NPORT-EX 2 2B08SCEqIncome.htm

 

Sterling Capital Equity Income Fund

Schedule of Portfolio Investments
June 30, 2020 (Unaudited)

 

 

Shares         Fair Value  
COMMON STOCKS — 99.3%        
        Air Freight & Logistics — 3.5%        
  558,500     United Parcel Service, Inc., Class B   $ 62,094,030  
        Banks — 1.9%        
  643,000     Citigroup, Inc.     32,857,300  
        Beverages — 5.6%        
  781,000     Coca-Cola Co. (The)     34,895,080  
  481,000     PepsiCo, Inc.     63,617,060  
              98,512,140  
        Biotechnology — 3.8%        
  679,000     AbbVie, Inc.     66,664,220  
        Capital Markets — 6.9%        
  228,000     Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The)     45,057,360  
  292,000     Nasdaq, Inc.     34,885,240  
  515,000     Northern Trust Corp.     40,860,100  
              120,802,700  
        Communications Equipment — 1.3%        
  157,000     Motorola Solutions, Inc.     22,000,410  
        Consumer Finance — 3.4%        
  1,175,500     Discover Financial Services     58,880,795  
        Diversified Telecommunication Services — 3.7%        
  1,193,000     Verizon Communications, Inc.     65,770,090  
        Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components — 3.0%        
  2,068,000     Corning, Inc.     53,561,200  
        Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) — 3.3%        
  1,645,000     Brookfield Property REIT, Inc., Class A     16,384,200  
  245,500     Crown Castle International Corp.     41,084,425  
              57,468,625  
        Food Products — 2.8%        
  813,000     Tyson Foods, Inc., Class A     48,544,230  
        Health Care Equipment & Supplies — 7.7%        
  864,000     Abbott Laboratories     78,995,520  
  617,300     Medtronic PLC     56,606,410  
              135,601,930  
        Health Care Providers & Services — 7.6%        
  259,500     Anthem, Inc.     68,243,310  
  1,010,000     CVS Health Corp.     65,619,700  
              133,863,010  
        Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure — 5.4%        
  1,059,000     Restaurant Brands International, Inc.     57,853,170  

 

Shares         Fair Value  
COMMON STOCKS — (continued)      
        Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure — (continued)        
  515,000     Starbucks Corp.   $ 37,898,850  
              95,752,020  
        Industrial Conglomerates — 3.1%        
  377,500     Honeywell International, Inc.     54,582,725  
        Insurance — 3.7%        
  516,000     Chubb, Ltd.     65,335,920  
        IT Services — 6.0%        
  383,500     Accenture PLC, Class A     82,345,120  
  391,928     Amdocs, Ltd.     23,860,577  
              106,205,697  
        Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels — 2.1%        
  525,173     Phillips 66.     37,759,939  
        Pharmaceuticals — 7.3%        
  448,000     Johnson & Johnson.     63,002,240  
  853,000     Merck & Co., Inc.     65,962,490  
              128,964,730  
        Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment — 7.2%        
  622,000     Analog Devices, Inc.     76,282,080  
  819,000     Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.     49,639,590  
              125,921,670  
        Software — 5.4%        
  469,689     Microsoft Corp.     95,586,408  
        Specialty Retail — 4.6%        
  322,500     Home Depot, Inc. (The)     80,789,475  
        Total Common Stocks        
        (Cost $1,299,957,507)     1,747,519,264  
                 
MONEY MARKET FUND — 0.5%        
  9,378,142     Federated Treasury Obligations Fund, Institutional Shares, 0.10%(a)     9,378,142  
        Total Money Market Fund        
        (Cost $9,378,142)     9,378,142  
Total Investments — 99.8%        
(Cost $1,309,335,649)     1,756,897,406  
Net Other Assets (Liabilities) — 0.2%     2,844,712  
NET ASSETS — 100.0%   $ 1,759,742,118  

 

 

(a)Represents the current yield as of report date.

 

See accompanying Notes to the Schedule of Portfolio Investments.

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Sterling Capital Funds

Notes to Schedule of Portfolio Investments - Sterling Capital Equity Income Fund
June 30, 2020 (Unaudited)

 

 

1.Organization:

 

Sterling Capital Funds (the “Trust”) commenced operations on October 5, 1992 and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), as an open-end investment company established as a Massachusetts business trust.

 

The Trust offers shares of Sterling Capital Equity Income Fund (referred to as the “Fund”), among other series of the Trust.

 

The Fund is a “diversified” fund as defined in the 1940 Act.

