not traded on an organized securities market are valued on the basis of valuations provided by dealers or by a pricing service which uses information with respect to transactions in such securities and various relationships between such securities and yield to maturity in determining value.

Fixed income securities purchased with a remaining maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost, provided that the amortized cost value is approximately the same as the fair value of the security valued without the use of amortized cost. Investments in other open-end regulated investment companies are valued at their end of day net asset value per share.

The Funds’ portfolio investments are generally valued based on independent market quotations or prices or, if none, “evaluative” or other market based valuations provided by third party pricing services approved by the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”). Under certain circumstances, the value of certain Fund portfolio investments may be based on an evaluation of fair value, pursuant to procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Board. The Valuation Committee, which is comprised of the Independent Trustees of the Board, and the Pricing Committee, which is comprised of representatives from AMG Funds LLC (the “Investment Manager”) are the committees appointed by the Board to make fair value determinations. Each Fund may use the fair value of a portfolio investment to calculate its net asset value (“NAV”) in the event that the market quotation, price or market based valuation for the portfolio investment is not readily available or otherwise not determinable pursuant to the Board’s valuation procedures, if the Investment Manager or the Pricing Committee believes the quotation, price or market based valuation to be unreliable, or in certain other circumstances. When determining the fair value of an investment, the Pricing Committee and, if required under the Trust’s securities valuation procedures, the Valuation Committee, seeks to determine the price that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from current sale of that portfolio investment in an arms-length transaction. Fair value determinations shall be based upon consideration of all available facts and information, including, but not limited to (i) attributes specific to the investment; (ii) fundamental and analytical data relating to the investment; and (iii) the value of other comparable securities or relevant financial instruments, including derivative securities, traded on other markets or among dealers.

The values assigned to fair value portfolio investments are based on available information and do not necessarily represent amounts that might ultimately be realized in the future, since such amounts depend on future developments inherent in long-term investments. Because of the inherent uncertainty of valuation, those estimated values may differ significantly from the values that would have been used had a ready market for the investments existed, and the differences could be material. The Board will be presented with a quarterly report showing as of the most recent quarter end, all outstanding securities fair valued by the Fund, including a comparison with the prior quarter end and the percentage of the Fund that the security represents at each quarter end.

 

 

 
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With respect to foreign equity securities and certain foreign fixed income securities, the Board has adopted a policy that securities held in a Fund that can be fair valued by the applicable fair value pricing service are fair valued on each business day provided that each individual price exceeds a pre-established confidence level.

U.S. GAAP defines fair value as the price that a fund would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. U.S. GAAP also establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and a three level hierarchy for fair value measurements based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability. Inputs may be observable or unobservable and refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Funds. Unobservable inputs reflect the Funds’ own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. Each investment is assigned a level based upon the observability of the inputs which are significant to the overall valuation.

The three-tier hierarchy of inputs is summarized below:

Level 1 – inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical investments (e.g., equity securities, open-end investment companies)

Level 2 – other observable inputs (including, but not limited to: quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in markets that are active, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets or liabilities (such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks and default rates) or other market corroborated inputs) (e.g., debt securities, government securities, foreign currency exchange contracts, foreign securities utilizing international fair value pricing, fair valued securities with observable inputs)

Level 3 – inputs are significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions used to determine the fair value of investments) (e.g., fair valued securities with unobservable inputs)

Changes in inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may result in a transfer in or out of levels within the fair value hierarchy. The inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may not necessarily be an indication of the risk associated with investing in those investments. Transfers between different levels of the fair value disclosure hierarchy are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.

b. SECURITY TRANSACTIONS

Security transactions are accounted for as of trade date. Realized gains and losses on securities sold are determined on the basis of identified cost.

c. INVESTMENT INCOME AND EXPENSES

Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date. Dividends from foreign securities are recorded on the ex-dividend date, and if after the fact, as soon as the Funds become aware of the ex-dividend date, except for Korean securities where dividends are recorded on confirmation date. Interest income, which includes amortization of premium and accretion of discount on debt securities, is accrued as earned. Dividend and interest income on foreign securities is recorded gross of any withholding tax. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are reported at the fair market value of the securities received. Other income and expenses are recorded on an accrual basis. Expenses that cannot be directly attributed to a Fund are apportioned among the funds in the Trust and other trusts within the AMG Funds family of mutual funds (collectively the “AMG Funds Family”) based upon their relative average net assets or number of shareholders. Investment income, realized and unrealized capital gains and losses, the common expenses of each Fund, and certain fund level expense reductions, if any, are allocated on a pro-rata basis to each class based on the relative net assets of each class to the total net assets of each Fund.

d. DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

Fund distributions resulting from either net investment income or realized net capital gains, if any, will normally be declared and paid at least annually in December. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Distributions are determined in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which may differ from net investment income and net realized capital gains for financial statement purposes (U.S. GAAP). Differences may be permanent or temporary. Permanent differences are reclassified among capital accounts in the financial statements to reflect their tax character. Permanent book and tax basis differences, if any, relating to shareholder distributions will result in reclassifications to paid-in capital. Temporary differences arise when certain items of income, expense and gain or loss are recognized in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes; these differences will reverse at some time in the future. Permanent differences are due to tax equalization utilized, adjustment for passive foreign investment companies sold and foreign currency. Temporary differences are due to mark-to-market of passive foreign investment companies and wash sale loss deferrals.

 

 

The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal periods ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 were as follows:

 

     Yacktman Fund      Yacktman Focused      Yacktman Focused
Selection Only
 
Distributions paid from:    2017      2016      2017      2016      2017  

Ordinary income

     $119,083,479        $150,864,833        $41,874,485        $65,559,618        $25,083  

Short-term capital gains

     43,274,367        4,336,688        16,858,923        3,409,293        11,031  

Long-term capital gains

     693,442,787        526,680,104        413,917,577        423,484,332         

Return of capital

                                  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
     $855,800,633        $681,881,625        $472,650,985        $492,453,243        $36,114  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 
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     Yacktman Special Opportunities  
Distributions paid from:    2017      2016  

Ordinary income

     $428,877        $459,634  

Short-term capital gains

     345,412         

Long-term capital gains

     966,501         

Return of capital

            244,730  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 
     $1,740,790        $704,364  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

As of December 31, 2017, the components of distributable earnings (excluding unrealized appreciation/depreciation) on tax basis consisted of:

 

     Yacktman Fund      Yacktman Focused      Yacktman Focused Selection Only      Yacktman Special Opportunities  

Capital loss carryforward

    

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

Undistributed ordinary income

    

 

$299,848

 

 

 

    

 

$297,199

 

 

 

    

 

$9,492

 

 

 

    

 

$50,251

 

 

 

Undistributed short-term capital gains

    

 

6,987

 

 

 

    

 

8,066

 

 

 

    

 

14,725

 

 

 

    

 

147,724

 

 

 

Undistributed long-term capital gains

    

 

159,774,205

 

 

 

    

 

101,552,809

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

    

 

409,496

 

 

 

Late-year loss deferral

    

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

At December 31, 2017, the approximate cost of investments and the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation for federal income tax were as follows:

 

Fund    Cost      Appreciation      Depreciation      Net  

Yacktman Fund

 

    

 

$5,962,172,007

 

 

 

    

 

$3,033,976,960

 

 

 

    

 

$(170,214,590)

 

 

 

    

 

$2,863,762,370

 

 

 

Yacktman Focused

 

    

 

3,103,175,326

 

 

 

    

 

1,390,876,103

 

 

 

    

 

(82,552,934)

 

 

 

    

 

1,308,323,169

 

 

 

Yacktman Focused Selection Only

 

    

 

1,248,435

 

 

 

    

 

207,048

 

 

 

    

 

(32,686)

 

 

 

    

 

174,362

 

 

 

Yacktman Special Opportunities

 

    

 

31,970,018

 

 

 

    

 

7,352,242

 

 

 

    

 

(1,346,881)

 

 

 

    

 

6,005,361

 

 

 

 

e. FEDERAL TAXES

Each Fund currently qualifies as an investment company and intends to comply with the requirements under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and to distribute substantially all of its taxable income and gains to its shareholders and to meet certain diversification and income requirements with respect to investment companies. Therefore, no provision for federal income or excise tax is included in the accompanying financial statements.

Additionally, based on each Fund’s understanding of the tax rules and rates related to income, gains and transactions for the foreign jurisdictions in which it invests, each Fund will provide for foreign taxes, and where appropriate, deferred foreign taxes.

Management has analyzed the Funds’ tax positions taken on federal income tax returns as of December 31, 2017, and for all open tax years (generally, the three prior taxable years), and has concluded that no provision for federal income tax is required in the Funds’ financial statements. Additionally, Management is not aware of any tax position for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change materially in the next twelve months.

Net capital losses incurred may be carried forward for an unlimited time period, and retain their tax character as either short-term or long-term capital losses.

f. CAPITAL LOSS CARRYOVERS AND DEFERRALS

As of December 31, 2017, the Funds had no accumulated net realized capital loss carryovers from securities transactions for federal income tax purposes. Should

the Funds incur net capital losses for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, such amounts may be used to offset future realized capital gains, for an unlimited time period.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the following Fund utilized capital loss carryovers in the amount of:

 

     Capital Loss Carryover Utilized
Fund   

 

Short-Term

  

 

Long-Term

Yacktman Special Opportunities

 

  

 

   $54,221

 

g. CAPITAL STOCK

The Trust’s Declaration of Trust authorizes for each Fund the issuance of an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest, without par value. Each Fund records sales and repurchases of its capital stock on the trade date. The Funds will deduct a 2.00% redemption fee from the proceeds of any redemption (including a redemption by exchange) of shares if the redemption occurs within 60 days of the purchase of those shares. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, Yacktman Fund, Yacktman Focused and Yacktman Special Opportunities had redemption fees amounting to $79,831, $104,908 and $1,307, respectively. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, Yacktman Fund, Yacktman Focused and Yacktman Special Opportunities had redemption fees amounting to $88,109, $145,359 and $40, respectively. These amounts are netted against the cost of shares repurchased in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets.

 

 

 
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For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the capital stock transactions by class for the Funds were as follows:

 

     Yacktman Fund      Yacktman Focused  
     December 31, 2017      December 31, 2016      December 31, 2017      December 31, 2016  
    

 

Shares

 

    

 

Amount

 

    

 

Shares

 

    

 

Amount

 

    

 

Shares

 

    

 

Amount

 

    

 

Shares

 

    

 

Amount

 

 

 

Class N:

 

                       

Proceeds from sale of shares

                                 10,466,211        $224,290,360        19,051,312        $391,663,441  

Reinvestment of distributions

                                 14,063,019        296,448,444        18,524,482        366,784,746  

Cost of shares repurchased

                                 (68,602,009)        (1,482,158,582)        (66,271,725)        (1,362,455,866)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net decrease

                                 (44,072,779)        $(961,419,778)        (28,695,931)        $(604,007,679)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

Class I:

 

                       

Proceeds from sale of shares

     39,676,324        $915,572,764        45,044,689        $976,295,059        32,254,309        $701,822,790        11,307,426        $228,537,114  

Reinvestment of distributions

     34,574,873        789,690,099        29,074,070        626,836,953        6,428,016        135,245,464        3,913,673        77,373,312  

Cost of shares repurchased

     (91,124,561)        (2,101,178,090)        (103,628,124)        (2,249,230,663)        (17,292,601)        (373,166,861)        (28,201,506)        (579,278,015)  

Capital contribution

                          1,076                              
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease)

     (16,873,364)        $(395,915,227)        (29,509,365)        $(646,097,575)        21,389,724        $463,901,393        (12,980,407)        $(273,367,589)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

    

Yacktman Focused

Selection Only

     Yacktman Special Opportunities  
     December 31, 2017      December 31, 2017      December 31, 2016  
    

 

Shares

 

    

 

Amount

 

    

 

Shares

 

    

 

Amount

 

    

 

Shares

 

    

 

Amount

 

 

 

Class N:

 

                 

Proceeds from sale of shares

     1,409        $14,331                              

Reinvestment of distributions

     37        436                              
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net increase

     1,446        $14,767                              
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

Class I:

 

                 

Proceeds from sale of shares

     115,212        $1,160,100        638,304        $7,092,111        67,650        $571,616  

Reinvestment of distributions

     3,044        35,678        32,271        382,091        2,196        20,378  

Cost of shares repurchased

     (10)        (101)        (48,669)        (564,041)        (5,803)        (54,081)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net increase

     118,246        $1,195,677        621,906        $6,910,161        64,043        $537,913  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

Class Z:

 

                 

Proceeds from sale of shares

                   124,116        $1,456,721        4,246        $40,039  

Reinvestment of distributions

                   114,266        1,355,198        73,428        682,143  

Cost of shares repurchased

                   (97,696)        (1,160,272)                
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net increase

                   140,686        $1,651,647        77,674        $722,182  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

At December 31, 2017, certain unaffiliated shareholders of record individually or collectively held greater than 10% of the net assets of the Funds as follows: Yacktman Focused Selection Only - two collectively own 98%; Yacktman Special Opportunities - two collectively own 49%. Transactions by these shareholders may have a material impact on their respective Fund.

 

h. REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS AND JOINT REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS

The Funds may enter into third-party repurchase agreements for temporary cash management purposes and third-party joint repurchase agreements for reinvestment of cash collateral on securities lending transactions under the

securities lending program offered by The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) (the “Program”) (collectively, “Repurchase Agreements”). The value of the underlying collateral, including accrued interest, must equal or exceed the value of the Repurchase Agreements during the term of the agreement. For joint repurchase agreements, the Funds participate on a pro rata basis with other clients of BNYM

 

 

 
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in its share of the underlying collateral under such joint repurchase agreements and in its share of proceeds from any repurchase or other disposition of the underlying collateral. The underlying collateral for all Repurchase Agreements is held in safekeeping by the Funds’ custodian or at the Federal Reserve Bank. If the seller defaults and the value of the collateral declines, or if bankruptcy proceedings commence with respect to the seller of the security, realization of the collateral by the Funds may be delayed or limited. Pursuant to the Program, the Funds are indemnified for such losses by BNYM on joint repurchase agreements.

At December 31, 2017, the market value of Repurchase Agreements outstanding for Yacktman Fund, Yacktman Focused, Yacktman Focused Selection Only and Yacktman Special Opportunities were $93,768,848, $24,292,739, $10,513 and $301,729, respectively.

i. FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION

The books and records of the Funds are maintained in U.S. dollars. The value of investments, assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than U.S. dollars are translated into U.S. dollars based upon current foreign exchange rates. Purchases and sales of foreign investments, income and expenses are converted into U.S. dollars based on currency exchange rates prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions. Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on foreign currency transactions represent: (1) foreign exchange gains and losses from the sale and holdings of foreign currencies; (2) gains and losses between trade date and settlement date on investment securities transactions and forward foreign currency exchange contracts; and (3) gains and losses from the difference between amounts of interest and dividends recorded and the amounts actually received.

The Funds do not isolate the net realized and unrealized gain or loss resulting from changes in exchange rates from the fluctuations in market prices of securities held. Such fluctuations are included with the net realized and unrealized gain or loss on investments.

j. FOREIGN SECURITIES

The Funds invest in securities of foreign entities and in instruments denominated in foreign currencies which involve risks not typically associated with investments in domestic securities. Non-domestic securities carry special risks, such as exposure to currency fluctuations, less developed or less efficient trading markets, political instability, a lack of company information, differing auditing and legal standards, and, potentially, less liquidity. Realized gains in certain countries may be subject to foreign taxes at the Fund level and would pay such foreign taxes at the appropriate rate for each jurisdiction.

2. AGREEMENTS AND TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

For each of the Funds, the Trust has entered into an investment advisory agreement under which the Investment Manager, a subsidiary and the U.S. retail distribution arm of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (“AMG”), serves as investment manager to the Fund and is responsible for the Funds’ overall administration and operations. The Investment Manager selects one or more subadvisers for the Fund (subject to Board approval) and monitors each subadviser’s investment performance, security holdings and investment strategies. Each Fund’s investment portfolio is managed by Yacktman Asset Management LP (“Yacktman”) who serves pursuant to a subadvisory agreement with the Investment Manager. AMG indirectly owns a majority interest in Yacktman.

Investment management fees are paid directly by the Fund to the Investment Manager based on average daily net assets. The Funds’ investment management fees were paid at the following annual rates of each Fund’s respective average daily net assets:

 

Yacktman Fund

  

0.52% on the first $500,000,000

  

0.47% on the next $500,000,000

  

0.42% on balance over $1,000,000,000

  

Yacktman Focused

     0.87

Yacktman Focused Selection Only

     0.87

Prior to October 1, 2016, the annual rate for the investment management fees was 0.65% on the first $500 million, 0.60% on the next $500 million and 0.55% on the balance over $1 billion for Yacktman Fund and 1.00% for Yacktman Focused, based on each Fund’s respective average daily net assets.

Yacktman Special Opportunities has a performance-based fee structure that consists of a base fee and a performance adjustment (“Performance Adjustment”). The Fund pays a monthly base investment management fee to the Investment Manager at an annual rate of 1.37% of the Fund’s average daily net assets for the month. Prior to October 1, 2016, the annual rate for the monthly base investment management fee was 1.50%. This monthly fee was increased or reduced by the Performance Adjustment, based on the Fund’s performance relative to the MSCI ACWI All Cap Index over the then preceding twelve months. The Performance Adjustment Rate for the Fund may not exceed plus or minus 0.75%. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the Performance Adjustment increased management fee by a net amount of $174,373, resulting in the Fund paying the Investment Manager at an effective rate of 1.96%.

The Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2018, to waive management fees and/or reimburse fund expenses in order to limit total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses) of Yacktman Focused Class N to 1.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets subject to later reimbursement by the Fund in certain circumstances.

The Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2018, to waive management fees and/or reimburse Fund expenses in order to limit total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), shareholder servicing fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses) of Yacktman Focused Selection Only to 1.08% of the Fund’s average daily net assets subject to later reimbursement by the Fund in certain circumstances.

The Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2018, to waive management fees and/or reimburse Fund expenses in order to limit total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of investment management fees, administrative fees, shareholder servicing fees, taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), distribution and service (12b-1) fees, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses,

 

 

 
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dividends payable with respect to securities sold short and extraordinary expenses) of Yacktman Special Opportunities to an annual rate of 0.12% of the Fund’s average daily net assets subject to later reimbursement by the Fund in certain circumstances.

The contractual expense limitation may only be terminated in the event the Investment Manager or a successor ceases to be the investment manager of the Fund or a successor fund, by mutual agreement between the Investment Manager and the Board, or in the event of the Fund’s liquidation unless the Fund is reorganized or is a party to a merger in which the surviving entity is successor to the accounting and performance information of the Fund.

In general, for a period of up to 36 months, the Investment Manager may recover from each Fund fees waived and expenses paid pursuant to this contractual agreement, provided that such repayment would not cause the Fund’s total annual operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of the items noted in the parenthetical above) to exceed the contractual expense limitation amount.

At December 31, 2017, the Funds’ expiration of recoupment is as follows:

 

Expiration
Period
  Yacktman Focused
Selection Only
    Yacktman Special
Opportunities
 

Less than 1 year

          $87,322  

Within 2 years

          73,897  

Within 3 years

            $32,271               77,255  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Amount Subject to Recoupment

    $32,271       $238,474  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

The Investment Manager has agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in consideration of shareholder servicing fees that it has received from JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc., with respect to short-term cash investments the Funds may have made in the JPMorgan U.S. Government Money Market Fund, Capital Shares. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the investment management fee for Yacktman Fund and Yacktman Focused was reduced by $769,760 and $372,370, respectively or less than 0.01% of average net assets.

The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has entered into an amended and restated Administration Agreement under which the Investment Manager serves as the Funds’ administrator (the “Administrator”) and is responsible for all non-portfolio management aspects of managing the Funds’ operations, including administration and shareholder services to each Fund. Effective October 1, 2016, each Fund pays a fee to the Administrator at the rate of 0.15% per annum of the Fund’s average daily net assets for this service. Prior to October 1, 2016, the Funds (except Yacktman Focused Selection Only) paid an administration fee under a similar contract at an annual rate of 0.03% of each Fund’s average net assets for the first $300 million of assets under management, 0.025% for the next $200 million and 0.02% on amounts in excess of $500 million.

The Funds are distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Investment Manager. The Distributor serves as the distributor and underwriter for each Fund and is a registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). Shares of each Fund will be continuously offered and will be sold directly to prospective purchasers and through brokers, dealers or other financial intermediaries who have executed selling agreements with the Distributor. Generally the Distributor bears all or a portion of the expenses of providing services pursuant to the

distribution agreement, including the payment of the expenses relating to the distribution of prospectuses for sales purposes and any advertising or sales literature.

For Class N of Yacktman Focused and Yacktman Focused Selection Only and for Class I of Yacktman Fund and Yacktman Special Opportunities, the Board has approved reimbursement payments to the Investment Manager for shareholder servicing expenses (“shareholder servicing fees”) incurred. Shareholder servicing fees include payments to third parties such as financial intermediaries, such as broker-dealers (including fund supermarket platforms), banks, and trust companies who provide shareholder recordkeeping, account servicing and other services. The Class N shares of Yacktman Focused and Yacktman Focused Selection Only and Class I shares of Yacktman Fund and Yacktman Special Opportunities may reimburse the Investment Manager for the actual amount incurred up to a maximum annual rate of each Class’s average daily net assets as shown in the table below.

The impact on the annualized expense ratios for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

Fund   Maximum Annual
Amount
Approved
    Actual
Amount
Incurred
 

Yacktman Fund

   

Class I

    0.20     0.10

Yacktman Focused

   

Class N

    0.20     0.17

Yacktman Focused Selection Only

   

Class N

    0.20      

Yacktman Special Opportunities

   

Class I

    0.10     0.10

The Board provides supervision of the affairs of the Trust and other trusts within the AMG Funds family. The Trustees of the Trust who are not affiliated with an Investment Manager receive an annual retainer and per meeting fees for regular, special and telephonic meetings, and they are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses incurred while carrying out their duties as Board members. The Chairman of the Board and the Audit Committee Chair receive additional annual retainers. Certain Trustees and Officers of the Funds are Officers and/or Directors of the Investment Manager, AMG and/or the Distributor.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) granted an exemptive order that permits the Funds to lend and borrow money for certain temporary purposes directly to and from other eligible funds in the AMG Funds family. Participation in this interfund lending program is voluntary for both the borrowing and lending funds, and an interfund loan is only made if it benefits each participating fund. The Administrator manages the program according to procedures approved by the Board, and the Board monitors the operation of the program. An interfund loan must comply with certain conditions set out in the exemptive order, which are designed to assure fairness and protect all participating funds. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, Yacktman Fund lent a maximum of $22,802,753 for three days earning interest of $1,304, Yacktman Focused lent a maximum of $4,187,214 for fourteen days earning interest of $1,027 and Yacktman Special Opportunities lent a maximum of $1,020,894 for six days earning interest of $145. The interest income

 

 

 

 
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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

amount is included in the Statement of Operations as interest income. At December 31, 2017, the Funds had no interfund loans outstanding.

3. PURCHASES AND SALES OF SECURITIES

Purchases and sales of securities (excluding short-term securities and U.S. Government Obligations) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

    Long Term Securities        
Fund   Purchases     Sales        

Yacktman Fund

  $ 130,005,100     $ 1,794,646,879    

Yacktman Focused

    67,524,819       1,122,439,190    

Yacktman Focused Selection Only

    1,290,870       133,660    

Yacktman Special Opportunities

    16,341,169       9,884,402          

The Funds had no purchases or sales of U.S. Government Obligations during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

4. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES LOANED

The Funds participate in the Program providing for the lending of securities to qualified brokers. Securities lending income includes earnings of such temporary cash investments, plus or minus any rebate to a borrower. These earnings (after any rebate) are then divided between BNYM, as a fee for its services under the Program, and the Funds, according to agreed-upon rates. Collateral on all securities loaned is accepted in cash and is maintained at a minimum level of 102% (105% in the case of certain foreign securities) of the market value, plus interest, if applicable, of investments on loan. It is the Funds’ policy to obtain additional collateral from or return excess collateral to the borrower by the end of the next business day, following the valuation date of the securities loaned. Therefore, the value of the collateral held may be temporarily less than the value of the securities on loan. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to the Funds if and to the extent that the market value of the securities loaned were to increase and the borrower did not increase the collateral accordingly, and the borrower fails to return the securities. Under the terms of the Program, the Funds are indemnified for such losses by BNYM. Cash collateral is held in a separate omnibus account managed by BNYM, who is authorized to exclusively enter into joint repurchase agreements. BNYM bears the risk of any deficiency in the amount of the cash collateral available for return to the borrower due to any loss on the collateral invested.

The value of securities loaned on positions held and cash collateral received at December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

Fund   Securities
Loaned
    Cash
Collateral
Received
       

Yacktman Fund

  $ 90,379,707     $ 93,768,848    

Yacktman Focused

    23,727,358       24,292,739    

Yacktman Focused Selection Only

    10,332       10,513    

Yacktman Special Opportunities

    287,172       301,729          

5. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its trustees and officers are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to the Trust. In addition, in the normal course of business, the Funds may enter into contracts and agreements that contain a variety of representations and warranties, which provide general indemnifications. The maximum exposure to the Funds under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against a Fund that have not yet occurred. However, based on experience, the Funds had no prior claims or losses and expect the risks of loss to be remote.

6. MASTER NETTING AGREEMENTS

The Funds may enter into master netting agreements with their counterparties for the securities lending program, and Repurchase Agreements, which provide the right, in the event of default (including bankruptcy or insolvency) for the non-defaulting party to liquidate the collateral and calculate net exposure to the defaulting party or request additional collateral. For financial reporting purposes, the Funds do not offset financial assets and financial liabilities that are subject to master netting agreements in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. For securities lending transactions, see Note 4.

 

 

 

 
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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

The following table is a summary of the Funds’ open Repurchase Agreements that are subject to a master netting agreement as of December 31, 2017:

 

          Gross Amount Not Offset in the
            Statement of  Assets and Liabilities            
   
Fund   Net Amounts of Assets
Presented in the Statement
of Assets and Liabilities
   

Financial

Instruments

Collateral

    Cash Collateral
Received
  Net Amount

 

Yacktman Fund

 

       

 

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc.

 

    $22,270,928                   $22,270,928                  

Daiwa Capital Markets America

 

    22,270,928                   22,270,928                  

Jefferies LLC

 

    4,685,136                   4,685,136                  

RBC Dominion Securities, Inc.

 

    22,270,928                   22,270,928                  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board

 

    22,270,928                   22,270,928                  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Totals

            $93,768,848                           $93,768,848                  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Yacktman Focused

 

       

 

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc.

 

    $5,769,594                   $5,769,594                  

Daiwa Capital Markets America

 

    5,769,594                   5,769,594                  

HSBC Securities USA, Inc.

 

    5,769,594                   5,769,594                  

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.

 

    1,214,363                   1,214,363                  

State of Wisconsin Investment Board

 

    5,769,594                   5,769,594                  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Totals

            $24,292,739                   $24,292,739                             —                           —            
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Yacktman Focused Selection Only

       

Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc.

    $10,513                   $10,513                  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Yacktman Special Opportunities

       

State of Wisconsin Investment Board

    $301,729                   $301,729                  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

7. REGULATORY UPDATES

On October 13, 2016, the SEC amended existing rules intended to modernize reporting and disclosure of information. These amendments relate to Regulation S-X, which sets forth the form and content of financial statements. Effective August 1, 2017, the Funds have adopted these amendments and noted no significant impact on the financial statements and accompanying notes.

8. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

The Funds have determined that no material events or transactions occurred through the issuance date of the Funds’ financial statements, which require an additional disclosure in or adjustment of the Funds’ financial statements.

 

 

 
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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

    

 

TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF AMG FUNDS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF AMG YACKTMAN FUND, AMG YACKTMAN FOCUSED FUND, AMG YACKTMAN FOCUSED FUND – SECURITY SELECTION ONLY AND AMG YACKTMAN SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES FUND

Opinions on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities, including the schedules of portfolio investments, of AMG Yacktman Fund, AMG Yacktman Focused Fund, AMG Yacktman Focused Fund – Security Selection Only and AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund (four of the funds constituting AMG Funds, hereafter collectively referred to as the “Funds”) as of December 31, 2017, the related statements of operations for the periods listed in the table below, the statements of changes in net assets for each of the periods listed in the table below, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of each of the Funds as of December 31, 2017, the results of each of their operations for the periods listed in the table below, the changes in each of their net assets for each of the periods listed in the table below and each of the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

 

Fund Name   Statements of operations   Statements of changes in net assets
AMG Yacktman Fund   Year ended December 31, 2017   Each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017
AMG Yacktman Focused Fund   Year ended December 31, 2017   Each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017
AMG Yacktman Focused Fund – Security Selection Only   Period January 30, 2017 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2017   Period January 30, 2017 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2017
AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund   Year ended December 31, 2017   Each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017

Basis for Opinions

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Funds’ management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Funds’ financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Funds in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of December 31, 2017 by correspondence with the custodian and brokers; when replies were not received from brokers, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

February 27, 2018

We have served as the auditor of one or more investment companies in AMG Funds Family since 1993.

    

 

 

 
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Other Information

 

    

 

 

TAX INFORMATION

 

AMG Yacktman Fund, AMG Yacktman Focused Fund, AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only and AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund each hereby designates the maximum amount allowable of its net taxable income as qualified dividends as provided in the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. The 2017 Form 1099-DIV you receive for each Fund will show the tax status of all distributions paid to you during the calendar year.

In accordance with federal tax law, the following Fund elected to provide foreign taxes paid and the income sourced from foreign countries. Accordingly, the following Fund hereby makes the following designations regarding its period ended December 31, 2017:

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

u The total amount of taxes paid and income sourced from foreign countries was $21,595 and $618,993, respectively.

Pursuant to section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, AMG Yacktman Fund, AMG Yacktman Focused Fund, AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only and AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund each hereby designates $756,727,302, $467,411,127, $0 and $966,501, respectively, as a capital gain distribution with respect to the taxable year ended December 31, 2017, or if subsequently determined to be different, the net capital gains of such year.

 

 

 
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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers

 

    

 

The Trustees and Officers of the Trust, their business addresses, principal occupations for the past five years and ages are listed below. The Trustees provide broad supervision over the affairs of the Trust and the Funds. The Trustees are experienced executives who meet periodically throughout the year to oversee the Funds’ activities, review contractual arrangements with companies that provide services to the Funds, and

    

    

  

review the Funds’ performance. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each Trustee or Officer is the address of the Trust: 600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830.

 

There is no stated term of office for Trustees. Trustees serve until their resignation, retirement or removal in

   accordance with the Trust’s organizational documents and policies adopted by the Board from time to time. The Chairman of the Trustees, President, Treasurer and Secretary of the Trust are elected by the Trustees annually. Other officers hold office at the pleasure of the Trustees.

Independent Trustees

The following Trustees are not “interested persons” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act:

 

  Number of Funds Overseen in

  Fund Complex

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee
   

• Trustee since 2012

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Bruce B. Bingham, 69

Partner, Hamilton Partners (real estate development firm) (1987-Present); Director of The Yacktman Funds (2000-2012).

   

• Trustee since 1999

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Edward J. Kaier, 72

Attorney at Law and Partner, Teeters Harvey Marrone & Kaier LLP (2007-Present); Attorney at Law and Partner, Hepburn Willcox Hamilton & Putnam, LLP (1977-2007); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Kurt A. Keilhacker, 54

Managing Member, TechFund Capital (1997-Present); Managing Member, TechFund Europe (2000-Present); Board Member, 6wind SA, (2002-Present); Managing Member, Elementum Ventures (2013-Present); Trustee, Gordon College (2001-2016).

   

• Trustee since 2004

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Steven J. Paggioli, 67

Independent Consultant (2002-Present); Formerly Executive Vice President and Director, The Wadsworth Group (1986-2001); Executive Vice President, Secretary and Director, Investment Company Administration, LLC (1990-2001); Vice President, Secretary and Director, First Fund Distributors, Inc. (1991-2001); Trustee, Professionally Managed Portfolios (32 portfolios); Advisory Board Member, Sustainable Growth Advisors, LP; Independent Director, Chase Investment Counsel (2008–Present).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Richard F. Powers III, 72

Adjunct Professor, U.S. Naval War College (2016); Adjunct Professor, Boston College (2010-2013); President and CEO of Van Kampen Investments Inc. (1998-2003).

   

• Independent Chairman

• Trustee since 1999

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Eric Rakowski, 59

Professor, University of California at Berkeley School of Law (1990-Present); Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Victoria L. Sassine, 52

Lecturer, Babson College (2007 – Present).

   

• Trustee since 2004

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Thomas R. Schneeweis, 70

Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts (2013-Present); Partner, S Capital Wealth Advisors (2015-Present); President, TRS Associates (1982-Present); Board Member, Chartered Alternative Investment Association (“CAIA”) (2002-Present); Director, CAIA Foundation (Education) (2010-Present); Director, Institute for GlobalAsset and Risk Management (Education) (2010-Present); Partner, S Capital Management, LLC (2007-2015); Director, CISDM at the University of Massachusetts, (1996-2013); President, Alternative Investment Analytics, LLC, (formerly Schneeweis Partners, LLC) (2001-2013); Professor of Finance, University of Massachusetts (1977-2013).

 

 
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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

    

 

Interested Trustees

Each Trustee in the following table is an “interested person” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act. Ms. Carsman is an interested person of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act by virtue of her position with, and interest in securities of, AMG.

 

  Number of Funds Overseen in

  Fund Complex

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee
   

• Trustee since 2011

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Christine C. Carsman, 65

Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2017-Present); Director (2010-Present) and Chair of the Board of Directors (2015-Present), AMG Funds plc; Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2011-2016); Senior Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2007-2011); Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2004-2007); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2004-2011); Senior Counsel, Vice President and Director of Operational Risk Management and Compliance, Wellington Management Company, LLP (1995-2004).

   
Officers    
   

  Position(s) Held with Fund

  and Length of Time Served

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years
   

• President since 2014

• Principal Executive Officer

  since 2014

• Chief Executive Officer since

  2016

 

Jeffrey T. Cerutti, 50

Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2014-Present); Director, President and Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2014-Present); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Chief Executive Officer, President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Executive Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President, VP Distributors, (2011-2014); Executive Vice President, Head of Distribution, Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (2010-2014); Managing Director, Head of Sales, UBS Global Asset Management (2001-2010).