 

2.Significant Accounting Policies:

 

The Fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the FinancialAccounting Standards Board (“FASB”)Accounting Standard Codification Topic 946 Financial Services-Investment Companies.The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Fund.The policies are in conformity with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”).The preparation of this schedule 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 schedule and the reported amounts of income and expenses for the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

 

Securities Valuation — Investments of the Fund in securities traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market are valued at the closing price on the principal exchange or market (including the NASDAQ Closing Price for securities traded on NASDAQ), typically 4:00 PM ET or, absent such a price, by reference to the latest available bid prices in the principal market in which such securities are normally traded. The Fund may also use an independent pricing service approved by the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) to value certain securities, including the use of electronic and matrix techniques. Investments in open-end investment companies are valued at their respective net asset values as reported by such companies. Investments in closed-end investment companies and exchange-traded funds are valued at their market values based upon the latest available sale price or, absent such a price, by reference to the latest available bid prices in the principal market in which such securities are normally traded. The differences between cost and fair value of investments are reflected as either unrealized appreciation or depreciation. Securities for which market quotations are not readily available or deemed unreliable (e.g., an approved pricing service does not provide a price, a furnished price is in error, certain stale prices, or an event occurs that materially affects the furnished price) will be fair valued in accordance with procedures established in good faith under the general supervision of the Board.

 

Fair Value Measurements — The objective of a fair value measurement is to determine the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (an exit price). Accordingly, the fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described as follows:

 

● Level 1 – quoted prices in active markets for identical securities

● Level 2 – based on other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.)

● Level 3 – based on significant unobservable inputs (including a Fund’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments)

 

The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities. During the period ended June 30, 2020, there were no significant changes to the valuation policies and procedures.

 

The summary of inputs used to determine the fair value of the Fund’s investments as of June 30, 2020 is as follows:

 

   Level 1– Quoted Prices   Level 2– Other Significant Observable Inputs    Level 3– Significant Unobservable Inputs   Total 
Assets:                   
Investments in Securities                      
Sterling Capital Equity Income Fund  $1,756,897,406(a)  $    $   $1,756,897,406 

 

 

(a)Represents money market funds and/or certain preferred stocks.

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Sterling Capital Funds

Notes to Schedule of Portfolio Investments - Sterling Capital Equity Income Fund — (continued)
June 30, 2020 (Unaudited)

 

 

Cash and Cash Equivalents — The Fund considers liquid assets deposited with a bank, and certain short term debt instruments with original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents. These investments represent amounts held with financial institutions that are readily accessible to pay Fund expenses or investments.The Fund may invest its excess cash in the Federated Treasury Obligations Fund or a similar money market fund or other short-term investment.

 

Mortgage Dollar Rolls — The Fund may sell mortgage-backed securities for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contract to repurchase substantially similar (same type, coupon and maturity) securities on a specific future date at an agreed-upon price. The market value of the securities that a Fund is required to purchase may decline below the agreed upon repurchase price of those securities. Pools of mortgages collateralizing those securities may have different prepayment histories than those sold. During the period between the sale and repurchase, a Fund will not be entitled to receive interest and principal payments on the securities sold. Proceeds of the sale will be invested in additional instruments for a Fund, and the income from these investments will generate income for a Fund. If such income does not exceed the income, capital appreciation and gain or loss that would have been realized on the securities sold as part of the dollar roll, the use of this technique will diminish the investment performance of a Fund compared with what the performance would have been without the use of dollar rolls. The Fund accounts for mortgage dollar roll transactions as purchases and sales. The Fund did not hold any mortgage dollar rolls during the period.

 

Options Contracts — The Fund writes (sells) “covered” call options on securities and purchase options on securities to close out options previously written by them.

 

In writing an option, a Fund contracts with a specified counterparty to purchase (put option written) or sell (call option written) a specified quantity (notional amount) of an underlying asset at a specified price during a specified period upon demand of the counterparty. The risk associated with writing an option is that the Fund bears the market risk of an unfavorable change in the price of an underlying asset and are required to buy or sell an underlying asset under the contractual terms of the option at a price different from the current value. The Fund executes transactions in both listed and over-the-counter options. When purchasing over-the-counter options, a Fund bears the risk of economic loss from counterparty default, equal to the market value of the option. Listed options involve minimal counterparty risk since the listed options are guaranteed against default by the exchange on which they trade. Transactions in over-the-counter options expose the Funds to the risk of default by the counterparty to the transaction. In the event of default by the counterparty to the over-the-counter transaction, the Fund’s maximum amount of loss is the premium paid (as the purchaser) or the unrealized depreciation of the contract (as the writer).

 

The Fund invested in written options to economically hedge the downside exposure by collecting a premium when sold against the equity holding.

 

Risks Associated with Foreign Securities and Currencies — Investments in securities of foreign issuers carry certain risks not ordinarily associated with investments in securities of domestic issuers. Such risks include future political and economic developments and the possible imposition of exchange controls or other foreign governmental laws and restrictions. In addition, with respect to certain countries, there is the possibility of expropriation of assets, confiscatory taxation, political or social instability or diplomatic developments which could adversely affect investments in those countries. Certain foreign investments may also be subject to foreign withholding taxes.

 

When-Issued and Forward Commitments — The Fund may purchase securities on a “when-issued” basis. The Fund may also purchase or sell securities on a forward commitment basis. The Fund records when-issued securities on the trade date and pledge assets with a value at least equal to the purchase commitment for payment of the securities purchased. The value of the securities underlying when-issued or forward commitments to purchase securities, and any subsequent fluctuation in their value, is taken into account when determining the net asset value of the Fund commencing with the date the Fund agrees to purchase the securities. The Fund does not accrue interest or dividends on “when-issued” securities until the underlying securities are received.

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