   

• Chief Operating Officer since

  2007

 

Keitha L. Kinne, 59

Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2007-Present); Chief Investment Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2008-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2012-2014); Managing Partner, AMG Funds LLC (2007-2014); President, AMG Funds (2012-2014); President, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2012-2014); Managing Director, Legg Mason & Co., LLC (2006-2007); Managing Director, Citigroup Asset Management (2004-2006).

   

• Secretary since 2015

• Chief Legal Officer since 2015

 

Mark J. Duggan, 53

Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Attorney, K&L Gates, LLP (2009-2015).

   

• Chief Financial Officer since

  2017

• Treasurer since 2017

• Principal Financial Officer

  since 2017

• Principal Accounting Officer

  since 2017

 

Thomas G. Disbrow, 52

Vice President, Mutual Fund Treasurer & CFO, AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Managing Director - Global Head of Traditional Funds Product Control, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2015-2017); Managing Director - Head of North American Funds Treasury, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2011-2015).

   

• Chief Compliance Officer since

  2016

 

Gerald F. Dillenburg, 51

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2016-2017); Chief Compliance Officer and Sarbanes Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (1996-Present); Sarbanes-Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2016); Chief Operating Officer, Aston Funds (2003-2016); Secretary, Aston Funds (1996-2015); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Funds (1997-2010); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2010); Treasurer, Aston Funds (1996-2010).

   
• Deputy Treasurer since 2017  

John A. Starace, 47

Director, Mutual Fund Accounting, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Deputy Treasurer of Mutual Funds Services, AMG Funds LLC (2014-2017); Deputy Treasurer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Vice President, Citi Hedge Fund Services (2010-2014); Audit Senior Manager (2005-2010) and Audit Manager (2001-2005), Deloitte & Touche LLP.

 

 
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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

    

 

  Position(s) Held with Fund

  and Length of Time Served

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years
   
• Controller since 2017  

Christopher R. Townsend, 50

Vice President, Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Head of Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Chief Financial Officer and Financial and Operations Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2016-Present); Controller, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management LLC (2016); Head of Finance and Accounting, Allianz Asset Management (2006-2015).

   

• Anti-Money Laundering

  Compliance Officer since 2014

 

Patrick J. Spellman, 43

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2011-2017); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc., (2010-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Compliance Manager, Legal and Compliance, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2005-2011).

   
• Assistant Secretary since 2016  

Maureen A. Meredith, 32

Director, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Assistant Secretary, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Associate, Ropes & Gray LLP (2011-2015); Law Fellow, Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice (2010-2011).

 

 
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Approval of Amendment to Investment Management and Subadvisory Agreement

 

    

 

At an in-person meeting held on September 14-15, 2016, the Board of Trustees (the “Board” or the “Trustees”) of AMG Funds (the “Trust”), and separately a majority of the Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust (the “Independent Trustees”) within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), unanimously voted to approve an amendment to the Investment Management Agreement (the “Investment Management Agreement”) between AMG Funds LLC (the “Investment Manager”) and the Trust relating to AMG Yacktman Focused Fund – Security Selection Only, a new series of the Trust (the “New Fund”), and an amendment to the Subadvisory Agreement between the Investment Manager and Yacktman Asset Management LP (“Yacktman”) relating to the New Fund (the “Subadvisory Agreement” and, together with the Investment Management Agreement, the “New Fund Agreements”). The Trustees were separately represented by independent legal counsel in their consideration of the New Fund Agreements.

 

In considering the New Fund Agreements, the Trustees reviewed a variety of materials relating to the New Fund, the Investment Manager and Yacktman, including fee and expense information for an appropriate peer group of similar mutual funds for the New Fund (the “Peer Group”) and other information regarding the nature, extent and quality of services to be provided by the Investment Manager and Yacktman under their respective agreements. Because the New Fund is a newly created series of the Trust and has not yet begun operations, no comparative performance information for the New Fund was provided. The Trustees, however, considered the performance of other funds sub-advised by Yacktman in the AMG Funds Family of Funds, which, as of September 14-15, 2016, consisted of 70 funds (the “AMG Fund Complex”), for various time periods, noting that the New Fund will be managed by the same portfolio managers as, and use an investment philosophy and process that will closely resemble that used for, AMG Yacktman Focused Fund. Prior to voting, the Independent Trustees: (a) reviewed the foregoing information with their independent legal counsel and with management and (b) discussed with legal counsel the legal standards applicable to their consideration of the New Fund Agreements.

 

NATURE, EXTENT AND QUALITY OF SERVICES

 

In considering the nature, extent and quality of the services to be provided by the Investment Manager under the Investment Management Agreement, the

  

Trustees took into account information provided periodically throughout the previous year by the Investment Manager in Board meetings relating to the Investment Manager’s financial information, operations and personnel, the performance of its duties with respect to other funds in the AMG Fund Complex, the quality of the performance of the Investment Manager’s duties and the Trustees’ knowledge of the Investment Manager’s management team.

 

In the course of their deliberations regarding the Investment Management Agreement, the Trustees evaluated, among other things: (a) the quality of the monitoring services intended to be performed by the Investment Manager in overseeing the portfolio management responsibilities of Yacktman; (b) the Investment Manager’s ability to supervise the New Fund’s other service providers; and (c) the Investment Manager’s compliance program. The Trustees also took into account that, in performing its functions under the Investment Management Agreement and supervising Yacktman, the Investment Manager will: perform periodic detailed analyses and reviews of the performance by Yacktman of its obligations to the New Fund, including without limitation analysis and review of portfolio and other compliance matters and review of Yacktman’s investment performance with respect to the New Fund; prepare and present periodic reports to the Trustees regarding the investment performance of Yacktman and other information regarding Yacktman, at such times and in such forms as the Trustees may reasonably request; review and consider any changes in the personnel of Yacktman responsible for performing Yacktman’s obligations and make appropriate reports to the Trustees; review and consider any changes in the ownership or senior management of Yacktman and make appropriate reports to the Trustees; perform periodic in-person or telephonic diligence meetings, including with respect to compliance matters, with representatives of Yacktman; assist the Trustees and management of the Trust in developing and reviewing information with respect to the initial approval of the Subadvisory Agreement and annual consideration of the Subadvisory Agreement thereafter; prepare recommendations with respect to the continued retention of Yacktman or the replacement of Yacktman, including at the request of the Board; identify potential successors to or replacements of Yacktman or potential additional subadvisors; perform appropriate due diligence, and

  

develop and present to the Trustees a recommendation as to any such successor, replacement, or additional subadvisor, including at the request of the Board; designate and compensate from its own resources such personnel as the Investment Manager may consider necessary or appropriate to the performance of its services; and perform such other review and reporting functions as the Trustees shall reasonably request consistent with the Investment Management Agreement and applicable law. The Trustees noted the affiliation of Yacktman with the Investment Manager, noting any potential conflicts of interest. The Trustees also took into account the financial condition of the Investment Manager with respect to its ability to provide the services required under the Investment Management Agreement and noted that, as of June 30, 2016, the Investment Manager had approximately $27.4 billion in mutual fund assets under management. The Trustees also considered the Investment Manager’s risk management processes.

 

In the course of their deliberations regarding the nature, extent and quality of services to be provided by Yacktman under the Subadvisory Agreement, the Trustees evaluated, among other things: (a) the expected services to be rendered by Yacktman to the New Fund; (b) the qualifications and experience of Yacktman personnel; and (c) the Yacktman compliance program. The Trustees also took into account the financial condition of Yacktman with respect to its ability to provide the services required under the Subadvisory Agreement and noted that, as of June 30, 2016, Yacktman managed approximately $16.8 billion in assets. The Trustees also considered Yacktman’s risk management processes. The Trustees also noted that Yacktman sub-advised three other funds in the AMG Fund Complex, and that the Trustees had overseen funds subadvised by Yacktman since 2012.

 

The Trustees also considered information regarding the nature, extent and quality of services provided by the Investment Manager and Yacktman, as applicable, to funds in the AMG Fund Complex in connection with the Trustees’ annual consideration of the existing funds’ contractual arrangements. The Trustees considered the investment philosophy, strategies and techniques that are intended to be used in managing the New Fund. Among other things, the Trustees reviewed biographical information on portfolio management and other

 

 
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Approval of Amendment to Investment Management and Subadvisory Agreement (continued)

 

    

 

professional staff and information regarding Yacktman’s organizational and management structure. The Trustees considered specific information provided regarding the experience of the individuals at Yacktman that are expected to have portfolio management responsibility for the New Fund, including the information set forth in the New Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Trustees noted that one of the proposed portfolio managers is the Chief Investment Officer and Senior Vice President of Yacktman and the other portfolio manager is a Senior Vice President of Yacktman. In addition, the Trustees observed that Yacktman’s investment process focuses on intrinsic value, all capitalization ranges, bottom-up security selection, internal research and stocks that offer a compelling price given their underlying assets.

 

PERFORMANCE

 

Because the New Fund has not yet commenced operations, the Trustees noted that they could not draw any conclusions regarding the performance of the New Fund. The Trustees, however, considered the performance of Yacktman with respect to the other funds it manages in the AMG Fund Complex, including AMG Yacktman Focused Fund.

 

ADVISORY FEES, EXPENSES, PROFITABILITY AND ECONOMIES OF SCALE

 

In considering the reasonableness of the advisory fee charged by the Investment Manager for managing the New Fund, the Trustees noted that the Investment Manager, and not the New Fund, is responsible for paying the fees charged by Yacktman, and, therefore, that the fees paid to the Investment Manager cover the cost of providing portfolio management services as well as the cost of providing search, selection and monitoring services in operating a “manager-of-managers” complex of mutual funds. The Trustees also noted that the Investment Manager would indirectly benefit from the portion of the advisory fees paid to Yacktman by the Investment Manager because the Investment Manager and Yacktman are affiliated. The Trustees noted that the New Fund’s proposed advisory and administration fees and total gross expenses were both higher than the average for the New Fund’s Peer Group, measured as of July 31, 2016. The Trustees also took into account the fact that the Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2018, to limit the total annual

  

operating expenses (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), shareholder servicing fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses, and extraordinary expenses) of the New Fund to the annual rate of 1.08% of the New Fund’s average daily net assets, noting that the net expenses of the New Fund were higher than the average for the New Fund’s Peer Group. The Trustees took into account management’s discussion of the New Fund’s expenses. The Trustees concluded that, in light of the nature, extent and quality of the services to be provided by the Investment Manager and Yacktman and the considerations noted above with respect to the Investment Manager and Yacktman, the New Fund’s advisory fees and subadvisory fees are reasonable.

 

In considering the anticipated profitability of the Investment Manager with respect to the provision of investment advisory services to the New Fund, the Trustees considered all revenues and other benefits, both direct and indirect (including any so-called “fallout benefits” such as reputational value derived from the Investment Manager serving as investment manager to the New Fund), received by Investment Manager and its affiliates attributable to managing all the mutual funds in the AMG Fund Complex, the cost of providing such services, the entrepreneurial risk undertaken as Investment Manager and sponsor of the New Fund and the resulting profitability to the Investment Manager and its affiliates from these relationships. The Trustees also considered the amount of the advisory fee retained by the Investment Manager after payment of the subadvisory fee with respect to the New Fund. Based on the foregoing, the Trustees concluded that the profitability to the Investment Manager is expected to be reasonable and that, since the New Fund does not currently have any assets, the Investment Manager is not realizing any material benefits from economies of scale. With respect to economies of scale, the Trustees also noted that as the New Fund’s assets increase over time, the New Fund may realize economies of scale to the extent that the increase in assets is proportionally greater than the increase in certain other expenses.

 

In considering the anticipated profitability of Yacktman with respect to the provision of subadvisory services to the New Fund, although recognizing that profitability with respect to the New Fund is speculative, the Trustees considered information regarding Yacktman’s organization,

  

management and financial stability. The Trustees noted that, because Yacktman is an affiliate of the Investment Manager, a portion of Yacktman’s revenues or anticipated profitability might be shared directly or indirectly with the Investment Manager. The Trustees also noted that the subadvisory fees are to be paid by the Investment Manager out of its advisory fee. The Board took into account management’s discussion of the proposed subadvisory fee structure, and the services Yacktman is expected to provide in performing its functions under the Subadvisory Agreement. The Trustees also considered the anticipated net assets of the New Fund for its first year of operations. The Trustees also were provided, in their June 22-23, 2016 meeting, with the profitability of Yacktman with respect to the other funds it manages in the AMG Fund Complex. Based on the foregoing, the Trustees concluded that the profitability to Yacktman is expected to be reasonable and that, since the New Fund does not currently have any assets, Yacktman is not realizing material benefits from economies of scale. Also with respect to economies of scale, the Trustees noted that as the New Fund’s assets increase over time, the New Fund may realize other economies of scale to the extent the increase in assets is proportionally greater than the increase in certain other expenses.

 

After consideration of the foregoing, the Trustees reached the following conclusions (in addition to the conclusions discussed above) regarding the New Fund Agreements: (a) the Investment Manager and Yacktman have demonstrated that they possess the capability and resources to perform the duties required of them under the Investment Management Agreement and the Subadvisory Agreement; (b) Yacktman’s investment strategy is appropriate for pursuing the New Fund’s investment objectives; (c) Yacktman is reasonably likely to execute its investment strategy consistently over time; and (d) the Investment Manager and Yacktman maintain appropriate compliance programs.

 

Based on all of the above-mentioned factors and their related conclusions, with no single factor or conclusion being determinative and with each Trustee not necessarily attributing the same weight to each factor, the Trustees concluded that approval of the New Fund Agreements would be in the best interests of the New Fund and its shareholders. Accordingly, on September 14-15, 2016, the Trustees, and separately a majority of the Independent Trustees, unanimously voted to approve the New Fund Agreements.

 

 
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Table of Contents
LOGO

 

    

 

Investment Manager and Administrator

 

AMG Funds LLC

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

 

Distributor

 

AMG Distributors, Inc.

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

 

Subadvisor

 

Yacktman Asset Management LP

6300 Bridgepoint Parkway

Building One, Suite 500

Austin, TX 78730

 

Custodian

 

The Bank of New York Mellon

111 Sanders Creek Parkway

East Syracuse, NY 13057

  

Legal Counsel

 

Ropes & Gray LLP

Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston Street

Boston, MA 02199-3600

 

Transfer Agent

BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

Attn: AMG Funds

P.O. Box 9769

Providence, RI 02940

800.548.4539

  

This report is prepared for the Funds’ shareholders. It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by an effective prospectus. To receive a free copy of the prospectus or Statement of Additional Information, which includes additional information about Fund Trustees, please contact us by calling 800.835.3879. Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

Current net asset values per share for each Fund are available on the Funds’ website at amgfunds.com.

 

A description of the policies and procedures the Fund uses to vote its proxies is available: (i) without charge, upon request, by calling 800.835.3879, or (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) website at sec.gov. For information regarding the Funds’ proxy voting record for the 12-month period ended June 30, call 800.835.3879 or visit the SEC website at sec.gov.

 

The Funds file their complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Funds’ Forms N-Q are available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. A Fund’s Form N-Q may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1.800.SEC.0330. To review a complete list of the Funds’ portfolio holdings, or to view the most recent quarterly holdings report, semiannual report, or annual report, please visit amgfunds.com.

 

         
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LOGO

 

    

 

 

AFFILIATE SUBADVISED FUNDS

 

BALANCED FUNDS

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

 

AMG FQ Global Risk-Balanced

First Quadrant, L.P.

 

EQUITY FUNDS

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

 

AMG FQ Tax-Managed U.S. Equity

AMG FQ Long-Short Equity

First Quadrant, L.P.

 

AMG Frontier Small Cap Growth

Frontier Capital Management Company, LLC

 

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap

AMG GW&K U.S. Small Cap Growth

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

AMG Renaissance International Equity

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth

The Renaissance Group LLC

 

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value II

AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value

AMG River Road Long-Short

AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value

AMG River Road Small Cap Value

River Road Asset Management, LLC

 

AMG SouthernSun Small Cap

AMG SouthernSun Global Opportunities

AMG SouthernSun U.S. Equity

SouthernSun Asset Management, LLC

 

AMG Systematic Mid Cap Value

Systematic Financial Management, L.P.

 

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth

TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC

  

AMG Trilogy Emerging Markets Equity

AMG Trilogy Emerging Wealth Equity

Trilogy Global Advisors, L.P.

 

AMG Yacktman

AMG Yacktman Focused

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities

Yacktman Asset Management LP

 

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

AMG GW&K Core Bond

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

OPEN-ARCHITECTURE FUNDS

 

ALTERNATIVE FUNDS

AMG Managers Lake Partners LASSO Alternative

Lake Partners, Inc.

 

BALANCED FUNDS

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Balanced

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

 

EQUITY FUNDS

AMG Managers Brandywine

AMG Managers Brandywine Advisors Mid Cap Growth

AMG Managers Brandywine Blue

Friess Associates, LLC

 

AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies

AMG Managers Cadence Mid Cap

Cadence Capital Management, LLC

 

AMG Managers CenterSquare Real Estate

CenterSquare Investment Management, Inc.

 

AMG Managers Emerging Opportunities

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

WEDGE Capital Management L.L.P.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC

RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc.

  

AMG Managers Essex Small/Micro Cap Growth

Essex Investment Management Co., LLC

 

AMG Managers Fairpointe ESG Equity

AMG Managers Fairpointe Mid Cap

Fairpointe Capital LLC

 

AMG Managers Guardian Capital Global Dividend

Guardian Capital LP

 

AMG Managers LMCG Small Cap Growth

LMCG Investments, LLC

 

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Growth

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Mid Cap Growth

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

 

AMG Managers Pictet International

Pictet Asset Management Limited

 

AMG Managers Silvercrest Small Cap

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC

 

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities

Skyline Asset Management, L.P.

 

AMG Managers Special Equity

Ranger Investment Management, L.P.

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

Smith Asset Management Group, L.P.

Federated MDTA LLC

 

AMG Managers Value Partners Asia Dividend

Value Partners Hong Kong Limited

 

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government

Amundi Pioneer Institutional Asset Management, Inc.

 

AMG Managers Doubleline Core Plus Bond

DoubleLine Capital LP

 

AMG Managers Global Income Opportunity

AMG Managers Loomis Sayles Bond

Loomis, Sayles & Co., L.P.

 

         
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LOGO

         ANNUAL REPORT

 

    

 

 

 

       AMG Funds        
 
       December 31, 2017        
 
       LOGO        
 
      

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

 

 

      

Class N: TQENX

 

      

Class I: TQEIX

 

       Class Z: TQEZX   
      

    

    

    

            

 

 

    

 

 

             

 

amgfunds.com

 

     

 

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Table of Contents


Table of Contents
   

    

AMG Funds

Annual Report — December 31, 2017

 

    

 

    

    

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

   PAGE  
   

LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS

     2  
 
   

ABOUT YOUR FUND’S EXPENSES

     3  
 
    PORTFOLIO MANAGER’S COMMENTS, FUND SNAPSHOTS AND SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS      4  
 
   

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

  
 
   

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

     13  
 
   

Balance sheet, net asset value (NAV) per share computations and cumulative undistributed amounts

  
 
   

Statement of Operations

     15  
 
   

Detail of sources of income, expenses, and realized and unrealized gains (losses) during the fiscal year

  
 
   

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

     16  
 
   

Detail of changes in assets for the past two fiscal years

  
 
   

Financial Highlights

     17  
 
   

Historical net asset values per share, distributions, total returns, income and expense ratios, turnover ratios and net assets

  
 
   

Notes to Financial Statements

     20  
 
   

Accounting and distribution policies, details of agreements and transactions with Fund management and affiliates, and descriptions of certain investment risks

  
 
    REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM      26  
 
    OTHER INFORMATION      27  
 
    TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS      28  

Nothing contained herein is to be considered an offer, sale or solicitation of an offer to buy shares of any series of the AMG Funds family of mutual funds. Such offering is made only by prospectus, which includes details as to offering price and other material information.

    

 

 

 


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LOGO       Letter to Shareholders

 

    

 

Dear Shareholder:

The last 12 months was a strong period for equity markets as the health of the global economy improved and positive investor sentiment helped extend the U.S. bull market into its ninth year. The S&P 500® Index, a widely followed barometer of the U.S. equity market, returned 21.83% during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. By comparison, small cap stocks underperformed large caps with a 14.65% return for the small cap Russell 2000® Index.

The S&P 500 Index has notched positive performance in every month since the U.S. presidential election amidst the backdrop of strong corporate earnings, improving global economic growth and the passage of sweeping tax reform. 2017 also marked a turning point for the broader global economy as growth accelerated in a more coordinated fashion around the world, global trade improved and commodities recovered. U.S. equity market volatility remained extremely low despite saber rattling in North Korea and a devastating hurricane season. In fact, the S&P 500 Index has not seen a pullback greater than 5% since the summer of 2016.

In total, all but two sectors of the S&P 500 Index were positive during the last 12 months; however, there was significant dispersion in performance across sectors. Information technology and materials stocks led the Index with returns of 38.87% and 23.25%, respectively, while companies within the energy and telecommunication services sectors were the laggards with returns of (1.11)% and (1.49)%, respectively. Growth stocks outperformed value during all four quarters of the year and ended 2017 with returns of 30.2% and 13.7% for the Russell 1000® Growth and Russell 1000® Value Indexes, respectively. International equities outperformed domestic equities for the first time since 2012 as the global economy picked up and international returns were boosted by a weaker U.S. Dollar with the MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index returning 27.19% during the year. Meanwhile, emerging markets had their strongest year since 2009 with a 37.3% return for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

The U.S. bond market produced modestly positive returns for the year, as measured by the 3.54% return for the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a broad measure of U.S. bond market performance. The yield curve flattened as the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) continued to normalize monetary policy and short-term interest rates rose more than longer-term rates. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note rose 69 basis points during the year to yield 1.89% while the 10-year U.S. Treasury note ended 2017 at a 2.40% yield, five basis points lower than where it started. Investment grade corporates outperformed Treasuries and securitized credits with returns of 6.42%, 2.31% and 2.51%, respectively. Bond investors willing to accept more credit risk were rewarded with higher returns as high yield bonds performed strongly and credit spreads tightened. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index ended the period with a 7.50% return.

AMG Funds appreciates the privilege of providing investment tools to you and your clients. Our foremost goal is to provide investment solutions that help our shareholders successfully reach their long-term investment goals. By partnering with AMG’s affiliated investment boutiques, AMG Funds provides access to a distinctive array of actively managed return-oriented investment strategies. Additionally, we oversee and distribute a number of complementary open-architecture mutual funds subadvised by unaffiliated investment managers. We thank you for your continued confidence and investment in AMG Funds. You can rest assured that under all market conditions our team is focused on delivering excellent investment management services for your benefit.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Jeffery Cerutti

President

AMG Funds

 

Average Annual Total Returns

   
Periods ended
December 31, 2017*
 
 

Stocks:

        1 Year     3 Years       5 Years  

Large Caps

  (S&P 500® Index)     21.83%       11.41%       15.79%  

Small Caps

  (Russell 2000® Index)     14.65%       9.96%       14.12%  

International

  (MSCI All Country World ex-USA Index)     27.19%       7.83%       6.80%  

Bonds:

                           

Investment Grade

  (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index)     3.54%       2.24%       2.10%  

High Yield

  (Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index)     7.50%       6.35%       5.78%  

Tax-exempt

  (Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index)     5.45%       2.98%       3.02%  

Treasury Bills

  (ICE BofAML 6-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index)     0.95%       0.62%       0.43%  

*Source: Factset. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

 

 

 
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  About Your Fund’s Expenses

 

    

 

As a shareholder of a Fund, you may incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, which may include sales charges (loads) on purchase payments; redemption fees; and exchange fees; and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution (12b-1) fees; and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. The example is based on $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period as indicated below.

 

ACTUAL EXPENSES

 

The first line of the following table provides information about the actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the

    

amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

 

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

 

The second line of the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed annual rate of return of 5% before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return.

    

    

    

The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds by comparing this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads), redemption fees, or exchange fees. Therefore, the second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds.

 

 

 

Six Months Ended
December 31, 2017
   Expense
Ratio for
the Period
    Beginning
Account
Value
07/01/17
    Ending
Account
Value
12/31/17
    Expenses
Paid
During
the Period*
 
AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund  
Based on Actual Fund Return                    
Class N      1.67%       $1,000       $1,159       $9.09      
Class I      1.25%       $1,000       $1,161       $6.81      
Class Z      1.25%       $1,000       $1,161       $6.81      
Based on Hypothetical 5% Annual Return  
Class N      1.67%       $1,000       $1,017       $8.49      
Class I      1.25%       $1,000       $1,019       $6.36      
Class Z      1.25%       $1,000       $1,019       $6.36      

 

* Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized expense ratio multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half-year (184), then divided by 365.
        
 

 

 
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AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (unaudited)

 

    

 

YEAR IN REVIEW

 

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund (the “Fund”) (Class Z shares) returned 32.85%, while its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index (the “Index”), returned 33.84%.

 

Markets climbed steadily throughout the year to post annual returns of 22% to 21% for broad U.S. equity indexes,1 25% for non-U.S. equities,2 and 37% for emerging markets (EM).3 These gains coincided with notably muted levels of volatility across all equity markets—including historic lows for the U.S. and developed markets4—and steadily increasing levels of global economic activity from manufacturing and service industries.5 Emerging markets also benefited from a benign global environment and an increase in global trade. The MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap universe lagged its large cap counterparts in the first half of the year but started catching up in the second half. Steady performance was helped by more stable currencies, strong export volumes, recovering domestic economies particularly in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China). According to Capital Economics, aggregate EM GDP6 growth reached 5% in 2017 while inflation moderated to a seven-year low.

 

Growth differentiation was noticeable in countries with reform-oriented governments. In Asia, India’s introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July and demonetization reforms led to a re-rating of the market in 2017. The international ratings agency Standard & Poor’s recognized Indonesia’s progress and upgraded its rating to Investment Grade. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), under an International Monetary Fund program, the Egyptian government started reducing energy subsidies while the central bank took a hawkish stance on monetary policy and depreciated the currency by 50%. The Greek government opted to remain in the Eurozone, pushed for labor and pension reforms and started a new privatization program. In South Africa, both the Rand and the stock market rallied following Cyril Ramaphosa’s victory in the African National Congress. Ramaphosa, a reformer, will likely become the next president of South Africa by 2019. After trying unsuccessfully populist regimes for decades, Latin America (e.g., Argentina, Brazil) has been moving toward more orthodox policies with fiscal and monetary discipline. In the Frontier markets, the Vietnamese government continued to relax foreign ownership rules and is in the midst of a privatization program.

  

 

The Fund’s index agnostic investment framework focuses on businesses with superior, sustainable growth and long-term cash flow generation in emerging and frontier countries. We believe businesses should benefit from a number of structural tailwinds such as young demographics, growing infrastructure and productivity, and reform-oriented government policies.

 

FUND PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTION

 

The Fund modestly underperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index in 2017. Our contributions were strongest from our holdings in EMEA, stock selection as well as our overweight in Egypt paid off, and we further increased our exposure to the region to position for a potential 2018 recovery. In contrast, there was weakness among our holdings in Saudi Arabia driven by the slow economic activity and negative political sentiment. Our positioning in Latin America benefited from our stock picking and allocation in Brazil. Asia was not a substantial contributor to performance and positive contributions from our holdings in Southeast Asia were offset by our underweight and selections in Taiwan and China. Lastly, our holdings in the Frontier Markets, notably Vietnam and Argentina, boosted the Fund’s performance.

 

Regional Performance: Asia

Our cautious stance on Asia, reflected in our underweight to the region, is due in part to our concerns regarding export-oriented economies such as China, Taiwan and Korea where demographics and the sustainability of growth are more challenging relative to the rest of the Emerging Markets; that said, the Taiwanese and Korean markets trended higher in the last twelve months as beneficiaries of global growth. Within Taiwan, we encountered challenges due to our stock selection. Falling by 36% while we owned it was Tung Thih, a manufacturer of sensors used in automobiles, which was a beneficiary of the increasing electrification of cars. The company’s margins came under significant pricing pressure from Chinese competition which made us revise down our earnings. In light of the difficult competitive landscape, we exited the name in June. Shares of contact lens maker Ginko International dropped by 20% while it was held due to higher-than-expected bad debt provisioning and high inventory days. Ginko sells traditional and disposable contact lenses and lens care products under the brand names Horien and Hydron. Most of the company’s sales come from China where it has over 30% market share and only 7% of the population wears contact lenses. Visibility into the

 

  

company got murkier when one of the company’s factories in China was shut down by the Chinese regulators in April, which also triggered us to sell out of the name. Bucking the trend was Chroma Ate, a producer of semiconductor equipment that is positioned to benefit from upcoming capital expenditure cycles such as the Chinese electronic vehicle market, increasing use of 3D sensors, and rising demand for graphics processing units. We bought the stock in the third quarter and shares rose 140% on earnings consistently beating expectations and positive guidance for 2018.

 

In China, our top contributor was Sunny Optical Technology, a leading maker of automobile and smartphone camera lenses. Shares charged ahead by 89% while we owned it due to improving margins thanks to a better product mix and increasing demand for multiple cameras on electronic devices. We sold the name in June when its share price reached our target. Technology peer Kingsoft was also a positive contributor, rising 64%. Kingsoft is leading provider of online offerings such as gaming, marketing services, and software services. Management communicated confidence in next year’s games growth and looked to cooperate with Tencent to jointly introduce three mobile games in 2018. On the other side of the spectrum were AviChina Industry & Technology Co. and PAX Global Technology. AviChina Industry & Technology designs and manufactures civil aircraft and aviation components. Its share price dropped 23% this year as military reforms led delays in orders. PAX, a designer and manufacturer of electronic payment terminals for point-of-sale locations, declined 35% until we sold it. PAX experienced a delay in product launches and also announced a profit warning that fiscal year 2017 net profits were likely to decrease by 40–50% year-over-year from an increase in R&D expenses and impairment losses. With our confidence in management shaken, we exited the name in the fourth quarter. We also let the credits roll and closed our position in motion picture technology provider IMAX China Holding with the stock declining 44% throughout the period during which we held the name. We were positive on the stock due to a strong backlog of hardware sales to Chinese cinemas and positive long-term trends favoring IMAX-format blockbuster movies. However, IMAX China’s gross box office receipts underperformed the overall film market in China throughout the year. We also experienced increased difficulty in forecasting IMAX’s tie up with its biggest client Wanda (a conglomerate), and Wanda’s trading

 

 
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Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

halt in July 2017 elevated our concerns. With decreasing visibility on its key revenue drivers and customers, we sold the name in the third quarter.

 

In Korea, stock selection had a slightly positive impact but was offset by our underweight positioning. Shares in Koh Young Technology Inc., an inspection technology company, rose 105% after the stock was added to the Robo Index in June; the index consists of 84 global robotics and automation companies. The company also posted strong earnings momentum owing to growing demand for its 3D automated optical inspection (AOI) technology. Lagging in performance with a 2% decline in 2017 was i-SENS, a health care manufacturer selling biosensors for the glucose monitoring market. Shares corrected in the third quarter due to worse-than-expected operating profit owing to one-off items. We view increasing meter sales throughout 2017 as a positive indicator for the longer term as sales of strips should follow gradually within the next couple of years.

 

We benefited from our exposure to the Southeast Asian countries as growth and reform momentum continued. In Indonesia, Bank Tabungan Negara climbed 108% on robust affordable mortgage demand and continued improvements in loan quality. Bank Tabungan is a major beneficiary of President Jokowi’s affordable housing programs for the poor. We remain positive in Indonesia as government-induced infrastructure policies will likely lead to an increase of capital spending and we are optimistic on the prospects of private consumption. Contributions from our Indian holdings were also strong. Vakrangee, which specializes in providing “last mile” retail services in suburban and rural communities for e-government, logistics, e-commerce, and banking, climbed 104%. Vakrangee offers a unique way to play all growth drivers in India as a key beneficiary of major government reforms. Moving in a similar direction was home improvement and building material retailer Shankara Building Products which gained 61% as end demand was also strong on Modi’s “Housing for All” initiatives.

 

Regional Performance: EMEA

Our contributions were strongest from our holdings in EMEA with Egypt leading the way. We turned bullish on Egypt earlier this year after a decade of turmoil. With Egypt aligning itself with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), economic reforms are underway. The Egyptian government floated the currency in late 2016 which led to a 50% depreciation in the Egyptian pound. Our holdings in Juhayna Food Industries, a leading manufacturer of

  

juice, yogurt and dairy products, gained 77% this year. Following the foreign currency depreciation and a subsequent sell-off in the shares, we took a stake in the company earlier in the year and looked forward to high pricing power and a quick margin recovery. Management proved us right as the company hiked prices across the board. We see Juhayna as a long-term growth story as the Egyptian packaged dairy, yogurt and cheese market remains largely underpenetrated and we look forward to margin improvement in 2018 when volumes should exhibit a strong recovery.

 

South Africa was also a positive contributor for the region. Hailing from South Africa, Mr. Price Group, which engages in the clothing and retail business, was another top contributor in the Fund. The South African economy slowed down in 2017, which drove down retail valuations; however, value-oriented players like Mr. Price were positioned to benefit from more cost conscious consumers. Mr. Price is the only retailer in South Africa for which both margins and returns have improved following all three previous downturns. Shares rose 75% as margins expanded due to rising sales and operating leverage. Generating negative alpha with a 30% fall was Alpha Bank, the fourth largest Greek bank by total assets. We believe that the Greek economy may have reached an inflection point but volatility abounds as Alpha Bank saw a meaningful correction in the third quarter on renewed concerns over an upcoming stress test by European regulators. The International Monetary Fund’s push for further capitalization was also taken as a negative sign by the market.

 

Saudi Arabia and Russia were our biggest country detractors in EMEA. In Russia, leading food retailer and hypermarket Lenta declined 29% as the macroeconomic recovery has not yet been reflected by retail spending in Russia. Lenta is known for it its low price and low cost culture and strong presence in hypermarkets. Finally, we de-risked in Saudi Arabia following the recent purge within the royal family. Saudi Arabia is undergoing a major transformation in both politics and macroeconomics. A number of prominent Saudi Arabian princes, government ministers, and business people were arrested in November 2017 following the creation of an anti-corruption committee led by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. With political risks on the rise, we sold our Saudi holdings Herfy Food Services and Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance and concluded the year with no holdings in the country. Herfy Food Services, a leading operator of restaurants, declined 18% throughout the period. Bupa, a single line insurance company, declined 14%

  

given an increasingly challenging economic environment. Saudi Arabia was our biggest country detractor in EMEA.

 

Regional Performance: Americas

Holdings in the Americas generated positive contributions led by Brazil, while Colombia detracted. After experiencing two years of a severe recession, the Brazilian economy slowly recovered in 2017. Brazilian health care and benefits administrator Qualicorp rose 64%. The company provides administration services for corporate health plans of national and multinational companies. The company reported strong first quarter results driven by better expense control and a focus on cash flow generation. Also climbing 57% was Ser Educacional SA, which operates a private education institution providing undergraduate, graduate programs, and distance learning. Shares moved to the head of the class as the company delivered solid results in the third quarter with healthy growth in the distance learning student base, an increasingly important and high-margin business. We believe Ser will continue to show sustainable growth as scale benefits have already started kicking in with its nationwide expansion strategy and focus on online education. Moving in the opposite direction was Banco Davivienda, the third-largest bank in Colombia by assets and profits. Its share price declined 12% in the fourth quarter and closed out the year netting only a 2% gain for the partial year. The company’s fourth quarter decline was attributable to higher-than-expected loan loss provisions and lower-than-anticipated net interest income. We were a buyer on weakness as we believe the bank is positioned to benefit from a recovery in economic growth and continue to lead in consumer lending.

 

Moving on to other countries, shares in Mexico-based BanRegio Grupo Financiero, a financial institution that provides banking services for small and medium-sized companies, declined 2% for the full year on lower-than-anticipated income on slower loan growth. As the bank has one of the most reputable management teams with a long and successful track record, we continued to add to our position. Moving south, Alicorp, a Peru-based fast moving consumer company with dominant market shares in detergents, mayonnaise and pasta, rose 52% as margins expanded throughout the year and benefited from the company’s efficiency seeking initiatives. We also benefited from Chile-based Forus’ 35% share price gain as sales experienced healthy year-over-year growth. Forus is a Chilean leader in retail with 36 years of experience and offers global brands such as Hush Puppies, Columbia, Nine West,

 

 
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Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

Patagonia, JanSport and Billabong among others. The consumer and retail sectors are key beneficiaries of the economic recovery, low rates and a stable currency. We added to our exposure in Chile as we expect the result of the presidential elections to further boost economic sentiment next year. Despite the broad correction in the Latin American markets in the final quarter of 2017, we see this region as one of the most attractive regions going into 2018.

 

Regional Performance: Frontier

Frontier was the second best performing region in terms of contribution. In Vietnam, Masan Group Corporation, a conglomerate that engages in the consumer products, financial services, and resources sectors, was one of our top winners with shares rising 85%. Masan has several positive catalysts in 2018 including its banking subsidiary Techcombank’s initial public offering as well as an expected recovery in consumer products segment following restructuring initiatives. In Argentina, Grupo Supervielle SA, a small capitalization bank with just a 2% market share of total system assets rose 75%. We believe the company offers an attractive earnings growth story and is positioned to benefit from the underpenetrated credit market; Argentina’s bank credit to GDP of 14% ranks as the lowest in Latin America. The company achieved broad-based above-market loan and deposit growth, while driving efficiency and profitability gains; further, the successful completion of their follow-on equity offering in September provided additional capital to support accelerated growth.

  

Conclusion

Entering 2018, global economic momentum remains firm and even strengthening on the margin. We expect growth leadership in EM to shift from export-and commodities-driven in 2017 to a more domestic consumption- and investment-driven one in 2018. EM aggregate growth ex-China is expected to recover further in the next twelve months. Following a seven-year cycle of U.S. Dollar strength, EM currencies should be supportive of inflationary outlook and investor sentiment. We will be closely watching global central banks and monetary policies and also China’s policy agenda. In addition, there will be a heavy election cycle in a number of Emerging and Frontier markets including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Russia, Egypt and Zimbabwe in 2018.

 

We see Latin America as the most attractive region with economic recovery strengthening in a number of countries such as Brazil, Chile, Peru and Argentina. In EMEA, we added to our positions in Greece, South Africa and Egypt in preparation for 2018. Egypt in particular has individual companies that we believe have better-than-expected earnings reports over the next twelve months. We are also positive on Greece as we expect significant normalization after a prolonged period of depression with potential for upside surprises on growth. In Asia, China will be critical for EM sentiment on two fronts: (1) supply side consolidation helping commodity prices; (2) GDP growth slowdown. In China, we remain focused on new economy companies andsectors which will likely benefit from government policies (e.g., environmental, healthcare, education and internet).

  

We continue to be underweight the export-oriented economies, materials, and deep cyclicals in China, Taiwan and Korea. We are also underweight India with valuations being stretched and bond yields rising. We prefer countries with government-induced infrastructure policies leading to a capital expenditure cycle such as Indonesia, Philippines, India and Peru. We also believe that smaller markets and Frontier (e.g., Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Pakistan) should relatively outperform in 2018. As fundamental investors, we will continue to differentiate and deliver performance by distinguishing fundamentals from noise and focus on long-term quality, cash flows and growth.

 

For the new year, we remain dedicated to adding value to the assets you have entrusted to us, and look forward to working with you throughout 2018.

 

1 As represented by the S&P 500 and Russell 3000 indexes

 

2 As represented by the MSCI EAFE Index

 

3 As represented by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index

 

4 As defined by the CBOE set of volatility indexes (based on market expectations of near-term volatility for S&P 500, MSCI EAFE, and MSCI Emerging Markets index option or ETF prices)

 

5 Source: IHS Markit surveys of global purchasing executives

 

6 Gross Domestic Product

 

The views expressed represent the opinions of TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC as of December 31, 2017 and are not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results, and are subject to change without notice.

 

 
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AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

Portfolio Manager’s Comments (continued)

 

    

 

CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund’s cumulative total return is based on the daily change in net asset value (NAV), and assumes that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. This graph compares a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the Fund’s Class Z shares on December 14, 2016 (inception date), to a $10,000 investment made in the MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index for the same time period. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on a Fund distribution or redemption of shares. The listed returns for the Fund are net of expenses and the returns for the index exclude expenses. Total returns would have been lower had certain expenses not been reduced.

 

 

LOGO

The table below shows the average annual total returns for the AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund and the MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index for the same time periods ended December 31, 2017.

 

    Average Annual Total Returns1   One
Year
    Since
Inception
    Inception
Date
 
 

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

     
 

Class N

          21.72%       02/24/17  
 

Class I

    32.85%       31.81%       12/14/16  
   

Class Z

    32.85%       31.81%       12/14/16  
   

MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index10

    33.84%       31.47%       12/14/16  

The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. 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.

 

Investors should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For performance information through the most recent month end, current net asset values per share for the Fund and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or visit our website at amgfunds.com for a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

  Date reflects the inception date of the Fund, not the index.

 

1  Total return equals income yield plus share price change and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns are net of fees and may reflect offsets of Fund expenses as described in the prospectus. No adjustment has been made for taxes payable by shareholders on their reinvested dividends and capital gain distributions. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. The listed returns on the Fund are net of expenses and based on the published NAV as of December 31, 2017. All returns are in U.S. dollars ($).

 

2  A short-term redemption fee of 2% will be charged on shares held for less than 60 days.

 

3  Investments in international securities are subject to certain risks of overseas investing including currency fluctuations and changes in political and economic conditions, which could result in significant market fluctuations.

 

4  The Fund is subject to the risks associated with investments in emerging markets, such as erratic earnings patterns, economic and political instability, changing exchange controls, limitations on repatriation of foreign capital and changes in local governmental attitudes toward private investment, possibly leading to nationalization or confiscation of investor assets. Such risks may be magnified for securities in frontier emerging markets.

 

5  The Fund is subject to risks associated with investments in small-capitalization companies, such as erratic earnings patterns, competitive conditions, limited earnings history and a reliance on one or a limited number of products.

 

6  The Fund is subject to currency risk resulting from fluctuations in exchange rates that may affect the total loss or gain on a non-U.S. Dollar investment when converted back to U.S. Dollars.

 

7  The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as options and futures; the complexity and rapidly changing structure of derivatives markets may increase the possibility of market losses.

 

8  Companies that are in similar businesses may be similarly affected by particular economic or market events; to the extent the Fund has substantial holdings within a particular sector, the risks associated with that sector increase.

 

9  The Fund invests in growth stocks, which may be more sensitive to market movements because their prices tend to reflect the future investor expectations rather than just current profits.

 

10 The MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index includes small cap representation across 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries. EM countries include: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Qatar, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. The small cap segment tends to capture more local economic and sector characteristics relative to larger Emerging Markets capitalization segments. Unlike the Fund, the MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index is unmanaged, is not available for investment, and does not incur expenses.

 

Not FDIC insured, nor bank guaranteed. May lose value.

 

 

 

 
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AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

Fund Snapshots (unaudited)

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN

 

Sector    % of
Net Assets
 

Consumer Discretionary

     23.9  

Financials

     23.1  

Industrials

     12.6  

Information Technology

     12.1  

Consumer Staples

     8.2  

Real Estate

     7.2  

Health Care

     6.9  

Materials

     3.3  

Energy

     1.2  

Telecommunication Services

     1.1  

Short-Term Investments

     0.3  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

     0.1  

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

 

Security Name    % of
Net Assets

Juhayna Food Industries

   2.0

Life Healthcare Group Holdings, Ltd.

   2.0

Ser Educacional, S.A.

   2.0

Ennoconn Corp.

   1.9

Mytilineos Holdings, S.A.

   1.9

Masan Group Corp., 12/12/18

   1.8

Vakrangee, Ltd.

   1.7

The Phoenix Mills, Ltd.

   1.7

Kingsoft Corp., Ltd.

   1.7

Banregio Grupo Financiero, SAB de CV

   1.7
    

 

Top Ten as a Group

   18.4
  

 

 

 

Because a fund’s strategy may result in multiple investments in particular sectors of the economy, its performance may depend on the performance of those sectors and may fluctuate more widely than investments diversified across more sectors. For additional information on these and other risk considerations, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Any sectors, industries, or securities discussed should not be perceived as investment recommendations. Mention of a specific security should not be considered a recommendation to buy or solicitation to sell that security. Specific securities mentioned in this report may have been sold from the Fund’s portfolio of investments by the time you receive this report.

 

 
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AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Common Stocks - 95.9%

     

Consumer Discretionary - 23.9%

 

  

China Maple Leaf Educational Systems, Ltd. (China)

     78,000        $91,340  

CJ E&M Corp. (South Korea)

     1,100        100,388  

Forus, S.A. (Chile)

     21,000        94,524  

Fourlis Holdings, S.A. (Greece)

     15,000        103,487  

Ghabbour Auto (Egypt)*

     350,000        87,198  

Innocean Worldwide, Inc. (South Korea)

     1,400        95,726  

Loen Entertainment, Inc. (South Korea)

     700        73,560  

Lung Yen Life Service Corp. (Taiwan)

     43,000        99,125  

Mando Corp. (South Korea)

     350        100,894  

Mr Price Group, Ltd. (South Africa)

     5,500        108,469  

Plan B Media PCL (Thailand)

     310,000        60,689  

Plan B Media PCL, Class F (Thailand)

     67,000        13,117  

PVR, Ltd. (India)

     4,500        99,482  

Ramayana Lestari Sentosa Tbk PT (Indonesia)

     1,050,000        92,869  

Ser Educacional, S.A. (Brazil)1

     14,467        136,513  

Shankara Building Products, Ltd. (India)

     2,700        75,263  

T4F Entretenimento, S.A. (Brazil)

     30,000        66,474  

Tong Yang Industry Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)

     35,000        67,542  

Xinyi Glass Holdings, Ltd. (Hong Kong)

     65,000        84,491  

Total Consumer Discretionary

        1,651,151  

Consumer Staples - 6.0%

     

Adecoagro, S.A. (Argentina)*

     11,000        113,740  

Alicorp SAA (Peru)

     25,000        81,727  

Juhayna Food Industries (Egypt)

     240,000        142,002  

Puregold Price Club, Inc. (Philippines)

     76,000        76,122  

Total Consumer Staples

        413,591  

Energy - 1.2%

     

OMV Petrom, S.A. (Romania)

     1,150,000        84,589  

Financials - 21.6%

     

Bank Tabungan Negara Persero Tbk PT (Indonesia)

     410,000        107,883  

Banregio Grupo Financiero, SAB de CV (Mexico)

     21,000        115,037  

City Union Bank, Ltd. (India)

     30,000        84,494  

Commercial International Bank Egypt, S.A.E. (Egypt)

     17,000        73,984  

Dewan Housing Finance Corp., Ltd. (India)

     10,000        91,137  

Edelweiss Financial Services, Ltd. (India)

     18,000        83,622  

Egypt Kuwait Holding Co., S.A.E. (Egypt)

     130,000        110,678  

Grupo Supervielle, S.A., Sponsored ADR (Argentina)

     3,000        87,960  

Hatton National Bank PLC (Sri Lanka)

     45,000        72,997  
     
      Shares      Value  

Intercorp Financial Services, Inc. (Peru)

     2,300        $88,550  

Inversiones La Construccion, S.A. (Chile)

     3,000        56,719  

KIWOOM Securities Co., Ltd. (South Korea)

     600        49,048  

KRUK, S.A. (Poland)

     1,000        75,123  

Security Bank Corp. (Philippines)

     13,000        65,469  

TBC Bank Group PLC (Georgia)

     3,200        75,625  

TMB Bank PCL (Thailand)

     1,200,000        111,200  

Unifin Financiera, SAB de CV SOFOM ENR (Mexico)

     17,300        58,932  

Value Partners Group, Ltd. (Hong Kong)

     80,000        84,798  

Total Financials

        1,493,256  

Health Care - 6.9%

     

China Resources Phoenix Healthcare Holdings Co., Ltd. (China)

     60,000        75,583  

i-SENS, Inc. (South Korea)

     4,500        106,310  

Life Healthcare Group Holdings, Ltd. (South Africa)

     61,000        136,816  

Medy-Tox, Inc. (South Korea)

     240        108,707  

Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group, Ltd. (China)

     140,000        50,249  

Total Health Care

        477,665  

Industrials - 12.6%

     

AirAsia Bhd (Malaysia)

     85,000        70,361  

AKR Corporindo Tbk PT (Indonesia)

     120,000        56,164  

Ashok Leyland, Ltd. (India)

     30,000        55,979  

AviChina Industry & Technology Co., Ltd., Class H (China)

     100,000        53,246  

Bizlink Holding, Inc. (United States)

     9,000        83,625  

Blue Label Telecoms, Ltd. (South Africa)

     65,000        78,595  

DMCI Holdings, Inc. (Philippines)

     200,000        57,692  

IRB Infrastructure Developers, Ltd. (India)

     30,000        111,618  

John Keells Holdings PLC (Sri Lanka)

     80,000        77,394  

KAP Industrial Holdings, Ltd. (South Africa)

     140,000        89,957  

Mytilineos Holdings, S.A. (Greece)*

     12,000        131,599  

Total Industrials

        866,230  

Information Technology - 12.1%

 

  

Chroma ATE, Inc. (Taiwan)

     11,000        59,678  

Ennoconn Corp. (Taiwan)

     9,000        135,639  

Kingsoft Corp., Ltd. (China)

     35,000        115,961  

Koh Young Technology, Inc. (South Korea)

     700        53,944  

Linx, S.A. (Brazil)

     11,000        71,032  

Sinbon Electronics Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)

     37,000        107,083  

SONDA, S.A. (Chile)

     45,000        89,503  

Vakrangee, Ltd. (India)

     18,000        118,271  
     
 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

      Shares      Value  

Information Technology - 12.1% (continued)

     

WONIK IPS Co., Ltd. (South Korea)*

     2,700        $83,845  

Total Information Technology

        834,956  

Materials - 3.3%

     

CEMEX Latam Holdings, S.A. (Colombia)*

     22,000        81,087  

Duratex, S.A. (Brazil)

     35,000        97,073  

Ezz Steel (Egypt)*

     45,000        51,983  

Total Materials

        230,143  

Real Estate - 7.2%

     

BR Properties, S.A. (Brazil)

     30,000        95,867  

Grivalia Properties REIC AE, REIT (Greece)

     7,800        86,101  

IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones, S.A.,

     

Sponsored ADR (Argentina)

     2,000        59,200  

Medinet Nasr Housing (Egypt)

     113,000        68,131  

Palm Hills Developments, SAE (Egypt)*

     300,000        66,479  

The Phoenix Mills, Ltd. (India)

     12,000        117,871  

Total Real Estate

        493,649  

Telecommunication Services - 1.1%

     

Tower Bersama Infrastructure Tbk PT (Indonesia)

     161,500        76,312  

Total Common Stocks
(Cost $5,503,596)

        6,621,542  

Preferred Stock - 1.5%

     

Financials - 1.5%

     

Banco Davivienda, S.A., Preference (Colombia)

     10,000        101,191  

Total Preferred Stock
(Cost $102,861)

        101,191  

Rights - 0.0%

     

Industrials - 0.0%

     

Bizlink Holdings, Inc., Strike $210, Expiration 01/09/18 (United States)* (Cost $0)

     187        418  
     
      Shares      Value  

Participation Notes - 2.2%

     

Consumer Staples - 2.2%

     

Masan Group Corp., 12/12/18 (JP Morgan) (Netherlands)

     37,000        $124,506  

Masan Group Corp., 12/17/18 (Morgan Stanley) (Vietnam)

     8,000        26,920  

Total Participation Notes
(Cost $83,882)

        151,426  

Short-Term Investments - 0.3%

     

Other Investment Companies - 0.3%

     

Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund, Institutional Class Shares, 1.18%2

     23,195        23,195  

Total Short-Term Investments
(Cost $23,195)

        23,195  

Total Investments - 99.9%
(Cost $5,713,534)

        6,897,772  

Other Assets, less Liabilities - 0.1%

        8,625  

Net Assets - 100.0%

        $6,906,397  
     
 

 

* Non-income producing security.
1  Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. This security may be resold in transactions exempt from registration, normally to qualified buyers. At December 31, 2017, the value of these securities amounted to $136,513 or 2.0% of net assets.
2  Yield shown represents the December 31, 2017, seven day average yield, which refers to the sum of the previous seven days’ dividends paid, expressed as an annual percentage.

ADR American Depositary Receipt

REIT Real Estate Investment Trust

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
10


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AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

The following table summarizes the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments by the fair value hierarchy levels as of December 31, 2017:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Investments in Securities

           

Common Stocks

           

Consumer Discretionary

     $1,037,411        $613,740               $1,651,151  

Financials

     839,870        653,386               1,493,256  

Industrials

     592,392        273,838               866,230  

Information Technology

     214,479        620,477               834,956  

Real Estate

     493,649                      493,649  

Health Care

     245,523        232,142               477,665  

Consumer Staples

     413,591                      413,591  

Materials

     178,160        51,983               230,143  

Energy

     84,589                      84,589  

Telecommunication Services

            76,312               76,312  

Preferred Stock

           

Financials

     101,191                      101,191  

Rights

           

Industrials

            418               418  

Participation Notes

           

Consumer Staples

            151,426               151,426  

Short-Term Investments

           

Other Investment Companies

     23,195                      23,195  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments in Securities

     $4,224,050        $2,673,722               $6,897,772  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

  As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had transfers between level 1 and level 2 as follows:

 

     Transfer
into
Level 11
     Transfer
out of
Level 11
     Transfer
into
Level 21
     Transfer
out of
Level 21
 

Assets:

           

Common Stocks

     $579,890        $(77,096)        $77,096        $(579,890)  

1 As a result of the fair valuation policy utilized by the Fund, certain international equity securities may be level 2 and could result in transfers between level 1 to level 2. (See Note 1(a) in the Notes to Financial Statements.)

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
11


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AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments (continued)

 

    

 

Country

 

  

% of Long-Term
Investments

 

Argentina

       3.8

Brazil

       6.8

Chile

       3.5

China

       5.6

Colombia

       2.7

Egypt

       8.7

Georgia

       1.1

Greece

       4.7

Hong Kong

       2.5

India

       12.2

Indonesia

       4.9

Malaysia

       1.0

Mexico

       2.5

Netherlands

       1.8

Peru

       2.5

Philippines

       2.9

Poland

       1.1

Romania

       1.2

South Africa

       6.0

South Korea

       11.2

Sri Lanka

       2.2

Taiwan

       6.8

Thailand

       2.7

United States

       1.2

Vietnam

       0.4
       100.0
          

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

12


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Statement of Assets and Liabilities

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

     AMG TimesSquare
Emerging Markets Small
Cap Fund

Assets:

    

Investments at Value*

       $6,897,772

Foreign currency**

       106

Receivable for investments sold

       50,529

Dividend, interest and other receivables

       5,810

Receivable from affiliate

       22,083

Prepaid expenses

       19,880

Total assets

       6,996,180

Liabilities:

    

Payable for foreign capital gains tax

       30,137

Accrued expenses:

    

Investment advisory and management fees

       5,378

Administrative fees

       849

Distribution fees

       9

Shareholder service fees

       29

Professional fees

       27,914

Trustee fees and expenses

       89

Other

       25,378

Total liabilities

       89,783
    

Net Assets

       $6,906,397

* Investments at cost

       $5,713,534

** Foreign currency at cost

       $106

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
13


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Statement of Assets and Liabilities (continued)

 

    

 

     AMG TimesSquare
Emerging Markets Small
Cap Fund

Net Assets Represent:

    

Paid-in capital

       $5,763,492

Distribution in excess of net investment income

       (24,670 )

Accumulated net realized gain from investments

       13,445

Net unrealized appreciation on investments

       1,154,130

Net Assets

       $6,906,397

Class N:

    

Net Assets

       $42,754

Shares outstanding

       3,469

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

       $12.32

Class I:

    

Net Assets

       $13,351

Shares outstanding

       1,081

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

       $12.35

Class Z:

    

Net Assets

       $6,850,292

Shares outstanding

       554,794

Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share

       $12.35

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
14


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Statement of Operations

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

 

    

 

     AMG TimesSquare
Emerging Markets Small
Cap Fund

Investment Income:

    

Dividend income

       $111,009

Securities lending income

       166

Foreign withholding tax

       (10,501 )

Total investment income

       100,674

Expenses:

    

Investment advisory and management fees

       53,683

Administrative fees

       8,476

Distribution fees - Class N

       49

Shareholder servicing fees - Class N

       29

Professional fees

       37,184

Registration fees

       22,178

Transfer agent fees

       861

Custodian fees

       32,781

Reports to shareholders

       19,226

Amortization of offering costs

       80,814

Trustee fees and expenses

       270

Miscellaneous

       3,857

Total expenses before offsets

       259,408

Expense reimbursements

       (188,695 )

Net expenses

       70,713
    

Net investment income

       29,961

Net Realized and Unrealized Gain:

    

Net realized gain on investments1

       464,704

Net realized loss on foreign currency transactions

       (13,712 )

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

       1,149,155

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on foreign currency translations

       (30,093 )

Net realized and unrealized gain

       1,570,054
    

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

       $1,600,015

 

1  Net of foreign capital gains tax withheld of $7,565.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
15


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Statements of Changes in Net Assets

For the fiscal periods ended December 31

 

    

 

     AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund
     2017   2016*

Increase in Net Assets Resulting From Operations:

        

Net investment income

       $29,961       $2,057

Net realized gain (loss) on investments

       450,992       (2,698 )

Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments

       1,119,062       35,068

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

       1,600,015       34,427

Distributions to Shareholders:

        

From net investment income:

        

Class N

       (469 )      

Class I

       (161 )      

Class Z

       (82,986 )      

From net realized gain on investments:

        

Class N

       (2,663 )      

Class I

       (829 )      

Class Z

       (426,772 )      

Total distributions to shareholders

       (513,880 )      

Capital Share Transactions:1

        

Net increase from capital share transactions

       1,572,957       4,212,878
        

Total increase in net assets

       2,659,092       4,247,305

Net Assets:

        

Beginning of period

       4,247,305      

End of period

       $6,906,397       $4,247,305

End of period distribution in excess of net investment income

       $(24,670 )           $(327 )    
    

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

* Commencement of operations was on December 15, 2016.
1 See Note 1(g) of the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class N

      2017*

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

      $10.94

Income from Investment Operations:

   

Net investment income1,2

      0.03

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

      2.33

Total income from investment operations

      2.36

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

   

Net investment income

      (0.15 )

Net realized gain on investments

      (0.83 )

Total distributions to shareholders

      (0.98 )

Net Asset Value, End of Period

      $12.32

Total Return2,3

      21.72 %4

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

      1.65 %5

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets6

      5.02 %5

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

      0.28 %5

Portfolio turnover

      81 %

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

      $43
           

 

 
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AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal year ended December 31,   For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class I

      2017       2016**

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

    $ 10.05     $ 10.00

Income from Investment Operations:

       

Net investment income1,2

      0.06       0.01

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

      3.23       0.04

Total income from investment operations

      3.29       0.05

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

       

Net investment income

      (0.16 )      

Net realized gain on investments

      (0.83 )      

Total distributions to shareholders

      (0.99 )      

Net Asset Value, End of Period

    $ 12.35     $ 10.05

Total Return2,3

      32.85 %       0.50 %4

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

      1.25 %       1.34 %5

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets6

      4.59 %       7.09 %5,7

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

      0.53 %       1.27 %5

Portfolio turnover

      81 %       0 %4

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

    $ 13     $ 10
                     

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

Financial Highlights

For a share outstanding throughout each fiscal period

 

    

 

    For the fiscal year ended December 31,   For the fiscal period ended December 31,

Class Z

      2017       2016 **

Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period

      $10.05       $10.00

Income from Investment Operations:

       

Net investment income1,2

      0.06       0.01

Net realized and unrealized gain on investments

      3.23       0.04

Total income from investment operations

      3.29       0.05

Less Distributions to Shareholders from:

       

Net investment income

      (0.16 )      

Net realized gain on investments

      (0.83 )      

Total distributions to shareholders

      (0.99 )      

Net Asset Value, End of Period

      $12.35       $10.05

Total Return2,3

      32.85 %       0.50 %4

Ratio of net expenses to average net assets

      1.25 %       1.34 %5

Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets6

      4.59 %       7.09 %5,7

Ratio of net investment income to average net assets2

      0.53 %       1.27 %5

Portfolio turnover

      81 %       0 %4

Net assets end of period (000’s) omitted

      $6,850       $4,237

 

 

 

* Commencement of operations was on February 27, 2017.    
** Commencement of operations was on December 15, 2016.    
1 Per share numbers have been calculated using average shares.    
2 Total returns and net investment income would have been lower had certain expenses not been offset.    
3 The total return is calculated using the published Net Asset Value as of fiscal year end.    
4 Not annualized.    
5 Annualized.    
6 Excludes the impact of expense reimbursement or fee waivers and expense reductions such as brokerage credits, but includes expense repayments and non-reimbursable expenses, if any, such as interest, taxes, and extraordinary expenses. (See Note 1(c) and 2 in the Notes to Financial Statements.)    
7 Ratio does not reflect the annualization of audit, excise tax and organization expenses.    

 

 
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Table of Contents
   

    

Notes to Financial Statements

December 31, 2017

 

    

 

1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

AMG Funds (the “Trust”) is an open-end management investment company, organized as a Massachusetts business trust, and registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Currently, the Trust consists of a number of different funds, each having distinct investment management objectives, strategies, risks, and policies. Included in this report is the AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund’s commencement of operations was on December 15, 2016.

The Fund offers three classes of shares: Class N, which commenced operations on February 27, 2017, Class I and Class Z. Each class represents an interest in the same assets of the Fund. Although all share classes generally have identical voting rights, each share class votes separately when required by law. Different share classes may pay different distribution amounts to the extent the net asset value per share and/or the expenses of such share classes differ. Each share class has its own expense structure. Please refer to a current prospectus for additional information on each share class.

The Fund’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”), including accounting and reporting guidance pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 applicable to investment companies. U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates and such differences could be material. The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Fund in the preparation of its financial statements:

a. VALUATION OF INVESTMENTS

Equity securities traded on a national securities exchange or reported on the NASDAQ national market system (“NMS”) are valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, if applicable, the NASDAQ official closing price or the official closing price of the relevant exchange or, lacking any sales, at the last quoted bid price or the mean between the last quoted bid and ask prices (the “exchange mean price”). Equity securities traded in the over-the-counter market (other than NMS securities) are valued at the exchange mean price. Foreign equity securities (securities principally traded in markets other than U.S. markets) are valued at the official closing price on the primary exchange or, for markets that either do not offer an official closing price or where the official closing price may not be representative of the overall market, the last quoted sale price.

Fixed income securities purchased with a remaining maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost, provided that the amortized cost value is approximately the same as the fair value of the security valued without the use of amortized cost. Investments in other open-end regulated investment companies are valued at their end of day net asset value per share.

The Fund’s portfolio investments are generally valued based on independent market quotations or prices or, if none, “evaluative” or other market based valuations provided by third party pricing services approved by the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”). Under certain circumstances, the value of certain Fund portfolio investments may be based on an evaluation of fair value, pursuant to procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Board. The Valuation Committee, which is comprised of the Independent Trustees

of the Board, and the Pricing Committee, which is comprised of representatives from AMG Funds LLC (the “Investment Manager”) are the committees appointed by the Board to make fair value determinations. The Fund may use the fair value of a portfolio investment to calculate its net asset value (“NAV”) in the event that the market quotation, price or market based valuation for the portfolio investment is not readily available or otherwise not determinable pursuant to the Board’s valuation procedures, if the Investment Manager or the Pricing Committee believes the quotation, price or market based valuation to be unreliable, or in certain other circumstances. When determining the fair value of an investment, the Pricing Committee and, if required under the Trust’s securities valuation procedures, the Valuation Committee, seeks to determine the price that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from current sale of that portfolio investment in an arms-length transaction. Fair value determinations shall be based upon consideration of all available facts and information, including, but not limited to (i) attributes specific to the investment; (ii) fundamental and analytical data relating to the investment; and (iii) the value of other comparable securities or relevant financial instruments, including derivative securities, traded on other markets or among dealers.

The values assigned to fair value portfolio investments are based on available information and do not necessarily represent amounts that might ultimately be realized in the future, since such amounts depend on future developments inherent in long-term investments. Because of the inherent uncertainty of valuation, those estimated values may differ significantly from the values that would have been used had a ready market for the investments existed, and the differences could be material. The Board will be presented with a quarterly report showing as of the most recent quarter end, all outstanding securities fair valued by the Fund, including a comparison with the prior quarter end and the percentage of the Fund that the security represents at each quarter end.

With respect to foreign equity securities and certain foreign fixed income securities, the Board has adopted a policy that securities held in a Fund that can be fair valued by the applicable fair value pricing service are fair valued on each business day provided that each individual price exceeds a pre-established confidence level.

U.S. GAAP defines fair value as the price that a fund would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. U.S. GAAP also establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and a three level hierarchy for fair value measurements based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability. Inputs may be observable or unobservable and refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Fund.

Unobservable inputs reflect the Fund’s own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. Each investment is assigned a level based upon the observability of the inputs which are significant to the overall valuation.

The three-tier hierarchy of inputs is summarized below:

Level 1 – inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical investments (e.g., equity securities, open-end investment companies)

Level 2 – other observable inputs (including, but not limited to: quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in markets that are active, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets or liabilities (such as interest rates, yield

 

 

 
20


Table of Contents
   

    

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks and default rates) or other market corroborated inputs) (e.g., debt securities, government securities, foreign currency exchange contracts, foreign securities utilizing international fair value pricing, fair valued securities with observable inputs)

Level 3 – inputs are significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions used to determine the fair value of investments) (e.g., fair valued securities with unobservable inputs)

Changes in inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may result in a transfer in or out of levels within the fair value hierarchy. The inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments may not necessarily be an indication of the risk associated with investing in those investments. Transfers between different levels of the fair value disclosure hierarchy are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.

b. SECURITY TRANSACTIONS

Security transactions are accounted for as of trade date. Realized gains and losses on securities sold are determined on the basis of identified cost.

c. INVESTMENT INCOME AND EXPENSES

Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date. Dividends from foreign securities are recorded on the ex-dividend date, and if after the fact, as soon as the Funds become aware of the ex-dividend date, except for Korean securities where dividends are recorded on confirmation date. Interest income, which includes amortization of premium and accretion of discount on debt securities, is accrued as earned. Dividend and interest income on foreign securities is recorded gross of any withholding tax. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are reported at the fair market value of the securities received. Upon notification from

 

issuers, distributions received from a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) may be redesignated as a reduction of cost of investments and/or realized gain. Other income and expenses are recorded on an accrual basis. Expenses that cannot be directly attributed to a Fund are apportioned among the funds in the Trust and other trusts within the AMG Funds family of mutual funds (collectively the “AMG Funds Family”) based upon their relative average net assets or number of shareholders. Investment income, realized and unrealized capital gains and losses, the common expenses of the Fund, and certain fund level expense reductions, if any, are allocated on a pro-rata basis to each class based on the relative net assets of each class to the total net assets of the Fund.

d. DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

Fund distributions resulting from either net investment income or realized net capital gains, if any, will normally be declared and paid at least annually in December. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Distributions are determined in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which may differ from net investment income and net realized capital gains for financial statement purposes (U.S. GAAP). Differences may be permanent or temporary. Permanent differences are reclassified among capital accounts in the financial statements to reflect their tax character. Permanent book and tax basis differences, if any, relating to shareholder distributions will result in reclassifications to paid-in capital. Temporary differences arise when certain items of income, expense and gain or loss are recognized in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes; these differences will reverse at some time in the future. Permanent differences are due to expenses disallowed for tax purposes, tax adjustments on passive foreign investment companies sold and gains/losses on foreign currency. Temporary differences are due to mark-to-market of passive foreign investment companies.

 

 

The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal periods ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 were as follows:

 

 

Distributions paid from:

 

  2017     2016  
Ordinary income     $83,616        

 

Short-term capital gains

 

    429,537        
Long-term capital gains     724        
 

 

 

   

 

 

 
              $ 513,877                       —  
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

As of December 31, 2017, the components of distributable earnings (excluding unrealized appreciation/depreciation) on tax basis consisted of:    

 

Capital loss carryforward

 

      

Undistributed ordinary income

   $ 25,747  

 

Undistributed short-term capital gains

 

     13,445  

Undistributed long-term capital gains

      

 

Late-year loss deferral

 

      

At December 31, 2017, the approximate cost of investments and the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation for federal income tax were as follows:

 

     Cost      Appreciation      Depreciation      Net  
     $5,763,951        $1,245,931        $(142,218)        $1,103,713  

 

 
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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

e. FEDERAL TAXES

The Fund currently qualifies as an investment company and intends to comply with the requirements under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and to distribute substantially all of its taxable income and gains to its shareholders and to meet certain diversification and income requirements with respect to investment companies. Therefore, no provision for federal income or excise tax is included in the accompanying financial statements.

Additionally, based on the Fund’s understanding of the tax rules and rates related to income, gains and transactions for the foreign jurisdictions in which it invests, the Fund will provide for foreign taxes, and where appropriate, deferred foreign taxes.

Management has analyzed the Fund’s tax positions taken on federal income tax returns as of December 31, 2017, and for all open tax years, and has concluded that no provision for federal income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. Additionally, Management is not aware of any tax position for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change materially in the next twelve months.

Net capital losses incurred may be carried forward for an unlimited time period, and retain their tax character as either short-term or long-term capital losses.

f. CAPITAL LOSS CARRYOVERS AND DEFERRALS

As of December 31, 2017, the Fund had no accumulated net realized capital loss carryovers from securities transactions for federal income tax purposes. Should the Fund incur net capital losses for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, such amounts may be used to offset future realized capital gains, for an unlimited time period.

g. CAPITAL STOCK

The Trust’s Declaration of Trust authorizes for the Fund the issuance of an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest, without par value. The Fund records sales and repurchases of its capital stock on the trade date. The Fund will deduct a 2.00% redemption fee from the proceeds of any redemption (including a redemption by exchange) of shares if the redemption occurs within 60 days of the purchase of those shares. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Fund received no redemption fees.

 

 

For the fiscal periods ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the capital stock transactions by class for the Fund were as follows:

 

         December 31, 2017              December 31, 2016      
    

 

Shares

 

    

 

Amount

 

    

 

Shares

 

   

 

Amount

 

 

 

 Class N:

          

 Proceeds from sale of shares

     3,212        $37,517               

 Reinvestment of distributions

     257        3,131               
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

 Net increase

     3,469        $40,648               
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 Class I:

          

 Proceeds from sale of shares

                   1,000       $10,000  

 Reinvestment of distributions

     81        $991               
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

 Net increase

     81        $991        1,000       $10,000  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 Class Z:

          

 Proceeds from sale of shares

     93,198        $1,043,026        421,615       $4,202,977  

 Reinvestment of distributions

     39,991        488,292               

 Cost of shares repurchased

                   (10     (99
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

 Net increase

     133,189        $1,531,318        421,605       $4,202,878  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

At December 31, 2017, certain unaffiliated shareholders of record individually or collectively held greater than 10% of the net assets of the Fund as follows: four own 80%. Transactions by these shareholders may have a material impact on the Fund.

 

h. REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS AND JOINT REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS

The Fund may enter into third-party repurchase agreements for temporary cash management purposes and third-party joint repurchase agreements for reinvestment of cash collateral on securities lending transactions under the securities lending program offered by The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) (the

“Program”) (collectively, “Repurchase Agreements”). The value of the underlying collateral, including accrued interest, must equal or exceed the value of the Repurchase Agreements during the term of the agreement. For joint repurchase agreements, the Fund participates on a pro rata basis with other clients of BNYM in its share of the underlying collateral under such joint repurchase agreements

 

 

 
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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

and in its share of proceeds from any repurchase or other disposition of the underlying collateral. The underlying collateral for all Repurchase Agreements is held in safekeeping by the Fund’s custodian or at the Federal Reserve Bank. If the seller defaults and the value of the collateral declines, or if bankruptcy proceedings commence with respect to the seller of the security, realization of the collateral by the Fund may be delayed or limited. Pursuant to the Program, the Fund is indemnified for such losses by BNYM on joint repurchase agreements.

At December 31, 2017, the Fund did not hold repurchase agreements or joint repurchase agreements.

i. FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION

The books and records of the Fund are maintained in U.S. dollars. The value of investments, assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than U.S. dollars are translated into U.S. dollars based upon current foreign exchange rates. Purchases and sales of foreign investments, income and expenses are converted into U.S. dollars based on currency exchange rates prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions. Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on foreign currency transactions represent: (1) foreign exchange gains and losses from the sale and holdings of foreign currencies; (2) gains and losses between trade date and settlement date on investment securities transactions and forward foreign currency exchange contracts; and (3) gains and losses from the difference between amounts of interest and dividends recorded and the amounts actually received.

The Fund does not isolate the net realized and unrealized gain or loss resulting from changes in exchange rates from the fluctuations in market prices of securities held. Such fluctuations are included with the net realized and unrealized gain or loss on investments.

j. FOREIGN SECURITIES

The Fund invests in securities of foreign entities and in instruments denominated in foreign currencies which involve risks not typically associated with investments in domestic securities. Non-domestic securities carry special risks, such as exposure to currency fluctuations, less developed or less efficient trading markets, political instability, a lack of company information, differing auditing and legal standards, and, potentially, less liquidity. A Fund’s investments in emerging market countries are exposed to additional risks. A Fund’s performance will be influenced by political, social and economic factors affecting companies in emerging market countries. Emerging market countries generally have economic structures that are less diverse and mature, and political systems that are less stable, than those of developed countries. Realized gains in certain countries may be subject to foreign taxes at the Fund level and would pay such foreign taxes at the appropriate rate for each jurisdiction.

k. ORGANIZATIONAL AND OFFERING COSTS

The Investment Manager incurred and directly paid organizational and offering costs on behalf of the Fund in the amount of $89,627, which will be repaid by the Fund for the full amount thereof. Offering costs in the amount of $80,814 were expensed during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

2. AGREEMENTS AND TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

The Trust has entered into an investment advisory agreement under which the Investment Manager, a subsidiary and the U.S. retail distribution arm of Affiliated

Managers Group, Inc. (“AMG”), serves as investment manager to the Fund and is responsible for the Fund’s overall administration and operations. The Investment Manager selects one or more subadvisers for the Fund (subject to Board approval) and monitors each subadviser’s investment performance, security holdings and investment strategies. The Fund’s investment portfolio is managed by TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC (“TimesSquare”) who serves pursuant to a subadvisory agreement with the Investment Manager. AMG indirectly owns a majority interest in TimesSquare.

Investment management fees are paid directly by the Fund to the Investment Manager based on average daily net assets. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the Fund paid an investment management fee at the annual rate of 0.95% of the average daily net assets of the Fund.

The Investment Manager has contractually agreed, through at least May 1, 2018, to waive management fees and/or reimburse fund expenses in order to limit total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of taxes, interest (including interest incurred in connection with bank and custody overdrafts), shareholder servicing fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses) of the Fund to 1.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets subject to later reimbursement by the Fund in certain circumstances.

The contractual expense limitation may only be terminated in the event the Investment Manager or a successor ceases to be the investment manager of the Fund or a successor fund, by mutual agreement between the Investment Manager and the Board, or in the event of the Fund’s liquidation unless the Fund is reorganized or is a party to a merger in which the surviving entity is successor to the accounting and performance information of the Fund.

In general, for a period of up to 36 months, the Investment Manager may recover from the Fund fees waived and expenses paid pursuant to this contractual agreement, provided that such repayment would not cause the Fund’s total annual operating expenses after fee waiver and expense reimbursements (exclusive of the items noted in the parenthetical above) to exceed the contractual expense limitation amount.

At December 31, 2017, the Fund’s expiration of recoupment is as follows:

 

 Expiration

  

 Period

  

 Within 2 years

    

 

$33,065

 

 

 

 

 Within 3 years

     188,695  
  

 

 

 

 

 Total Amount Subject to Recoupment

  

 

 

 

$221,760

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has entered into an amended and restated Administration Agreement under which the Investment Manager serves as the Fund’s administrator (the “Administrator”) and is responsible for all non-portfolio management aspects of managing the Fund’s operations, including administration and shareholder services to the Fund. The Fund pays a fee to the Administrator at the rate of 0.15% per annum of the Fund’s average daily net assets for this service.

The Fund is distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Investment Manager. The Distributor serves as the distributor and underwriter for the Fund and is a registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). Shares of the Fund will be

 

 

 
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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

continuously offered and will be sold directly to prospective purchasers and through brokers, dealers or other financial intermediaries who have executed selling agreements with the Distributor. Generally the Distributor bears all or a portion of the expenses of providing services pursuant to the distribution agreement, including the payment of the expenses relating to the distribution of prospectuses for sales purposes and any advertising or sales literature.

The Trust has adopted a distribution and service plan (the “Plan”) with respect to the Class N shares, in accordance with the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act and the requirements of the applicable rules of FINRA regarding asset based sales charges. Pursuant to the Plan, the Fund may make payments to the Distributor for its expenditures in financing any activity primarily intended to result in the sale of the Fund’s Class N shares and for maintenance and personal service provided to existing shareholders of that class. The Plan authorizes payments to the Distributor up to 0.25% annually of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to the Class N.

For the Class N and Class I shares of Fund, the Board has approved reimbursement payments to the Investment Manager for shareholder servicing expenses (“shareholder servicing fees”) incurred. Shareholder servicing fees include payments to financial intermediaries, such as broker-dealers (including fund supermarket platforms), banks, and trust companies who provide shareholder recordkeeping, account servicing and other services. The Class N and Class I shares may reimburse the Investment Manager for the actual amount incurred up to a maximum annual rate of each Class’s average daily net asset value as shown in the table below.

The impact on the annualized expense ratios for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were as follows:

 

    

Maximum Annual
Amount
Approved

 

   

Actual   
Amount    
Incurred    

 

 

  Class N

  

 

 

 

0.15

 

  0.15%

 

  Class I

 

     0.15       —

The Board provides supervision of the affairs of the Trust and other trusts within the AMG Funds family. The Trustees of the Trust who are not affiliated with an Investment Manager receive an annual retainer and per meeting fees for regular, special and telephonic meetings, and they are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses incurred while carrying out their duties as Board members. The Chairman of the Board and the Audit Committee Chair receive additional annual retainers. Certain Trustees and Officers of the Fund are Officers and/or Directors of the Investment Manager, AMG and/or the Distributor.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) granted an exemptive order that permits the Fund to lend and borrow money for certain temporary purposes directly to and from other eligible funds in the AMG Funds family. Participation in this interfund lending program is voluntary for both the borrowing and lending funds, and an interfund loan is only made if it benefits each participating fund. The Administrator manages the program according to procedures approved by the Board, and the Board monitors the operation of the program. An interfund loan must comply with certain conditions set out in the exemptive order, which are designed to assure fairness and protect all participating funds. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the Fund did not borrow from nor lend to any other fund in the AMG Funds family.

3. PURCHASES AND SALES OF SECURITIES

Purchases and sales of securities (excluding short-term securities and U.S. Government Obligations) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, were $5,693,920 and $4,426,977, respectively.

The Fund had no purchases or sales of U.S. Government Obligations during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

4. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES LOANED

The Fund participates in the Program providing for the lending of securities to qualified brokers. Securities lending income includes earnings of such temporary cash investments, plus or minus any rebate to a borrower. These earnings (after any rebate) are then divided between BNYM, as a fee for its services under the Program, and the Fund, according to agreed-upon rates. Collateral on all securities loaned is accepted in cash and is maintained at a minimum level of 102% (105% in the case of certain foreign securities) of the market value, plus interest, if applicable, of investments on loan. It is the Fund’s policy to obtain additional collateral from or return excess collateral to the borrower by the end of the next business day, following the valuation date of the securities loaned. Therefore, the value of the collateral held may be temporarily less than the value of the securities on loan. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to the Fund if and to the extent that the market value of the securities loaned were to increase and the borrower did not increase the collateral accordingly, and the borrower fails to return the securities. Under the terms of the Program, the Fund is indemnified for such losses by BNYM. Cash collateral is held in a separate omnibus account managed by BNYM, who is authorized to exclusively enter into joint repurchase agreements. BNYM bears the risk of any deficiency in the amount of the cash collateral available for return to the borrower due to any loss on the collateral invested.

At December 31, 2017, there were no securities on loan.

5. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its trustees and officers are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to the Trust. In addition, in the normal course of business, the Fund may enter into contracts and agreements that contain a variety of representations and warranties, which provide general indemnifications. The maximum exposure to the Fund under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred. However, based on experience, the Fund had no prior claims or losses and expects the risks of loss to be remote.

6. MASTER NETTING AGREEMENTS

The Fund may enter into master netting agreements with its counterparties for the securities lending program, and Repurchase Agreements, which provide the right, in the event of default (including bankruptcy or insolvency) for the non-defaulting party to liquidate the collateral and calculate net exposure to the defaulting party or request additional collateral. For financial reporting purposes, the Fund does not offset financial assets and financial liabilities that are subject to master netting agreements in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. For securities lending transactions, see Note 4. At December 31, 2017, the Fund had no open Repurchase Agreements that were subject to a master netting agreement.

 

 

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

    

 

7. REGULATORY UPDATES

On October 13, 2016, the SEC amended existing rules intended to modernize reporting and disclosure of information. These amendments relate to Regulation S-X, which sets forth the form and content of financial statements. Effective August 1, 2017, the Fund has adopted these amendments and noted no significant impact on the financial statements and accompanying notes.

8. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

The Fund has determined that no material events or transactions occurred through the issuance date of the Fund’s financial statements, which require an additional disclosure in or adjustment of the Fund’s financial statements.

 

 

 
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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

    

 

TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF AMG FUNDS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF AMG TIMESSQUARE EMERGING MARKETS SMALL CAP FUND

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of portfolio investments, of AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund (one of the funds constituting AMG Funds, referred to hereafter as the “Fund”) as of December 31, 2017, the related statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2017, the statement of changes in net assets for the year ended December 31, 2017 and for the period December 15, 2016 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2016, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Fund as of December 31, 2017, the results of its operations for the year then ended, the changes in its net assets for the year ended December 31, 2017 and for the period December 15, 2016 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2016 and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Fund’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Fund in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of December 31, 2017 by correspondence with the custodian. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

February 27, 2018

We have served as the auditor of one or more investment companies in AMG Funds Family since 1993.

    

 

 

 
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Other Information

 

    

 

 

TAX INFORMATION

 

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund hereby designates the maximum amount allowable of its net taxable income as qualified dividends as provided in the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. The 2017 Form 1099-DIV you receive for the Fund will show the tax status of all distributions paid to you during the calendar year.

In accordance with federal tax law, AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund elected to provide foreign taxes paid and the income sourced from foreign countries. Accordingly, the Fund hereby makes the following designations regarding its period ended December 31, 2017:

uThe total amount of taxes paid and income sourced from foreign countries was $18,074 and $108,839, respectively.

Pursuant to section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund hereby designates $724 as a capital gain distribution with respect to the taxable year ended December 31, 2017, or if subsequently determined to be different, the net capital gains of such year.

 

 

 
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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers

 

    

 

The Trustees and Officers of the Trust, their business addresses, principal occupations for the past five years and ages are listed below. The Trustees provide broad supervision over the affairs of the Trust and the Funds. The Trustees are experienced executives who meet periodically throughout the year to oversee the Funds’ activities, review contractual arrangements with companies that provide services to the Funds, and

  

review the Funds’ performance. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each Trustee or Officer is the address of the Trust: 600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830.

 

There is no stated term of office for Trustees. Trustees serve until their resignation, retirement or removal in

   accordance with the Trust’s organizational documents and policies adopted by the Board from time to time. The Chairman of the Trustees, President, Treasurer and Secretary of the Trust are elected by the Trustees annually. Other officers hold office at the pleasure of the Trustees.

Independent Trustees    

The following Trustees are not “interested persons” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act:

 

  Number of Funds Overseen in

  Fund Complex

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee
   

• Trustee since 2012

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Bruce B. Bingham, 69

Partner, Hamilton Partners (real estate development firm) (1987-Present); Director of The Yacktman Funds (2000-2012).

   

• Trustee since 1999

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Edward J. Kaier, 72

Attorney at Law and Partner, Teeters Harvey Marrone & Kaier LLP (2007-Present); Attorney at Law and Partner, Hepburn Willcox Hamilton & Putnam, LLP (1977-2007); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Kurt A. Keilhacker, 54

Managing Member, TechFund Capital (1997-Present); Managing Member, TechFund Europe (2000-Present); Board Member, 6wind SA, (2002-Present); Managing Member, Elementum Ventures (2013-Present); Trustee, Gordon College (2001-2016).

   

• Trustee since 2004

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Steven J. Paggioli, 67

Independent Consultant (2002-Present); Formerly Executive Vice President and Director, The Wadsworth Group (1986-2001); Executive Vice President, Secretary and Director, Investment Company Administration, LLC (1990-2001); Vice President, Secretary and Director, First Fund Distributors, Inc. (1991-2001); Trustee, Professionally Managed Portfolios (32 portfolios); Advisory Board Member, Sustainable Growth Advisors, LP; Independent Director, Chase Investment Counsel (2008–Present).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Richard F. Powers III, 72

Adjunct Professor, U.S. Naval War College (2016); Adjunct Professor, Boston College (2010-2013); President and CEO of Van Kampen Investments Inc. (1998-2003).

   

• Independent Chairman

• Trustee since 1999

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Eric Rakowski, 59

Professor, University of California at Berkeley School of Law (1990-Present); Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (5 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio).

   

• Trustee since 2013

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Victoria L. Sassine, 52

Lecturer, Babson College (2007 – Present).

   

• Trustee since 2004

• Oversees 61 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Thomas R. Schneeweis, 70

Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts (2013-Present); Partner, S Capital Wealth Advisors (2015-Present); President, TRS Associates (1982-Present); Board Member, Chartered Alternative Investment Association (“CAIA”) (2002-Present); Director, CAIA Foundation (Education) (2010-Present); Director, Institute for GlobalAsset and Risk Management (Education) (2010-Present); Partner, S Capital Management, LLC (2007-2015); Director, CISDM at the University of Massachusetts, (1996-2013); President, Alternative Investment Analytics, LLC, (formerly Schneeweis Partners, LLC) (2001-2013); Professor of Finance, University of Massachusetts (1977-2013).

 

 
28


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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

    

 

Interested Trustees

Each Trustee in the following table is an “interested person” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act. Ms. Carsman is an interested person of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act by virtue of her position with, and interest in securities of, AMG.

 

  Number of Funds Overseen in

  Fund Complex

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years and Other Directorships Held by Trustee
   

• Trustee since 2011

• Oversees 63 Funds in Fund

  Complex

 

Christine C. Carsman, 65

Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2017-Present); Director (2010-Present) and Chair of the Board of Directors (2015-Present), AMG Funds plc; Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (9 portfolios); Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2011-2016); Senior Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2007-2011); Vice President and Chief Regulatory Counsel, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2004-2007); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2004-2011); Senior Counsel, Vice President and Director of Operational Risk Management and Compliance, Wellington Management Company, LLP (1995-2004).

   
Officers    
   

  Position(s) Held with Fund

  and Length of Time Served

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years
   

• President since 2014

• Principal Executive Officer

  since 2014

• Chief Executive Officer since

  2016

 

Jeffrey T. Cerutti, 50

Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2014-Present); Director, President and Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2014-Present); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Chief Executive Officer, President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Chief Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Executive Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President, VP Distributors, (2011-2014); Executive Vice President, Head of Distribution, Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (2010-2014); Managing Director, Head of Sales, UBS Global Asset Management (2001-2010).

   

• Chief Operating Officer since

  2007

 

Keitha L. Kinne, 59

Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2007-Present); Chief Investment Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2008-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2012-2014); Managing Partner, AMG Funds LLC (2007-2014); President, AMG Funds (2012-2014); President, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2012-2014); Managing Director, Legg Mason & Co., LLC (2006-2007); Managing Director, Citigroup Asset Management (2004-2006).

   

• Secretary since 2015

• Chief Legal Officer since 2015

 

Mark J. Duggan, 53

Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2015-Present); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2015-Present); Attorney, K&L Gates, LLP (2009-2015).

   

• Chief Financial Officer since

  2017

• Treasurer since 2017

• Principal Financial Officer

  since 2017

• Principal Accounting Officer

  since 2017

 

Thomas G. Disbrow, 52

Vice President, Mutual Fund Treasurer & CFO, AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Managing Director - Global Head of Traditional Funds Product Control, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2015-2017); Managing Director - Head of North American Funds Treasury, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2011-2015).

   

• Chief Compliance Officer since

  2016

 

Gerald F. Dillenburg, 51

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Compliance Officer AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2016-2017); Chief Compliance Officer and Sarbanes Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (1996-Present); Sarbanes-Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2016); Chief Operating Officer, Aston Funds (2003-2016); Secretary, Aston Funds (1996-2015); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Funds (1997-2010); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2006-2010); Treasurer, Aston Funds (1996-2010).

   
• Deputy Treasurer since 2017  

John A. Starace, 47

Director, Mutual Fund Accounting, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Deputy Treasurer of Mutual Funds Services, AMG Funds LLC (2014-2017); Deputy Treasurer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Vice President, Citi Hedge Fund Services (2010-2014); Audit Senior Manager (2005-2010) and Audit Manager (2001-2005), Deloitte & Touche LLP.

 

 
29


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AMG Funds

Trustees and Officers (continued)

 

    

 

  Position(s) Held with Fund

  and Length of Time Served

  Name, Age, Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years
   
• Controller since 2017  

Christopher R. Townsend, 50

Vice President, Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Head of Business Finance, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Chief Financial Officer and Financial and Operations Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2016-Present); Controller, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017); Chief Financial Officer, Aston Asset Management LLC (2016); Head of Finance and Accounting, Allianz Asset Management (2006-2015).

   

• Anti-Money Laundering

  Compliance Officer since 2014

 

Patrick J. Spellman, 43

Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2011-2017); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc., (2010-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2014-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Officer, AMG Funds IV, (2016-Present); Compliance Manager, Legal and Compliance, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2005-2011).

   
• Assistant Secretary since 2016  

Maureen A. Meredith, 32

Director, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Vice President, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Assistant Secretary, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Associate, Ropes & Gray LLP (2011-2015); Law Fellow, Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice (2010-2011).

 

 
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LOGO

 

 

    

 

Investment Manager and

Administrator

 

AMG Funds LLC

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

 

Distributor

 

AMG Distributors, Inc.

600 Steamboat Road, Suite 300

Greenwich, CT 06830

800.835.3879

 

Subadvisor

 

TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC

7 Times Square

42nd Floor

New York, NY 10036

 

Custodian

 

The Bank of New York Mellon

111 Sanders Creek Parkway

East Syracuse, NY 13057

  

Legal Counsel

 

Ropes & Gray LLP

Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston Street

Boston, MA 02199-3600

 

Transfer Agent

 

BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

Attn: AMG Funds

P.O. Box 9769

Providence, RI 02940

800.548.4539

  

This report is prepared for the Funds’ shareholders. It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by an effective prospectus. To receive a free copy of the prospectus or Statement of Additional Information, which includes additional information about Fund Trustees, please contact us by calling 800.835.3879. Distributed by AMG Distributors, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

 

Current net asset values per share for each Fund are available on the Funds’ website at amgfunds.com.

 

A description of the policies and procedures the Fund uses to vote its proxies is available: (i) without charge, upon request, by calling 800.835.3879, or (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) website at sec.gov. For information regarding the Fund’s proxy voting record for the 12-month period ended June 30, call 800.835.3879 or visit the SEC website at sec.gov.

 

The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Funds’ Forms N-Q are available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. A Fund’s Form N-Q may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1.800.SEC.0330. To review a complete list of the Fund’s portfolio holdings, or to view the most recent quarterly holdings report, semiannual report, or annual report, please visit amgfunds.com.

 

 

         
amgfunds.com           33       


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LOGO

 

    

 

 

AFFILIATE SUBADVISED FUNDS

 

BALANCED FUNDS

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Balanced

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

 

AMG FQ Global Risk-Balanced

First Quadrant, L.P.

 

EQUITY FUNDS

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value

Chicago Equity Partners, LLC

 

AMG FQ Tax-Managed U.S. Equity

AMG FQ Long-Short Equity

First Quadrant, L.P.

 

AMG Frontier Small Cap Growth

Frontier Capital Management Company, LLC

 

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap

AMG GW&K U.S. Small Cap Growth

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

AMG Renaissance International Equity

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth

The Renaissance Group LLC

 

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value II

AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value

AMG River Road Long-Short

AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value

AMG River Road Small Cap Value

River Road Asset Management, LLC

 

AMG SouthernSun Small Cap

AMG SouthernSun Global Opportunities

AMG SouthernSun U.S. Equity

SouthernSun Asset Management, LLC

 

AMG Systematic Mid Cap Value

Systematic Financial Management, L.P.

 

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth

TimesSquare Capital Management, LLC

  

AMG Trilogy Emerging Markets Equity

AMG Trilogy Emerging Wealth Equity

Trilogy Global Advisors, L.P.

 

AMG Yacktman

AMG Yacktman Focused

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund - Security Selection Only

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities

Yacktman Asset Management LP

 

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

AMG GW&K Core Bond

AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield

GW&K Investment Management, LLC

 

OPEN-ARCHITECTURE FUNDS

 

ALTERNATIVE FUNDS

AMG Managers Lake Partners LASSO Alternative

Lake Partners, Inc.

 

BALANCED FUNDS

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Balanced

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

 

EQUITY FUNDS

AMG Managers Brandywine

AMG Managers Brandywine Advisors Mid Cap Growth

AMG Managers Brandywine Blue

Friess Associates, LLC

 

AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies

AMG Managers Cadence Mid Cap

Cadence Capital Management, LLC

 

AMG Managers CenterSquare Real Estate

CenterSquare Investment Management, Inc.

 

AMG Managers Emerging Opportunities

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

WEDGE Capital Management L.L.P.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC

RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc.

  

AMG Managers Essex Small/Micro Cap Growth

Essex Investment Management Co., LLC

 

AMG Managers Fairpointe ESG Equity

AMG Managers Fairpointe Mid Cap

Fairpointe Capital LLC

 

AMG Managers Guardian Capital Global Dividend

Guardian Capital LP

 

AMG Managers LMCG Small Cap Growth

LMCG Investments, LLC

 

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Growth

AMG Managers Montag & Caldwell Mid Cap Growth

Montag & Caldwell, LLC

 

AMG Managers Pictet International

Pictet Asset Management Limited

 

AMG Managers Silvercrest Small Cap

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC

 

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities

Skyline Asset Management, L.P.

 

AMG Managers Special Equity

Ranger Investment Management, L.P.

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

Smith Asset Management Group, L.P.

Federated MDTA LLC

 

AMG Managers Value Partners Asia Dividend

Value Partners Hong Kong Limited

 

FIXED INCOME FUNDS

AMG Managers Amundi Intermediate Government

AMG Managers Amundi Short Duration Government

Amundi Pioneer Institutional Asset Management, Inc.

 

AMG Managers Doubleline Core Plus Bond

DoubleLine Capital LP

 

AMG Managers Global Income Opportunity

AMG Managers Loomis Sayles Bond

Loomis, Sayles & Co., L.P.

 

         
amgfunds.com          123117                    AR083


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Item 2. CODE OF ETHICS

Registrant has adopted a Code of Ethics. See attached Exhibit (a)(1).

 

Item 3. AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT

Registrant’s Board of Trustees has determined that independent Trustee Mr. Steven J. Paggioli qualifies as an Audit Committee Financial Expert. Mr. Paggioli is “independent” as such term is defined in Form N-CSR.

 

Item 4. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

 

(a) Audit Fees

The aggregate fees billed by the Funds’ independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”), to the Funds for the Funds’ two most recent fiscal years for professional services rendered for audits of annual financial statements, or services that are normally provided in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements (“Audit Fees”) were as follows:

 

Fund - AMG Funds

   Fiscal 2017      Fiscal 2016  

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

   $ 35,946      $ 28,533  

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

   $ 31,786      $ 21,983  

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

   $ 50,385      $ 33,209  

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

   $ 29,086      $ 20,763  

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

   $ 45,051      $ 25,016  

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

   $ 53,528      $ 27,692  

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

   $ 41,959      $ 23,279  

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

   $ 32,079      $ 26,334  

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

   $ 29,437      $ 16,000  

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

   $ 24,754      $ 19,980  

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

   $ 24,398      $ 21,722  

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

   $ 99,340      $ 28,360  

AMG Yacktman Fund

   $ 157,278      $ 29,479  

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

   $ 29,572      $ 25,182  

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund-Security Selection Only

   $ 16,313      $ 0  

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

   $ 30,384      $ 16,906  

 

(b) Audit-Related Fees

There were no fees billed by PwC to the Funds in their two recent fiscal years for services rendered for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of the Fund’s financial statements, but are not reported as Audit Fees (“Audit-Related Fees”).


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For the Funds’ two most recent fiscal years, there were no Audit-Related Fees billed by PwC for engagements related directly to the operations and financial reporting of one or more Funds by a Fund Service Provider. A Fund Service Provider is (a) any investment adviser to the Fund (not including any Subadvisor whose role is primarily portfolio management and is subcontracted with or overseen by another investment adviser) or (b) any entity that provides ongoing services to the Fund and is controlling, controlled by or under common control with a Fund investment adviser described in (a).

 

(c) Tax Fees

The aggregate fees billed by PwC to the Funds for the two most recent fiscal years for professional services rendered for tax compliance, tax advice, and tax planning (“Tax Fees”) were as follows:

 

Fund - AMG Funds

   Fiscal 2017      Fiscal 2016  

AMG GW&K Municipal Enhanced Yield Fund

   $ 8,196      $ 8,196  

AMG GW&K Small Cap Core Fund

   $ 7,369      $ 7,369  

AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund

   $ 8,196      $ 8,196  

AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Fund

   $ 7,453      $ 7,453  

AMG Managers Skyline Special Equities Fund

   $ 7,369      $ 7,369  

AMG TimesSquare Mid Cap Growth Fund

   $ 7,369      $ 7,369  

AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Fund

   $ 7,369      $ 7,369  

AMG TimesSquare International Small Cap Fund

   $ 8,236      $ 8,236  

AMG TimesSquare Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

   $ 7,412      $ 3,496  

AMG Renaissance Large Cap Growth Fund

   $ 9,369      $ 7,369  

AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund

   $ 8,283      $ 8,283  

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund

   $ 8,196      $ 8,196  

AMG Yacktman Fund

   $ 8,196      $ 8,196  

AMG Yacktman Special Opportunities Fund

   $ 7,653      $ 7,653  

AMG Yacktman Focused Fund-Security Selection Only

   $ 5,740      $ 0  

AMG Chicago Equity Partners Small Cap Value Fund

   $ 7,453      $ 7,453  

For the Funds’ two most recent fiscal years, Tax Fees billed by PwC for engagements by Fund Service Providers that related directly to the operations and financial reporting of the Funds were $0 for fiscal 2017 and $0 for fiscal 2016, respectively.

The services for which Tax Fees were charged comprise all services performed by professional staff in PwC’s tax division except those services related to the audit. Typically, this category would include fees for tax compliance, tax planning, and tax advice. Tax compliance, tax advice, and tax planning services include preparation of original


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and amended tax returns, claims for refund and tax payment-planning services, assistance with tax audits and appeals, tax advice related to mergers and acquisitions and requests for rulings or technical advice from taxing authorities.

 

(d) All Other Fees

There were no other fees billed by PwC to the Funds for all other non-audit services (“Other Fees”) during the Funds’ two most recent fiscal years. During the same period, there were no Other Fees billed by PwC for engagements by Fund Service Providers that related directly to the operations and financial reporting of the Funds.

(e)(1)According to policies adopted by the Audit Committee, services provided by PwC to the Funds must be pre-approved by the Audit Committee. On an annual basis, the Audit Committee reviews and pre-approves various types of services that PwC may perform for the Funds without specific approval of each engagement, subject to specified budget limitations. As contemplated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and related SEC rules, the Audit Committee also pre-approves non-audit services provided by PwC to any Fund Service Provider for any engagement that relates directly to the operations and financial reporting of the Funds. Any engagement that is not already pre-approved or that will exceed a pre-approved budget must be submitted to the Audit Committee for pre-approval. The Chairman of the Audit Committee is authorized on behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Audit Committee to approve the engagement of PwC to perform non-audit services subject to certain conditions, including notification to the Audit Committee of such pre-approval not later than the next meeting of the Audit Committee following the date of such pre-approval.

(e)(2) None.

(f) Not applicable.

(g) The aggregate fees billed by PwC in 2017 and 2016 for non-audit services rendered to the Funds and Fund Service Providers were $222,059 and $144,603, respectively. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, this amount reflects the amounts disclosed above in Item 4(b), (c),(d), plus $98,200 in fees billed to the Fund Service Providers for non-audit services that did not relate directly to the operations and financial reporting of the Funds. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, this amount reflects the amounts disclosed above in Item 4(b),(c),(d), plus $32,400 in fees billed to the Fund Service Providers for non-audit services that did not relate directly to the operations and financial reporting of the Funds.

(h) The Trust’s Audit Committee has considered whether the provision of non-audit services by registrant’s independent registered public accounting firm to the registrant’s investment advisor, and any entity controlling, controlled, or under common control with the investment advisor that provided ongoing services to the registrant that were not pre-approved by the Committee (because such services did not relate directly to the operations and financial reporting of the registrant) was compatible with maintaining the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm.

 

Item 5. AUDIT COMMITTEE OF LISTED REGISTRANTS

Not applicable.


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Item 6. SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS

The schedule of investments in unaffiliated issuers as of the close of the reporting period is included as part of the shareholder report contained in Item 1 hereof.

 

Item 7. DISCLOSURE OF PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Not applicable.

 

Item 8. PORTFOLIO MANAGERS OF CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Not applicable.

 

Item 9. PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS

Not applicable.

 

Item 10. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

Not applicable.

 

Item 11. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

(a) The Registrant’s principal executive and principal financial officers have concluded, based on their evaluation of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days of the filing of this report, that the Registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures are reasonably designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Registrant on Form N-CSR is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the required time periods and that information required to be disclosed by the registrant in the reports that it files or submits on Form N-CSR is accumulated and communicated to the Registrant’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

(b) There were no changes in the Registrant’s internal control over financial reporting during the Registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter of the period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to affect, the internal control over financial reporting.

 

Item 12. DISCLOSURE OF SECURITIES LENDING ACTIVITIES FOR CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Not applicable.


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Item 13. EXHIBITS

 

(a)(1) Any Code of Ethics or amendments hereto. Filed herewith.

 

(a)(2) Certifications pursuant to Rule 30a-2(a) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 - Filed herewith.

 

(a)(3) Not applicable.

 

(b) Certifications pursuant to Rule 30a-2(b) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 - Filed herewith.

 


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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

AMG FUNDS

 

By:

 

/s/ Jeffrey T. Cerutti

  Jeffrey T. Cerutti, Principal Executive Officer

Date:

  March 9, 2018

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

By:  

/s/ Jeffrey T. Cerutti

  Jeffrey T. Cerutti, Principal Executive Officer
Date:   March 9, 2018
By:  

/s/ Thomas Disbrow

  Thomas Disbrow, Principal Financial Officer
Date:   March 9, 2018